Free Republic

The Republican Party has scarcely begun to repair a wound that threatens to confine it to minority status: its 2006 collapse among Hispanic voters. Driven by some Republicans’ sharp attacks on illegal immigration and — as many Hispanics perceived it, immigrants in general — Latino voters fled the GOP en masse in the midterm elections, then turned on John McCain, as well. . . . . . There are stirrings of a Republican response. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has spoken with Hispanic leaders about creating a new organization to back Latino candidates. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has made...

Naturalized citizens are poised to reshape California's political landscape The increase in naturalized Asian and Latino citizens -- 300,000 people took the oath of allegiance in 2008 -- could alter the state's policy priorities for years to come, analysts say. By Teresa Watanabe May 10, 2009 More than 1 million immigrants became U.S. citizens last year, hastening the ethnic transformation of California's political landscape with more Latinos and Asians now eligible to vote. Leading the wave, California's 300,000 new citizens accounted for nearly one-third of the nation's total and represented a near-doubling over 2006, according to a recent report by...

I just got a press release from a liberal pressure group called America's Voice headlined "Anti-Immigration Ads Don't Add Up in 2008." The group tried to make the same point that I've heard over and over again from amnesty advocates: The voters won't go for candidates who support immigration restrictions. "A new analysis of immigration advertisements finds that the strategy of using immigration as a political wedge issue in the 2008 election cycle was an utter failure," the release stated. Nonsense. What the voters won't go for is candidates who try to work both sides of the issue, such John...

The Lone Star State is the last big GOP bastion where Hispanics are a sizable voting bloc. Houston When President Bush says so long to Washington on Jan. 20, he’ll return to a much different Lone Star State from the one he left eight years ago. Pickup trucks, Big Oil, and barbecue brisket still reign supreme, but this red state that helped deliver the presidency to Mr. Bush twice and his father once, and that catapulted GOP strategist Karl Rove to the national stage, is suddenly spotted with big pockets of blue. Dallas is controlled by Democrats; Houston is in...

The demographics are frankly killing us. Kerry won the latino vote 53%-44% four years ago. Obama won the latino vote 67%-31%. Obama won the latino vote in Florida for the first time ever. Obama vastly increased his share of the latino vote in Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada. If McCain wasn't on the ticket, Arizona would have been very competitive as well. And we probably got another decade before Texas becomes a purple state unless we reverse the trends here. Bush won Texas by 23% with Kerry getting 50% of the latino vote. McCain won it by 11% with Obama...

As they review the results of Tuesday's election victories and begin looking toward future campaigns, some Democrats have settled on a rallying cry: Texas is next. It sounds improbable for the Republican bastion that produced President Bush and served as an early laboratory for Karl Rove's hard-nosed tactics. But Texas is one of several reliably red states that are now in Democrats' sights as party strategists begin to analyze a victorious 2008 campaign that they believe showed the contours of a new movement that could grow and prove long-lasting. A multiethnic bloc of Latinos, blacks, young people and suburban whites...

Arizona Sen. John McCain was hammered by the Latino vote, hurting him in battleground states of Florida, Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico as he lost his presidential bid to Barack Obama. Obama took two-thirds of the overall Hispanic vote and McCain got 32 percent, according to exit polls conducted by NBC News. George Bush got 44 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2004. McCain also didn’t fare well among younger and working-class voters and did not do as well as Bush with whites, middle-class and older voters.

Californians went to the polls today on the divisive and deeply emotional issue of same-sex marriage, with early exit poll data showing the state's voters closely divided along lines of religion and political affiliation. With the polls still open, it is too early to project the outcome, which would amend the California Constitution to ban gay marriage. But preliminary data showed that Democrats and independents were tending to vote against Proposition 8, while Republicans were in favor of the measure.

According to exit poll results released thus far, Latino voters voted for Barack Obama over John McCain by a more than a 2-1 margin nationally: 66 percent to 31 percent. The proportion voting for the Democratic candidate is up sharply from 2004, when 55 percent of Latino voters supported John Kerry and 44 percent voted for President Bush. Latinos are responsible for Obama's victory in New Mexico and contributed strongly to his margins in Nevada and Colorado. In New Mexico, Latinos constituted 41 percent of the electorate and voted for Obama by a 69 percent to 30 percent margin; white...

FReep this Digg!!! (We need FReepers to FReep the Vote over at Buzz too! Any volunteers???) Post your own links exposing ObamaNation on Digg, Buzz, Reddit, etc. Saturate these boards. They're massive and they are crawling with independents and undecideds. And don't post them all in one category, like politics or elections. Finally, repost your links on FR to we can put a protective FReep around them :o) For examples of how to do this, see my history. Let's use our combined FReeperPower to FREEP THE VOTE!!!

Latinos for Reform (LFR) called on Senator Barack Obama to come clean with the American people, and particularly with the Latino community regarding the issue of his aunt, who has been in the U.S. illegally for four years now. "We have no doubts that Senator Obama is once again hiding the truth from the American people when it comes to the story of his aunt," said LFR Chairman Robert Deposada. "For crying out loud, everyone would agree that when people in other countries have relatives in government, it is a common practice to contact them for assistance when they have...

Cindy and John McCain with Eduardo Verastegui in Miami, Fla., Oct. 17, 2008 – A Latino superstar has endorsed Sen. John McCain for president, citing Sen. Barack Obama’s pro-abortion record, while some Latinos say they are supporting Obama because they believe he is “pro-life.” Eduardo Verastegui, the Latino actor whose pro-life film “Bella” won the 2006 Toronto Film Festival People’s Choice Award, has produced a new video detailing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s record on abortion, which includes his opposition to a ban on partial birth abortion and his opposition in the Illinois state senate to legislation aimed at protecting...

Los Angeles, CA (LifeNews.com) -- Hispanic actor Eduardo Verastegui has a last-minute reminder for Hispanic voters nationwide: Barack Obama doesn't share your pro-life values on abortion. The actor has released videos on abortion and the elections that have been popular in the Latino community.In his latest, Verastegui explains the crisis of abortion in America, while explaining Barack Obama's pro-abortion track record and agenda.Before producing this video, Verastegui, 34, became famous singing in the popular Latino band Kairo and acting in telenovelas. People Magazine en Español recently voted him one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world. Now,...

Prop. 4, 8 campaigns battle fiercely for crucial Latino vote José Eduardo Verástegui, a Mexican soap opera star and fashion model whom People en Español magazine named one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world, is taking to the airwaves to persuade California voters on two emotionally charged social issues. Verástegui is the face - and voice - of Spanish-language commercials calling for "yes" votes in favor of a parental notification law for abortion and a ban on same-sex marriage. His presence in the campaigns for Propositions 4 and 8 underscores the fight for a critical constituency that...

SAN DIEGO -- Recently, I was on a Latino-themed radio show defending John McCain. The defendant was accused of abandoning comprehensive immigration reform, turning his back on Latino supporters, and associating with a bad crowd (read: Republicans). I didn't give an inch. I was the only person in the discussion who actually knew McCain -- from my stint 10 years ago as a reporter at a newspaper in Arizona -- and I could attest to the fact that the senator had always gone to bat for Latinos. At one point, another guest scolded me in frustration: "Look, it's not about...

A new report suggests that “2008 will be the year of the immigrant and Latino voter,” as “unprecedented numbers of immigrants are becoming citizens and registering to vote.” The stakes, according to the report by America’s Voice, an immigrants’ rights group, “could not be higher.” Pro-immigrant groups are registering hundreds of thousands of new citizens to vote. They, along with earlier generations of immigrants, are being mobilized in large part by the passions surrounding the often heated debate over immigration. The report calls members of these communities a “sleeping giant,” awoken by the rhetoric of the anti-immigration hardliners who have...

A small group of Hispanic leaders in Arizona who are supporting Democrat Barack Obama say Republican John McCain won't enjoy the same strong support among Latinos in his home state as he has in past elections. Group member Mary Rose Wilcox said McCain's strength among Latinos has dwindled. That's primarily because he de-emphasized his support for a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants and now says border security is the first immigration priority. Wilcox, a Democrat and Maricopa County supervisor, said Hispanics view McCain's change in position as a betrayal.

Chicago Latinos ask the question of the day. Where is Obama?

New McCain ad blames Obama and Democrats for death of immigration overhaul effort.(CNN) – John McCain’s campaign is running a Spanish language ad in battleground states that blames Barack Obama and Senate Democrats for the failure of attempts to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws — even though the Republican nominee and his Democratic counterpart cast identical votes in the key Senate showdowns on that issue last year “Obama and his congressional allies say they are on the side of immigrants. But are they?” asks the announcer in the 30-second spot, “Which Side Are They On?” “The press reports that their...

The news of Palin has rocked Miami. The pro-republican Cuban-American community here is going crazy! They love her and are energized. Florida will go to the Republicans once again this election cycle.