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.
What a bunch of ingrates. well, the ones polled, at least. :-}
Shouldn't that be "yielded"?
At least that's how they taught it in my ESL classes.
McCain is at 23 percent and Bush got 25% IMHO, there is no difference in the numbers.
....considering the lengths to which he has gone to pander to them! What he didn’t take into consideration is that Spanish-speaking immigrants, with the exception of Cubans, will ALWAYS vote for the candidate who promises them the most freebies and goodies from the public treasury, regardless years of pandering.
Cheap labor trumps everything.
“You have to understand in a way that the Republican Party is damaged among Hispanics,” said Hessy Fernandez, McCain’s spokeswoman for Hispanic media.
Hessy’s truthfully saying that hispanics will need far more in the way of promises of freebies from a Republican than from a Democrat, because of branding.
My wallet just groaned.
See, Juan. Perhaps it would be helpful to advocate the interests of Americans instead.
I think your right. It is a very sobering number though.
You mean, no bounce for advocating amnesty? Didn't McCain's towel boy, Lindsey Grahamnesty, claim that this would be great for the GOP?
Good point...it never worked here in Tx for GWB when he ran for Gov. The southern border counties always went with the Dems.... most Hispanics have a socialist bent and the less educated fo for the 'Rats who keep them in further ignorance and bondage! Vicious cycle ay?
So where did all his pandering get him?
Nope, sorry.
I live in Phoenix. The vast majority of Latinos view Anglos as the enemy and favor open immigration.
Sure, there are a few Latinos who respect the law and are against open immigration. Perhaps the surveys aren’t hitting the masses, only a bias sample.
Gee whiz, McCainiacs, the idea that “Everyone who can get in, should” doesn’t seem like like a wining strategy, does it?
Not a surprise. McCain and the Country Club Republicans connived at illegal immigration, but the Democrats have bought their votes with welfare, at taxpayer expense.
The Hispanic voters are only too likely to repeat the history of black voters. The Republicans freed the slaves and pushed for civil rights for blacks for a hundred years; then the Democrats bought them off in no time at all with welfare, at taxpayer expense.
Gratitude is unreliable.
Some of the polls have McCain with 30% of the latino vote. We will see how things play out.
Hey, how did pandering to illegals work for you there, John?
The dumb bunny would pick up more than 23% support with hispanics by taking a hard line on illegal immigration.
I guess it’s time for McCain to meet with his Hispanic Outreach chairman, Juan Hernandez. Juan can put together a crash program to win over Hispanics and reverse this, and then secure the victory for McCain. That might be the solution if these border state pols don’t get their heads out of their rear ends on this issue and deal with reality instead of their Tex-Mex fantasies.
W got 41% of latin vote in ‘04.
McCain’s ony way out of this is (GAG) take Charlie Crist and his Latina fiancee onto the ticket... I’m really worried about this.
The thing so many have failed to realize is that a huge number of Latinos who are citizens don't WANT any kind of amnesty program.
Lame McCain.
Yes.
He will figure out a way to promise them totally open borders, no-strings attached amnesty, instant social security accounts, free medical, free home purchase down payments, hiring and college admission preferences and forced Spanish language classes for Anglo's.
But Latinos will still vote for the Democrats because they will give up even more. After all - its only taxpayer money.
Shockwaves? Why?
We are talking about a bunch of folks that have been totally subjugated by socialists for three generations and then in the space of 20 years flood across the U.S. southern border with those "thought" processes, social patterns and resignation to sustenance living off of government handouts.
In that 20 years they have polluted the children of the ones that were already here with gangs, drugs, crime, diseases, loss of the ability or desire to speak English, false dreams of an "Azlan" empire, boasts of "taking over" the entire Southwestern United States and annexing it into mexico.
And yet somehow the dumazzes in "our" government convinced themselves that if they chumped out and tossed amnesty into the election they were actually going to get VOTES from the mexicans?
Sorry, no vote for little Juan MxCane but they will gleefully call him...
First the MSM, now the latinos. All that ‘reach across the isle’ stuff is really paying off, isn’t it John?
And that’s precisely why the GOP establishment’s crusade to give tens of millions of illegals amnesty is suicidal — the mast majority of the new citizens will be registering Democrat. Their loyalty will always reside with the party that gives away the most freebies.
Needs to be done by state. BO will be winning the heavily Latino states except for AZ and TX....
This report is based on a telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,015 Hispanics ages 18 and older, 892 of whom report being registered to vote.
“...Latinos in the aggregate favor massive welfare, education and healthcare programs...want big government, everything “free,” and a “don’t arrest anybody” approach to law enforcement.”
100% correct-o-mundo! Those people of Hispanic ancestry, born here and whose families have been here for centuries or multiple decades, haven’t grown up enculturated with the socialism/Marxism that permeates nations south of our southern border. So not all “Latinos” support the above concept but most of the new arrivals sure do!
Funny thing is, big corrupt and repressive governments that fail to provide promised free services is exactly why many Latinos come here in the first place. They’ll tell you, “Here, the police are honest.” But almost every action an illegal alien does here destroys the very reason they came.
McCain isn’t stupid but he needs to dump Dr. Juan Hernandez and his wrong advice before it destroys his chance to become President.
Hey McCain, I will say it again, burn these bas*ards.
Stick up for US citizens and send these 3rd world leeches back to whence they came.
Hey, they ain’t gonna vote for you.
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