CQ TODAY MIDDAY UPDATE
July 7, 2008 – 1:55 p.m.
Immigration Not Key to Winning Hispanic Vote: Experts
Video: Campaigns Court the Latino Vote
Hispanic voters have become a key target in this year’s presidential race, courted heavily by both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain .
Though immigration has become a focus of those efforts, experts say the candidates’ positions on basic issues such as the economy, education, health care, crime, taxes and national security are likely to be more important.
That’s partly because McCain and Obama both have supported a three-pronged approach to overhauling the nation’s immigration laws that would enhance border security, rewrite temporary-worker programs and create a route to citizenship for the roughly 12 million illegal immigrants currently in the country.
McCain, an Arizona senator, wrote immigration bills with Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, in 2006 and 2007, and Obama, of Illinois, was part of the larger group of senators who worked on the agreement.
Latino voters will be closely watched in a cluster of southwestern states —Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico — that President Bush narrowly won in 2004, as well as in Florida and in a handful of swing states where less attention has been paid to growing Hispanic communities. The candidates’ dexterity in navigating the political nuances of courting Latino voters — who have origins in a diverse set of nations and whose roots in this country range from one generation to many generations — could determine how well they do in those states.
In a 2007 Pew Hispanic Center survey, immigration was deemed to be “very important” or “extremely important” by 79 percent of respondents, ranking it fifth among the issues tested. Education, health care, the economy and jobs, and crime rated higher. Iraq finished behind immigration with 70 percent of respondents calling it very important or extremely important.
“When we think about Hispanic voters as opposed to the Hispanic community, Hispanic voters are all U.S. citizens and many of them are native born. So it’s not surprising that immigration is not one of the top issues for Hispanics,” said Susan Minushkin, deputy director of the Pew Hispanic Center.
For the full version of this story, please visit CQ Politics.
Comments
Hispanics must vote for all Democrat representatives for the US Congress and for John McCain as president. McCain will be a lame-duck president with no veto power that will have to compromise with a Democratic Congress, but his stance on immigration will par with that of a Democrat congress hence benefiting the Latino community in all. Pass among Hispanics-Latinos & immigrants this option.
Reg. the above posters attempt to play smart. Haha. Obviously we need to vote for Obama if we want true freedom and prosperity in this country. para el cambio..
Hispanics will vote depending on whether they are Conservative or Liberal. That is all. We are not born Democrats although most of us are smart enough to figure out that the Democratic party is the better party. Conservatives have nurtured a racist platform and they will suffer for this. We have not forgotten the targeting of immigrants for political gain and for this reason, many Hispanics/Latinos will vote democratic and will elect Senator Obama as the next President of the US. Remember the May Day marches where millions of Latinos marched... well, we all organized and registered to vote. Trust me on this, immigration is a key issue for any Hispanic regardless of level of assimilation.
Raul...what?! Presidents always have veto power. By the definition of lame duck, Presidents are not lame duck until their 2nd term. And if you want someone who will work with Democrats, why elect a Republican that "will have to compromise with a Democratic Congress" when you can just elect a Democrat? I'm sorry, your post just doesn't make any sense!
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