Poll: Latino voters increasingly support Obama
President Barack Obama seems to have fallen short on economic and immigration promises he made to Latino voters before he was elected.
Still, his approval ratings among Latino voters increased to 70 percent after falling as low as 57 percent in June 2010 in a Gallup poll, according to La Opinión.
The Spanish-language newspaper cited a poll conducted by its parent company ImpreMedia and Latino Decisions, a research group that focuses on issues facing Latinos.
In 2008, Obama garnered 67 percent of the Latino votes, according to La Opinión. The same poll also concluded that Latino voters would not automatically vote for Obama. Only about 43 percent said they would vote for him next year.
"There is no doubt that Obama has the ability to win the Latino vote, and he still has solid support within the community,'' Matt Barreto, a political science professor at the University of Washington, told La Opinión. "But when it comes to whether they will vote for him for sure, Latinos show a margin of doubt."
Barreto is also a pollster for Latino Decisions.
During his campaign Obama promised some sort of immigration reform that would legalize the millions here illegally and passage of the DREAM Act, which grants some students and military hopefuls a pathway to legal residency. Neither has happened.
The same poll also found that only 9 percent of Latino voters said they would vote for a Republican candidate. Another 8 percent said they might vote for a GOP candidate.
"I think the most interesting story here is how badly the Republicans are faring with Latinos," Gary Segura, a political science professor at Stanford University, told La Opinión. "It is as if Latinos are not pro-Democrat, but rather anti-Republican."
Five hundred Latino voters were polled in January and February 2011 in 21 states where 95 percent of registered Latino voters live. The margin of error is +/-4.38 percent.