[GraniteStateConservative]

Bush did indeed only carry 35% of the hispanic vote in 2000 nationwide, but his job approval ratings with hispanics are great. Bush won Florida's hispanics 49-48. A recent Bendixen & Associates poll showed that Gore and Bush would split the hispanic vote were the elections today. Reasons for this include the war on terrorism, his new Cuba policy, his Spanglish-speaking, his desire for a temporary guest worker program for Mexican illegal immigrants who are seasonal workers on farms and for other unskilled laborers, faith-based initiatives, his support for hispanic nominees to the executive and judicial branches, and his attempts to improve relations with Mexico and Latin America.

[Zack Nguyen]

Perhaps his numbers among Hispanics have improved, but I remain extremely skeptical that Bush's huge approval ratings will mean anything come 2004. A lot of those people who say they approve of him would never dream of voting for him. 2004 will be extraordinarily close. Count on it. America has yet to come to a consensus on the culture war that brought about the nailbiter in 2000. We are still a divided nation, regardless of the terrorist attacks.