Poll: "Sharp Reversal" For Obama With Hispanic Voters

John McCain has been courting Hispanic voters heavily. But according to a new Pew Research Center poll, it hasn't done him much good:

Hispanic registered voters support Democrat Barack Obama for president over Republican John McCain by 66% to 23%, according to a nationwide survey of Latinos conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, from June 9 through July 13, 2008.

The presumptive Democratic nominee's strong showing in this survey represents
a sharp reversal in his fortunes from the primaries, when Obama lost the Latino
vote to Hillary Clinton by a margin of nearly two-to-one, giving rise to
speculation in some quarters that Hispanics were disinclined to vote for a black
candidate.

...

Obama is rated favorably by 76% of Latino registered voters, making him much
more popular among that voting group than McCain (44% favorable) and
President Bush (27% favorable). He now appears to be even more popular than
Hillary Clinton among Latinos (73% favorable).

George W. Bush took 40% of the Latino vote in 2004, a record for a GOP candidate. According to Pew's results, the long-term Hispanic shift Republicans hoped for hasn't materialized:

In addition to their strong support for Obama, Latino voters have moved sharply
into the Democratic camp in the past two years, reversing a pro-GOP tide that had
been running among Latinos earlier in the decade. Some 65% of Latino registered
voters now say they identify with or lean to the Democratic Party; compared with
just 26% who identify with or lean to the GOP. This 39 percentage point
Democratic Party identification edge is larger than it has been at any time this
decade; as recently as 2006, the partisan gap was just 21 percentage points.

Comments

[Cowtippin]

You know I don't really think it matters who McBush tries to pander to. Because this time around the color of your skin etc will not matter because the Republicans have really done a number on the American people over the last 8 years and facts are facts and numbers don't lie. So All you McBush supporters should really think why your supporting this man when he has the same track record as Bush and have pushed your party off to the far right. And it's going to be a new day come November. Lets hope Obama wins and then we can start to repair what all you warmongering cowards have supported all these years. Lets get out of the middle east once and for all. Lets send a message to the world that enough is enough and stop with this "Bring it On" tough guy talk. When will you Bush supporters stop thinking of yourself and think about how the world is going to be for your children 20 years down the line.

[MARTYB]

Considering the places i have been/seen, the "majority" has not done "too" bad of a job. MPETER,
what is wrong with a wall? Why should we be another countries dumping ground when they certainly don't allow it in theirs?

[HerbTee]

As I've said before, I truly felt Hispanics would not turn their backs on BO so readily without giving him a chance. The reason why there were claims that BO had a Hispanic voting problem was ONLY because the Clintons, the rabid right-wing talking heads and the biased MSM outlets said so!

This so-called lack of Hispanic voter support was all in their minds and fabricated to benefit HRC. The HRC campaign used this myth as a bludgeon, stating over and over that BO could not win the majority Hispanic votes...that only SHE could. Once HRC was out of the race and could no longer spew her rhetoric, BO became increasingly stronger with Hispanics. The claim of poor Hispanic support against BO was all smoke and mirrors to falsely claim Hispanics strongly backed only HRC and not BO. I am glad that old spin is being proved false.

[ann1]

Hispanics have been watching this election and have witnessed the hate and venom directed towards the minority candidate. If would be no different for them probably worse.

[PumaAnn]

What venom and hate? It's a love-fest with reporters chasing him all over Europe!

[Jamchinadian]

That's so they could - as some admitted - try to trip him up. If Obama sneezes they will punish him for weeks for poor manners unbecoming of a would-be president. If McCain swears a blue streak and calls his wife a nasty four-letter word - as he has done - their take is aw shucks, that's John, such a cut-up!

[Trinidad707]

Hispanics vote for people who have helped them throughout the years, what has Obama done for them.......or a better question what has Hillary done for them ...A LOT! and Hispnaics are about as fond of african americans as african americans are of hispanics.

[ominous]

this is great news, unfortunately hispanics only represent about 7% of the voting public.

[calichic]

In a close race a lead of two points in a 7 point voting block makes a big difference.

[66rock]

But it can land Obama some key states for victory by puting him over the edge, like Florida etc.

[desertdweller]

But the fastest growing demographic.....If Obama can deliver on some issues of interest to the Hispanic bloc, the Dems can count on their support in the future

[elcojonu]

Keep your eyes on the VOTING MACHINES and the ELECTION BOARDS in your areas.
The Repugs are running desperate and as we all know they will try to go back to the tricks that got them the White House in 2000 and 2004.
We have to be ready nation-wide for any ABNORMALITIES.
No more STOLEN ELECTIONS.

VIVAN LOS LATINOS, COJONEZ.

[Ides]

"Sharp reversal?"

Wow, it's up 2 points since May! Sharp reversal = stuff we ignored in order to see if McCain could change it. He can't, so now we can pretend like it's news.

[Mitchell4A]

The MSM has been insisting that the race between Obama and McCain is much tighter than expected. Nonsense. Obama is doing fine for this stage of the game.

"Media Hype and the Election Polls"
http://msa4.wordpress.com/

[Heaphy]

This isn't really a "sharp reversal", it is simply an important Democratic voting bloc uniting around the presumptive Democratic nominee. Hispanic voters are smart - they know that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were not that far off on the issues, but that a McCain presidency would be an absolute disaster for poor and working class Americans of all races and colors. Of course, they are uniting around Barack Obama. Most Hispanic voters are very intelligent and perceptive. Those that aren't can vote for McCain, but there are very few of them.
- Jim Heaphy

[tbone99]

Well 40 % of them voted for Bush in the last election , so it is a turnaround.

[mbrook4949]

This is not a reversal! The media are comparing the primary with the general election, which is illogical nonsense. There were two good candidates in the Democratic primaries, Latino voters preferred one of them. But they are still going to vote Democratic (Obama). They are not crazy like the PUMA!

[splendidbeast]

bueno

[sharonh]

It has to do with not wanting McCain as prez. Pure and simple.

[oneblackvote]

Well said.

[mlaiuppa]

They both just spoke at LaRaza in San Diego. Wonder if that had anything to do with it?

[creationwaits]

Yep. They shouldn't have. Didn't McCain say something about appearing because he didn't want to appear racist? You probably shouldn't have spoken before a group that calls itself "The Race" in that case, methinks.

But kudos to McCain for at least not dividing people by race so much. Visit Obama's campaign website and you get to click on the appropriate link for your race! So much for putting character over skin color.