Waking the Giant: Making the Latino Vote Count in 2008
Latinos have long been noted as the "sleeping giant" of elections in the United States because they turn out to vote in numbers far below their percentage of the voting-eligible population. For example, in 2006, Latinos made up nine percent of the voting eligible population in the United States, but only six percent of the voters
One reason for the lag in voter participation among Latinos is their very low voter registration rate. Only 54 percent of voting-eligible Latinos are registered to vote, compared to 61 percent of Blacks and 71 percent of Whites. Further, Latinos did not turnout at rates similar to Blacks or Whites. In 2006, 60 percent of registered Latinos voted, compared with 67 percent of Blacks and 73 percent of Whites. Overall this means that just 32 percent of the Latino voting-eligible population cast a ballot in 2006 compared with 41 percent of Blacks and 52 percent of Whites. If Latino voter turnout had matched their percentage of the voting-eligible population in 2006, an additional 2.6 million Latino voters would have gone to the polls.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/07/waking-the-giant-making-the-la.php--------------------
As November rapidly approaches, Democrat Barack Obama seems to be the preferred candidate among young voters.
According to the Wall Street Journal/NBC News Poll, 55% of voters between the ages of 18-34 favor Sen. Obama, while 31% favor Sen. McCain. As a young voter, ( I am a 20 year old Senior at Ohio Wesleyan University) I believe Sen. Obama just communicates better with my generation - with much more emotion and enthusiasm than Sen. McCain. This enthusiasm gap is shown in the polls as well; 14% of McCain voters, say that they are excited about their candidate. 44% of Obama voters say their excited about him. Why?
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/07/28/youth-vote-obama-v-mccain/-------------------
July 21st, 2008
Obama Leads McCain in Battleground States Among Single Women
By Jennifer Parker
Unmarried women -- often dubbed the "Sex and the City" vote -- are overwhelmingly supporting Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., over Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in key battleground states, according to a recent poll.
Single, divorced, separated, and widowed women voters in 14 battleground states favor the presumptive Democratic nominee over his Republican rival by 61 to 29 percent, according to a Democratic poll commissioned for Women's Voices Women Vote, an advocacy group for unmarried women voters.
Those findings jibe with the latest ABC News poll released in July, which found Obama leading McCain nationally among unmarried women voters 59 to 32 percent.
"Unmarried women are to progressives what evangelicals are to the conservative movement," Page Gardner, founder and president of Women's Voices Women Votes, told ABC News.com.
http://www.wvwvaf.org/2008/7/21/obama-leads-mccain-in-battleground-states-among-single-women---------------------