In case you missed it, Melissa Morales, the founder and president of Somos Votantes, appeared on the Democrats' Daily Blueprint today to discuss the importance of Latinos as a key voting demographic and as an integral part of American society. In the conversation, she discussed how her organization is engaging in community-based organizing to build trust with Latino communities and involve them in the democratic process.

WATCH

You can find highlights from the conversation below:

On the importance of Somos Votantes:

Melissa Morales: "At its core, Somos [Votantes] exists because Latinos, and of course, many other communities, too often show up in political rhetoric, but not in political strategies. So in its founding, we knew that we needed an organization that didn't just count us, but counted on us by being rooted in Latino communities and lives. Something that I believe deeply, especially now, is that responding to the frustrations of everyday working people in this country, including Latinos, requires not incremental tweaks, but a boldness in vision and a boldness in scale - which is what our programs are based on. In the past, we've been really proud of the scale that we've been able to reach, mobilizing some of the largest Latino civic engagement programs in the country, reaching millions in Latino communities."

On how Somos Votantes is preparing for the upcoming midterm elections:

Melissa Morales: "This year, we're really focused on building muscle as we head into next year. Our strategy related to, not uniquely even the midterms, but to engage in our community in general, is grounded in two things - listening and delivering.

"We often talk about metrics related to how many people we've talked to. You hear about that a lot in campaigns. They talk to a million people, but way more underdeveloped is the muscle in our mechanism for listening and tracking what we're hearing, and learning from it, and then figuring out how we're responding to what we're hearing. It's great to hear that [DNC Chair] Ken [Martin] is aligned there because it feels like every cycle, we have to relearn that trust isn't built in a six-week sprint. It's earned inch by inch every single day.

"That's why our focus is on being a year-round machine that listens and delivers - listening to what working families are actually worried about cost, jobs, safety, and health care, and connecting those issues to the power of participation and expanding what civic engagement looks like."

On how Democrats can address the concerns of Latino voters who have soured on Donald Trump:

Melissa Morales: "What we are seeing in our latest poll is, as you know, a broader collapse of Trump support amongst Latino voters. What began earlier this year with independents and with women has really deepened and spread to almost every subset of the Latino electorate - including groups that once leaned toward him like Latino men […] He's now underwater by 10 points with Latino men on his handling of the economy, which was his strongest issue with them. Among young Latinos, it's even more dramatic: Trump's favorability is down more than 20 points since February. His economic approval has cratered by over 30 points. Independents are right there, too, with his economic approval now sitting at minus-45, which is sort of an incredible cratering since the beginning of this year. And this really matches what we're seeing and hearing every single day from our community.

…

"I will end on a positive note. There is an opportunity here. This is a moment if we're willing to grab it, a moment that demands courage and vision and leadership, and people are yearning for leaders who are willing to stand up for something. So we shouldn't squander that opportunity in this moment because it won't last forever."