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"But what if Romney had been able to reach a mind-blowing 70 percent of the Hispanic vote? Surely that would have meant victory, right? No, it wouldn't. Romney still would have lost, although by the narrowest of electoral margins, 270 to 268. (Under that scenario, Romney would have won the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College; he could have racked up huge numbers of Hispanic votes in California, New York and Texas, for example, and not changed the results in those states."

Speaking to a Mexico City crowd on Friday, President Barack Obama said he would not be president if not for Latino voters, and then he pledged immigration reform in the United States to legalize those who are here illegally. “Without the strong support of Latinos, including so many Mexican-Americans, I would not be standing here today as president of the United States,” Obama said. “That’s the truth.” …

I have been quite skeptical about the ability of the Republican party to win over Latino voters. As others and I have noted, Latinos don't vote Democratic just because of immigration policy. They vote Democratic because they are more ideologically "in sync" with the Democratic party. That's why I've felt that going along with immigration reform was unlikely to net Republicans many Latino voters. That said, I can't agree either with the math in a Politico article titled "Immigration reform could be a bonanza for Democrats". The article starts off promisingly enough with the premise that if immigration reform passed...

What Should Sen. Ted Cruz Do on Immigration. Should he help Rubio pass Immigration reform?

1. ObamaCare for illegals 2. Discriminatorily higher wages for low-wage guest workers 3. AFL-CIO Boss: Guest workers should be able to bring their families too… Rather, like they are with the minimum wage issue, it seems that Barack Obama and his union-boss buddies (as they have in the past) are more interested in ensuring they keep Latinos at bay–by blaming Republicans for immigration reform failure–while keeping them firmly in their pockets politically. By talking out one side of their mouths that they are pro-reform to Latinos and low information voters, then cynically trying to push radical poison pills up the...

Ever heard the claim that Latinos are "natural conservatives"? The person repeating the conventional wisdom of the Beltway apparently hasn't examined the evidence. That's why, for Republicans, to buy that canard spells disaster. The most recent evidence comes from a new Latino Decisions poll. It shows two-thirds of Latinos support "comprehensive immigration reform" that includes special immigration privileges for foreign-born gays and lesbians. Of those Hispanic respondents who favored giving homosexual couples the same immigration rights as traditional couples, 92 percent view it as important (very or somewhat) to make the change part of any amnesty bill in Congress. While...

Nothing about illegal immigration quite adds up. Conservative corporate employers still support the idea of imported, cheap, non-union labor — in a strange alliance with liberal activists who want the larger blocs of Latino voters that eventually follow massive influxes from Latin America. Yet how conservative are businesses that in the past flouted federal law — and how liberal are activists who undermined the bargaining power of American minimum-wage, entry-level workers, many of them minorities? The remedies for illegal immigration under discussion are just as incoherent. If the government now plans to offer some foreign nationals a pathway to citizenship,...

He's already being treated like the 2016 GOP presidential front-runner, and now there is another reason Republicans are excitedly buzzing about Florida Sen. Marco Rubio: He alone would reverse the party's slide among Hispanic voters. A new nationwide poll from JZ Analytics found that Rubio would get 48 percent of the Hispanic vote, about twice what Mitt Romney won in 2012. Republican strategist told Secrets that a win among Latino voters that big would assure Rubio the presidency, since he would also likely keep the regular GOP base. "If he does that good, then he's the next president," said a...

COMPTON (CBSLA.com) — Community leaders held a rally against hate crimes outside Compton City Hall Saturday in the wake of a Latino gang’s attack on an African-American teen boy. They were joined by a passionate crowd of Hispanic and African-American residents who stood together in an act of unity. “It doesn’t represent the whole 100,000 people that live in Compton. There’s a lot of Hispanics and a lot of blacks and we live together, we know how to live together,” Compton youth minister Eddie Arellano said of the hate crime. The Los Angeles County sheriff’s Department says the attack occurred...

Attack On Family In Compton Latest Incident In Wave of Anti-Black Violence A Latino gang is intimidating blacks into leaving the city that was once an African American enclave. It's part of a violent trend seen in other parts of the L.A. area. The steeple of the Greater Holy Faith Baptist Church on 155th Street in Compton, a reminder of a time not long ago when African Americans predominated. By Sam Quinones, Richard Winton and Joe Mozingo January 25, 2013 The trouble began soon after they arrived. The black family—a mother, three teenage children and a 10-year-old boy—moved into a...

A group of Latino males who claimed to be in a local street gang used metal pipes and shouted racial epithets [say hi to the new Hispanic majority].

Politico reported this morning that "Henry R. Muñoz III of San Antonio -- an Obama bundler and a national chairman of the Futuro Fund, a group of Latino leaders who raised money for the president’s reelection -- is expected to be named DNC Finance Chair, the first Latino to hold the title." What's also interesting about Muñoz, though Politico omitted this fact, is that he at least once dined with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. "Muñoz’s clout has only expanded in the ensuing years — in politics, philanthropy and his profession," mysanantonio.com reported two years ago.

Biden says something "profound" happened with the enormous Latino support for Obama, and he says the Latino community underestimates its power. He told the audience that they "spoke in a way that the world ... could not fail to hear." Biden said "America owes" Latinos and declared, "This is your moment"

Minority youth are more often arrested and in Washington state’s court system than their white counterparts, according to a recent study. Minority youth are arrested and in the Washington state court system more often than their white counterparts, a recent study commissioned by the state Supreme Court shows. But researchers said that counties aren’t keeping complete data on ethnicity and that the gap between minority and white youth is larger. Between 2007 and 2011, African-American youth were nearly 250 percent more likely to be referred to juvenile court for prosecution than their white counterparts. They are followed by Native-American youth,...

Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz is moving forward to establish procedures for removing voters from registration rolls if they can't prove citizenship, with a public hearing scheduled for today that is expected to draw critics who want to stop the change. “Schultz's proposed voter-suppression rules will unfairly target Latino immigrants, intimidate voters from exercising their rights and could result in voters' being purged from the rolls without cause,” said Ana Belen Mancebo, a member of the government watchdog group Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement.

PHILADELPHIA — Like many of his third-grade classmates, Mario Cortez-Pacheco likes reading the “Magic Tree House” series, about a brother and a sister who take adventurous trips back in time. He also loves the popular “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” graphic novels. But Mario, 8, has noticed something about these and many of the other books he encounters in his classroom at Bayard Taylor Elementary here: most of the main characters are white. “I see a lot of people that don’t have a lot of color,” he said.

As Republicans ponder how to win over Hispanics in future election cycles, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. A poll of Illinois Hispanics conducted by pollster Mike McKeon found that a majority shared views generally considered to be sympathetic to the Republican party. The poll found Hispanics in the conservative camp on social issues in particular. Fifty-one percent said they opposed legalizing gay marriage, compared to just 40 percent who favored legalization. Fifty-six percent called themselves pro-life, while just 33 percent said they were pro-choice. A small plurality of those surveyed said they did not...

After a Nov. 6 election that saw unprecedented gains in Latino political power, Latino organizations already are organizing voter-registration and citizenship drives aimed at increasing their influence further. Several groups are preparing to fan out to colleges, high schools and churches in coming months to register new voters. Citizenship workshops, including one in San Bernardino on Saturday, Dec. 1, aim to turn legal permanent residents into voter-eligible citizens. “The Latino vote really fulfilled its potential this past election in a way it hadn’t done before,” said Arnulfo De La Cruz, California director for Mi Familia Vota, a six-state voter-registration campaign...

They are not only the fastest growing population in the country, but Latinos are also spending 3 times more at the super market than everyone else. With more than $1 trillion in purchasing power, Latino consumers like Arlette Mendoza are gaining the attention of big name brands. “I personally like it," said the mother of two. "I think it's good that everyone else is discovering just how good our food is." Cereal companies, including General Mills are using flavors like Dulce de Leche with the hope of appealing to the growing Latino consumer. Richie Matthews is President of DIÁLOGO, a...

Rick Sanchez, the former CNN news anchor, will join the national news team of MundoFox, the newest Spanish-language network in the United States. Mr. Sanchez, who is bilingual, will contribute daily segments to the network in Spanish and will also host several news specials a year. He will be based in Miami.

While Latinos are gaining in political clout, they are also falling down the economic ladder, new Census numbers show. Latinos poverty rates climbed to 28 percent after the census reconfigured its algorithm to take into account medical costs and government programs. The Hispanic poverty level rose after the government took into account safety-net programs such as food stamps and housing, which have lower participation among immigrants and non-English speakers.

APIn Ryan Lizza's story in this week's The New Yorker, Texas' newly-elected Republican Senator Ted Cruz worries about the changing electoral landscape --- and how it could get even less favorable for the GOP in coming years.  Cruz provides what must be a truly terrifying thought for the Republican Party:"In not too many years, Texas could switch from being all Republican to all Democrat," he said. "If that happens, no Republican will ever again win the White House. New York and California are for the foreseeable future unalterably Democrat. If Texas turns bright blue, the Electoral College math is simple. We...

Inviting the Latino movement into your political party is like inviting the Jihadists in...its like picking up a live grenade!! If you look inside the Latino movement, you will find a fire-brand of anti-American and anti-white venom. It is their intent to take over this country for themselves. Check out the National Council of La Raza and key among the secondary organizations is the radical racist group Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, or Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan (MEChA), one of the most anti-American groups in the country, which has permeated U.S. campuses since the 1960s, and continues its push...

The call for Republicans to discard their opposition to immigration amnesty will grow deafening in the wake of President Obama’s victory. Hispanics supported Obama by a margin of nearly 75 percent to 25 percent, and may have provided important margins in some swing states. If only Republicans relented on their Neanderthal views regarding the immigration rule of law, the message will run, they would release the inner Republican waiting to emerge in the Hispanic population.  If Republicans want to change their stance on immigration, they should do so on the merits, not out of a belief that only immigration policy...

A couple of questions: 1) When are Republicans going to stop drinking their own bath water in regards to polling numbers? Twice in a row a significant portion of GOP voters have fell for the "skewed/biased polls" line. Sure there is some gamesmanship in the polls, but to consistently misinterpret them is sad. 2) When are Republicans going to learn they will never win by nominating liberal RINO candidates? Time and time again this happens. People voted against Obama, but almost no one voted for Mitt Romney. Of course what can you expect when you pick a candidate that lost...

Mexican actor and producer Eduardo Verastegui — considered among Hispanics to be the “Brad Pitt of Mexico” — released a new video Friday attacking President Barack Obama for supporting abortion and “betraying the values of Latinos...

As we go to press polls show America’s largest swing state in a dead head between Romney and Obama. Florida has 29 electoral votes and the third largest “Hispanic� population in America. Normally this means a cakewalk for any Democrat. But whoops! Turns out that about a third of these Florida Hispanics (Cuban-Americans) are actually so—as in Americans whose ancestors hail almost exclusively from Europe’s Iberian Peninsula known as Hispania by the Romans. So as a broken clock is right twice a day, the term “Hispanic� as used by the mainstream media can actually be correct about 1/1000 of...

October 31, 2012 Undocumented Youth Work to Boost Latino Vote Turnout By MIRIAM JORDAN Thousands of illegal-immigrant youths are at the forefront of national efforts to get immigrant and Latino citizens to the polls next week, the latest demonstration of the increasingly organized and vocal group's power. In swing states like Florida, Ohio and Colorado, the young people—often referred to as Dreamers after the failed Dream Act legislation that would have offered them a path to citizenship—are running phone banks, going door to door and approaching students on college campuses to encourage voting. They also are active in California, a...

Road Trip: The Effect Of The Hispanic Vote In Las Vegas May Not Stay In Vegas By Bob Sacha & Zach Wise LAS VEGAS—This city has seen more political commercials than anywhere else in 2012, more than anywhere else in the history of presidential campaigns: 73,000 TV ads, according to The New York Times. In an election with only a handful of states that are considered up for grabs, the importance of Nevada's six electoral votes was highlighted when President Barack Obama chose Lake Las Vegas, a golf resort east of here, as the place to spend three days preparing...

Comedian Paul Rodriguez is not joking. The man who made his mark in Hollywood finding humor in just about everything is – in a deadly serious way -- hitting back at fellow Latino celebrities Eva Longoria and Rosie Perez for their recent biting jabs at Mitt Romney. "When it gets personal, like they did, it goes below the belt,” he said. Rodriguez is featured in a new Latino-targeted ad for Romney, whom he is supporting after what he says is disappointment over President Obama. Rodriguez says he’d been a lifelong Democrat and voted for Obama in 2008. Longoria drew fire...

Hoping to bolster more support for Mitt Romney, a group of pastors is appealing to Latino voters on Monday – the day of the final presidential debate -- to support the candidate who holds conservative values. The group of Evangelical and Catholic faith leaders plans a press conference in Boca Raton, Fla., where the third and last 2012 presidential debate is scheduled to take place Monday night. In an announcement about the event, organizers describe President Obama as someone who has backed measures and policies that run counter to conservative views on marriage and abortion....

President Obama has Eva Longoria pitching his candidacy to fellow Latinos. Now, Mitt Romney has comedian Paul Rodriguez, an erstwhile Democrat who voted for Obama in 2008.

Latinos are divided by religion in their preferences in the upcoming presidential election, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Three-quarters of Latino Catholics (73%) and eight-in-ten religiously unaffiliated Latinos (82%) support President Barack Obama's re-election. However, among Latino evangelical Protestants, who account for 16% of all Latino registered voters, just 50% prefer Obama, while 39% support his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney.These same patterns are reflected in Latinos' partisan affiliations. Eight-in-ten religiously unaffiliated Latino voters (who make up 15% of the Latino electorate) and seven-in-ten Latino Catholics (57% of the Latino electorate) are Democrats or lean toward the Democratic...

Catholicism is on the decline in the United States. But the numbers would likely be even worse if it weren't for Latino immigrants, according to a recent Pew Research Center study. The study indicates that Catholicism has experienced the "greatest net losses" of any religion as a result of religious converts. While nearly one-in-three Americans (31 percent) were raised as Catholics, fewer than one in four adults call themselves Catholics, the survey found. But the attrittion has been slowed by immigration and the growth of the Hispanic population. One in three Catholics is Hispanic, and 62 percent of all Hispanics...

Mitt Romney aides say he has made crucial gains among Florida's Hispanic voters by portraying Obama as fatally weak, a perception they argue has particular power in the Latino community. A new Florida International University/Miami Herald poll released over the weekend shows President Obama leading Romney among likely Latino voters by just seven points, 51-44 percent. A Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald poll released late last week actually showed Romney ahead of Obama by two points—an 11-point shift from a month earlier. And a third poll, released Sunday by Public Policy Polling, shows Romney down just three points among Florida Hispanics....

We saw a pathetic turnout among Hispanics in the Texas Democrat primary.   In fact, District 33 was created for the sole purpose of electing a Hispanic Democrat.  It elected a black Democrat because Hispanics stayed home.   Only 19,000 voted in the runoff.     Hispanic apathy is nationwide, as explained by Chuck Todd of NBC:   "And then let me give you this last one here, because this is, I think, the most important one. And that's Hispanics. The President's winning Hispanics by 50 points. He hit the 70% mark. However, look at this in terms of interest in the...

VICTORVILLE (CBSLA.com) — Students at a high school in Victorville said violent fights have been breaking out between African-Americans and Latinos for the past two days. Rafael Muñoz said a group of people started the fights at Silverado High on Wednesday, which have poured out into the streets. “One person started fighting, then the other would jump in. And continuously jump in and (it) ended up to be mob fighting. (I) got pepper sprayed by the security,” he said. Cellphone video caught one brawl, which spilled into 14-year-old Jeremy Buenrostro’s lawn. “They busted my lip. Well, they broke my tooth....

In a speech to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan argued that taxes should be raised to support more subsidies for Latinos. “On balance, Latinos are more apt to be tax-consumers rather than tax-payers,” Donovan pointed out. “A robust program of government investment in housing, food stamps, and welfare disproportionately benefits Latinos. The GOP’s plan to cut this spending, on the other hand, would disproportionately hurt Latinos.” Donovan admitted that “making the case for tax hikes is not an easy one. The Republicans have done a pretty good job of making the IRS into...

Tonight, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is addressing the Republican National Convention. Why is he being given that honor, you say? That is a good question, since he is at great odds with both the party's nominee, the party's platform, and the American people on the issue of immigration, and continues to insult us on a weekly basis to pimp his pro-amnesty views that we have consistently rejected. At a forum on immigration, Bush said Republicans aren’t going to close the gap with Hispanic voters until they “stop acting stupid” by being too "tough" on "immigrants" (the usual code for illegal...

TAMPA - The following are the remarks as prepared for delivery by Luis Fortuño, Governor of Puerto Rico. The actual remarks may differ. The Hon. Luis Fortuño Governor of Puerto Rico (Remarks as Prepared for Delivery) August 29, 2012 Thank you. Buenas noches Puerto Rico! Buenas noches America! As a proud American serving the nearly 4 million American citizens of Puerto Rico, I am honored to be with you tonight. We gather to celebrate the hopes and dreams of every American. We all believe in the greatness of this nation, and this greatness lies within each of us. Hard-working Americans...

And Cruz was well rewarded for his efforts. He pretty much brought the house down. If any voters across the country were getting their first look at Cruz yesterday, they got an eyeful. And it was probably hard to come away from it unimpressed. Good evening. I have the honor of standing before you this evening for one reason, because thousands upon thousands of grassroots activists stood united, not for a candidate, but for the sake of restoring liberty. Accountability, quite rightly, rests firmly in the hands of “We the People.” Since 2010, something extraordinary has been happening, something that...

EXCLUSIVE NY state Assemblyman Naomi Rivera unwittingly shed light on the web of tax-funded Latino nonprofits in The Bronx —that benefit a self-serving collusive network of Latino insiders. Rivera installed her boyfriend to head the Bronx Council for Economic Development; he alleges Rivera used the group to fund their posh dates, sex romps and weekend getaways----and alleges Rivera used tax funds designated for "the poor" to finance her campaigns.

"Seniores" and "Señoritas" events held at an Anaheim high school — in which students dressed as gang members and a pregnant woman pushing a baby stroller — have been canceled after officials concluded the activities were demeaning toward Latinos and their culture. The events, which have been held for at least three years at Canyon High School, took place during senior activity week in June and were approved by campus administrators, according to school district officials. The event was canceled after the Orange Unified School District launched an internal investigation in June in response to two complaints filed by former...

<p>President Barack Obama’s support among Latino voters has dropped to a new low, according to a poll by Quinnipiac University.</p> <p>The poll, released Wednesday, found Obama support at 59 percent, well ahead of presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, which had 30 percent support. But the figure was significantly lower than that registered in a Fox News Latino poll released in March (he had 73 percent support) and a USA Today/Gallup poll published in June (66 percent).</p>

A new USA Today-Gallup poll shows that President Obama holds a big lead among Hispanic voters in his general election matchup against presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney — and that unemployment and economic growth, not immigration, remain the top issues for these voters. The survey of a random sample of 1,753 adults between April 16 and May 31 showed Mr. Obama leading Mr. Romney by a 66 percent to 25 percent margin. "Given the current dampened support for Obama among non-Hispanic whites, Obama's ability to build support or, more specifically, registration and turnout, among Hispanics in 2012 is widely seen...

by John HillStand With ArizonaWhy doesn't Barack Obama trust Latinos with knives and forks at a dinner reception?Washington is buzzing about a new scandal - no, not 'Fast and Furious', that is just the GOP contributing to our "broken politics", or the rantings of a lone nutbag blogger (pay no attention to that pesky dead border agent, or Obama's assertion of executive privilege). No, the big new scandal is how Obama's security detail confiscated the forks of every member of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) before Obama would come out to speak. This after denying them knives to eat...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. --Does a fork or dinner knife pose an unacceptable danger to President Barack Obama? One wouldn’t think so, given the hundreds of lunches and dinners he’s attended ranging from state dinners to political fundraisers to run-of-the-mill stops on the rubber-chicken circuit. However, at one such lunch Friday afternoon, guests heard an unusual announcement that they needed to hand over their silverware for security reasons. “It’s very important that you use your utensils as soon as possible,” National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials board member Raquel Regalado told about 1000 delegates at the group’s annual...

Mitt Romney is hoping that when Hispanic voters go to the polls, the economy will be at the forefront of their minds. “Hispanics have been hit disproportionately hard,” Romney said in his speech yesterday at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) conference, referring to the economy under President Obama. “While national unemployment is still above 8 percent, Hispanic unemployment is at 11 percent.” A couple of sentences later, Romney again emphasized how Hispanics in particular had been hurt by the recession. “Over 2 million more Hispanics are living in poverty today than the day President Obama...

At least I presume Senator Marco Rubio chewed out Univision interviewer Jorge Ramos as presented in the network’s English-language transcript. I took French in high school, as did most who grew up in the heavily Francophone area of, er … Los Angeles. Mediaite has the clip and a little of the background of the dispute between Univision and Rubio, some of which gets aired in the exchange between Rubio and Ramos, but a key part doesn’t get mentioned at all: When Ramos tried to say the network went to the senator’s office, he declared that a lie and argued that...

O'Reilly: "... How can you blame kids when they're dragged to the USA from wherever? If you're a fair person you can't. It's not the childs fault immigration laws are broken, it's the parents who did it; thus the new policy is humane..."