Posted on 07/24/2008 1:34:40 PM PDT by nickcarraway
John McCain is winning a paltry 23 percent of the Hispanic vote compared with 66 percent for Barack Obama, according to a large poll released Thursday by the Pew Hispanic Center.
While Obama’s lead among Hispanics is not drastically ahead of where Democratic nominee John Kerry stood in the summer of 2004, McCain trails President Bush’s standing at this point four years ago.
At that time, Pew found that Hispanics broke 62 percent for Kerry and 32 percent for Bush. Exit polls later found that Bush earned the support of about four in 10 Latino voters.
That difference — from Hispanics breaking 2-to-1 for Democrats to nearly 3-to-1 today — is enough to send shockwaves through GOP circles. Republicans had hoped that McCain’s politically risky support for immigration reform, which infuriated many conservatives, would offer a unique opportunity to bring Hispanic voters back to the party fold.
“That number should be very, very sobering for the McCain campaign,” said Tony Fabrizio, the pollster for 1996 Republican nominee Bob Dole. “The bottom line: Despite all of this positioning he’s taken on immigration, it’s shielded him nothing with Hispanics and it’s another point of distrust with Republicans.”
For months, other surveys have also revealed McCain’s weakness among Hispanics, with his support generally bracketed in the 20 percent to 30 percent range. The Gallup poll’s most recent report pegged McCain with 29 percent support.
But the precision of the Pew poll makes its findings especially troubling for the McCain campaign. Utilizing Spanish-speaking interviewers, who offered respondents the chance to speak in Spanish or English, Pew sampled 2,015 Latinos from June 9 to July 13. Its electoral breakdown was based on 892 registered Hispanic voters, with a margin of error of 4.4 percent.
The Pew data comes on the heels of months of McCain advertising on Hispanic television and radio in Florida, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. On Wednesday, the Obama campaign announced its first media buy of the general election on Hispanic radio in the same states. Obama has not yet purchased advertising on Hispanic television.
“You have to understand in a way that the Republican Party is damaged among Hispanics,” said Hessy Fernandez, McCain’s spokeswoman for Hispanic media. “But at the end of day it’s the contrast between Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama.”
Duh.
Hmmmm well perhaps that will free up McCain to rethink his immigration and border problems yes?
Also the Latino vote - are we counting heads or eligible voters in this little survey???
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
No republican can out-pander a democrat, never, ever.
Well, I hope he writes them off and looks to the REAL base, Conservatives.
It's going to be a landslide for President B. (whose middle name, according to McCain, must NEVER be spoken) Obama.
Can you say poetic justice in Spanish?
McCain will blame those pesky “Conservatives” when in fact it is the natural result of unchecked illegal immigration.
John McCain could take this personally and become less soft on the illegal immigration issue. While he seems fairly charitable on some levels, McCain doesn’t strike me as a man who forgives betrayal easily.
So, who knows, if McCain gets fewer Hispanic votes than Bush he may add razor wire to the fence on the border.
Don’t believe the Latino hype.
Latinos in the aggregate favor massive welfare, education and healthcare programs. They also tend to be quite tribal, so they are in favor of open borders. A few don’t like it, but those are the 7 Latino Republicans!
Latinos have bought into the “victim” culture and think the Gringo owes them. Just like most African-Americans believe they are victims and “Da White Man” owes them.
This is why Obama will win. Latinos and African-Americans want big government, everything “free,” and a “don’t arrest anybody” approach to law enforcement.
Goodbye USA.
Si se puedo.
Legally vote?
Tough democratic segment.
Is this data for those that are legally allowed to vote, or those that will be allowed to vote??
McCain and his party apparatchiks can’t say they weren’t warned.
McCain can SAY whatever he wants to on the issue. It won’t change what his plans are once he is in office.
I guess that these people who are being polled don’t cling to religion to be voting for someone who is pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality.
“This was supposed to be a McCain strength, based on his immigration policy.”
I just hope he doesn’t let his liberal urges get the best of him in view of this because his solution would be even more of the same: more amnesty, faster and easier.
““That number should be very, very sobering for the McCain campaign,” said Tony Fabrizio, the pollster for 1996 Republican nominee Bob Dole.”
Tony Fabrizio, the dems favorite “Republican” pollster. I believe Tony also predicted a Kerry win 2004. Also, if McCain is losing this badly to Obama among Hispanics then why is he behind by only 1 point in the latest Fox poll and 2 points in today’s Gallup Daily Tracking Poll? Lastly, according to Quinnipiac, he is now behind 2 in CO, 4 in MI and 2 in MN, so again, how can Mac be catching up in national and State polls but he’s supposedly getting clobbered with Hispanics? I’m not buying it.
the funny thing is latin VOTERS (i.e. citizens) are much more likely to oppose wide-open borders than those who cannot vote.
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