Obama, GOP vie for Hispanic vote in 2012 elections
The Census Bureau has released new data providing more evidence that the Hispanic vote could be critical in the 2012 elections.
Hispanics made up 7% of voters in the 2010 congressional elections -- the highest percentage for a non-presidential year since the Census Bureau began collecting such data in 1974.
The new Census information comes as President Obama, who won most of the Latino vote in 2008, is trying to boost his standing among Hispanics. The latest Gallup Poll found 48% of Hispanics approve of the way Obama is doing his job -- a low mark since he took office.
The 2010 elections provided many successes for Hispanics, with 30 Latinos elected to the U.S. House and Republican Marco Rubio of Florida elected to the U.S. Senate. Two Latinos -- both Republicans -- were elected governors last year: Brian Sandoval in Nevada and Susana Martinez in New Mexico.
This week, the Democratic National Committee began airing Spanish-language ads in Florida and other parts of the country with large Hispanic populations to promote Obama's jobs plan. The ads say, "Unete por mas trabajos" -- stand together for more jobs.
Obama did some outreach of his own yesterday among Hispanics, speaking at a town hall meeting sponsored by Yahoo!, MSN Latino and the AOL Latino/Huffington Post Latino Voices websites.
Republicans see opportunity in Obama's soft standing among Hispanics. A recent poll by Resurgent Republic shows Obama underperforms among Hispanics in Florida, Colorado and New Mexico -- states that will be key to the presidential election.
In each of those three states, Hispanic voters say Obama has not delivered on promises made in 2008. The sentiment is highest in Florida, where 56% of Hispanics say Obama hasn't delivered, according to the Resurgent Republic survey.
There are challenges as well, especially when it comes to issues dealing with illegal immigration. The GOP poll found that majorities of Hispanics favor a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the USA -- which Obama has supported -- and blame Republicans in Congress for failing to pass a bill overhauling the immigration system.