Barack Obama may be winning the Hispanic vote by more than 3-1, but a survey published by the Pew Hispanic Center shows them less interested in the election, and not as likely to vote as in 2008.
The good news for President Obama: Latino registered voters prefer him over Mitt Romney by more than a 3-to-1 ratio, and are increasingly satisfied with the nation’s direction and their personal finances.
The bad news: They’re thinking less about the election and are less certain than registered voters in general about whether they are actually going to cast ballots in the presidential election.
That’s not what you want to hear — if you’re an Obama backer — from a group that historically hasn’t met its growing potential when it comes to voter turnout.
The paradoxical conclusion is the result of a survey of 1,765 voters across the country by the Pew Hispanic Center. The study found that Obama is polling even better among Latinos than he did in 2008, when he trounced Republican Sen. John McCain 69% to 31% among Latinos. But while 89% of all registered voters say they are certain they are going to vote on Nov. 6, only 77% of registered Latinos say they are sure they’re going to vote.
Moreover, while 70% of registered voters surveyed said they had thought “quite a lot” about the upcoming election, only 61% of Latinos said the same.
Interestingly, 71% of Hispanics support voter ID laws compared to 77% of the general population. I wonder if liberals will chalk up that high support to racism.
This may be the last election where the GOP must count on a less enthusiastic Hispanic electorate in order to win a national contest. With the share of the white vote dropping while the Hispanic vote is rising, unless the GOP is willing to take another look at its immigration policies, the party will become a permanent minority.
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