Poll is reality check on Latino vote

[DeepModem Mom]

CNN: Commentary: Poll is reality check on Latino vote
By Matt A. Barreto and Sylvia Manzano

....What are the most important issues to the Latino electorate in 2008? On Tuesday, we released a study that sheds light on the political and policy attitudes of Texas Latino voters. The Texas A&M/Latino Decisions nonpartisan survey interviewed 500 Latino registered voters.

Immigration

Texas' Latino voters do not support a border fence. Despite the conventional wisdom among many commentators, the data couldn't be clearer. Our poll finds that 73 percent of Texas Latinos think a wall along the Texas-Mexico border is an ineffective policy idea that will not decrease illegal immigration into the United States. On this issue, the survey finds agreement across party lines. Among Republicans, 70 percent are opposed to the border fence, as are 72 percent of independents and 74 percent of Democrats. Constructing 70 miles of barrier along the Rio Grande Valley, a region that is more than 80 percent Mexican-American, has become a hotly contested issue. Homeowners face eminent domain lawsuits by the Department of Homeland Security, environmentalists argue that it is detrimental to the region, and the business community has been vocal about the impact on the economy....Rather than construct a wall, 63 percent of Latinos in Texas support a pathway to citizenship as a means of addressing illegal immigration.

Iraq

In terms of foreign policy, there is no issue more important to Latinos in Texas, or the rest of the country, than the Iraq war. For more than one-third of Latinos in the state, the war is not just a political issue but rather one that can have a direct impact on daily life. In fact, 37 percent have a close relative on active military duty. Twenty percent ranked it the most important issue in this election, the highest mark for any foreign policy issue in our survey. Latinos overwhelmingly favor an end to the war. Although Republican White House hopeful John McCain has argued against a troop withdrawal, 81 percent of Latinos in Texas support it. When asked to consider the costs versus the benefits, 70 percent of Latinos were dissatisfied with the current status of the Iraq war. At the same time, a landmark public opinion poll, the Latino National Political Survey, found that 91 percent of Mexican-Americans were very or extremely proud of the U.S., and they have one of the highest participation rates in the U.S. military.

Education

On education, an overwhelming majority -- 76 percent -- supports the DREAM Act to grant in-state college tuition to undocumented students who grew up in Texas and graduated from Texas high schools. Further, the survey finds that 78 percent support bilingual education programs to assist students in public schools. Democratic candidates have supported these two plans, and Republicans have opposed them.

Opinions of Obama, Clinton

Some pundits claim that the Democratic candidates, particularly Barack Obama, have not made a real connection with Latino voters, but the data suggest that Latino voters are supportive of both Hillary Clinton and Obama. Among all Latino voters, 76 percent have a favorable view of Clinton, and 66 percent have a favorable view of Obama, compared with 48 percent for McCain. Further, President Bush is viewed favorably by just 34 percent of Latinos in his home state of Texas.

Over the past month, Clinton and Obama have campaigned for the Latino vote from New York to California, and now in Texas. Both have spent extensive time in smaller border communities and large urban areas alike, and both have appealed to Latino voters in English and Spanish ads on television and radio. In contrast, the Republican candidates have ignored the Latino vote during the primaries, focusing instead on harsh rhetoric in the immigration debate. In the words of Republican adviser Lionel Sosa, they are "fighting to see who is more anti-immigration."...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/26/latinos.commentary/index.html

[NC_Nurse]

1. The anti-immigrant thing is going to bite the Repubs in the ASS!

I'm quite happy about it personally. :)