Hispanic Vision Forum

Why Did John McCain Lose the Latino Vote?

2008-11-13T11:33:00.002-05:00

The massive movement of Latino voters to Obama has baffled some pundits and intrigued others. John McCain is arguably the most pro-immigrant Republican in the Senate and he took sometimes heroic stands in opposition to his own party's evolving anti-immigrantism. He was a frequent guest at Latino banquets and won awards from many major immigrant organizations.Meanwhile, Barak Obama was clearly not

Obama won big among Hispanics -- with GOP's help

2008-11-13T11:29:00.001-05:00

One of the big surprises of Tuesday's elections: Florida's Hispanic population voted heavily for Democratic candidate Barack Obama after decades of allegiance to Republican presidential candidates.If the exit polls are correct, Obama won 57 percent of Florida's Hispanic vote, while Republican John McCain won 42 percent. It was the first time that a majority of Florida Hispanics voted for a

Spanish Political Ads' Multiple Translations

2008-11-13T11:04:00.002-05:00

Outreach Can Send a Mixed MessageHow fitting that the most Latinized presidential campaign season in history enters its final week with the Democratic candidate looking deep into our eyes and carefully pronouncing 65 words in Spanish."Compartimos un sueño. . . . Este es el sueño Americano."Just two questions about Barack Obama's new television ad: What is he saying, and to whom is he saying it?

Myth of the Latino Vote

2008-11-13T10:59:00.002-05:00

Aside from passionate political discussions, populist promises and negative campaigns that flirt with libel, presidential elections also have the peculiarity of rediscovering forgotten groups of voters every four years.Since the number of Hispanics began to increase rapidly in the 1980s, candidates to any elected government position, as well as the news media, started to speculate about the

Campaigns woo new Hispanic citizens as key bloc

2008-10-15T23:03:00.003-04:00

MIAMI (AP) — On a muggy afternoon, more than 3,000 immigrants, most of them Hispanic, wave flags, cheer and weep as they swear to protect and defend the United States of America as its newest citizens.Moments later, dozens of volunteers from the Democratic and Republican parties swoop down on the new citizens as they file out of their citizenship ceremony in a Miami auditorium, competing to sign

Florida Hispanics sticking with GOP

2008-10-15T22:59:00.002-04:00

As Democrat Barack Obama headlines a rally Wednesday during his second campaign swing through Florida in as many weeks, he faces a challenge in the diverse battleground state: winning over Hispanics.He's 10 percentage points behind Republican John McCain among Hispanics in Florida, according to a Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times/Bay News 9 poll released Sunday that showed a tight race overall.

A unifying election?

2008-09-09T12:27:00.002-04:00

If Barack Obama wants to win Central Florida and carry the state in November, he'll need the votes of Hispanics, who constitute 14 percent of the region's registered voters.For that to happen, Obama must prove himself as the candidate who can transcend the everyday differences that separate blacks and Hispanics.In Central Florida, the two minority groups have many issues in common --

He's young, Hispanic, and bullish on GOP

2008-09-04T16:10:00.001-04:00

Vergel Cruz doesn't believe in identity politicsST. PAUL, MINN. — The night's partying had stretched past midnight at the honky-tonk-themed party that AT&T threw for Texas delegates in Minneapolis.So Houston tutor Vergel Cruz was not surprised to see at Wednesday's delegation breakfast that some of his less nimble fellow GOP delegates had not yet two-stepped out of bed.Republicans want more young

Survey shows diversity is an issue for Florida's GOP delegation

2008-09-04T16:06:00.001-04:00

ST. PAUL -- The national Republican Party was poised to make history Wednesday by nominating a folksy, straight-talking, working mother of five for vice president, a move party officials said will drive home the message that they are the party of the people.But the demographics of the Florida delegation paint a different picture.A party survey of the 225-member delegation turned up six blacks and

The 'Bola' Is In McCain's Court

2008-09-04T16:03:00.002-04:00

When they come to the barrios to seek the Hispanic vote, Democratic Party leaders tell us anything we want to hear, especially about their plans to fix our broken immigration system and to grant some kind of amnesty to the 12 million illegal immigrants already living here.But when they address a national audience, as they did from their convention in Denver last week, you don't hear anything that

Hispanics, once again, a political non-factor at Democratic Convention

2008-09-04T12:41:00.002-04:00

The political mantra from the campaign of Barack Obama has been about the great need for change! At political rallies our community has heard the rallying cries of “Si Se Puede.” For the Hispanic community the rallying call stood as a beacon of hope, one that many hoped would bring the light of day to our ongoing political struggle. Many stood and listened to Obama speak about the immigration

Political parties try to enlist Hispanics

2008-09-03T08:51:00.000-04:00

Spanish speakers seeking deals on a hot and humid summer Saturday also had to answer to a civics question popular this time of year."Are you registered to vote?" Democratic party volunteer Margarita Heideman asked shoppers in Spanish.Political parties are posing that same question in Hispanic neighborhoods across the country, a faction U.S. Census data show is the nation's fastest growing

'Pocketbook concerns' top priority for Hispanic voters

2008-08-28T10:57:00.002-04:00

The largest Hispanic voter research project that Democratic pollster Andrew Myers has ever heard of included 17 focus groups and nearly 1,800 separate interviews in Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona.All that work, and the result is this: The top concerns of Hispanics look pretty much like the top concerns of everyone else."Pocketbook concerns dominate," said Myers, of Myers Research in

Your party or your people?

2008-08-28T10:55:00.001-04:00

They seek personal political empowerment so they can help their people.But something happens to many Hispanic community activists on their way to gaining that power. In order to move up the ladder, they often are forced to cut deals with the political establishment and to become peons of political party machines.Rapidly -- before you can say, "No se vendan!" ("Don't sell yourselves!") -- many of

Latinos May Be Critical for Democrats

2008-08-28T10:50:00.003-04:00

If the West holds the keys to the White House, Latinos may hold the keys to the West.The Latino vote has never been as important or as heavily sought as in this election. That’s particularly true in the West, where critical battleground states also have large Hispanic populations.“The Latino vote is going to elect the next president,” says Federico Peña, the former Denver mayor and member of

Obama, Lacking Personal Connection, Draws Hispanics on Issues

2008-08-26T09:08:00.002-04:00

Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama may lack a strong personal connection with Hispanics, but he gets good marks on issues those voters say matter most: health care, the Iraq war, education and jobs.``I see a sunrise and a sunset,'' said Republican Dwayne Chavez, a 43-year-old blood-bank technician from Aurora, Colorado, describing the differences between Illinois Senator Obama and his Republican

McCain's Counter-Programming: Daddy Yankee

2008-08-26T09:04:00.001-04:00

It was a sight you don’t see very often on the GOP campaign trail: John McCain, surrounded by a bevy of squealing teenage girls, many of them so red-faced and struggling to breathe they seemed in danger of passing out right there on the spot. “Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod,” one gasped, nervously fanning herself with her hands. A few feet away, another girl looked as though she had just completed the

Rising Hispanic vote shifts focus off Cuba

2008-08-26T09:01:00.002-04:00

Carlos Pereira grinned widely as he stood in the outgoing tide of newly sworn-in citizens leaving a Miami naturalization ceremony. So far, he had registered 328 people, mostly from Latin American countries. Only 62 of them were from Cuba.''This year is exceptional because there is so much diversity,'' said Pereira, a native of Honduras who heads the Miami-based Center for Immigrant Orientation. `

Recession drives educated Puerto Ricans to South Florida

2008-08-20T11:26:00.001-04:00

AGUAS, Puerto Rico -- As a salesman for a health club in a suburb outside Puerto Rico's capital, Frank Oquendo saw up close how his earnings and the gym's membership base tanked along with Puerto Rico's economy.Earlier this year, Oquendo's bosses cut his pay by 25 percent as a third of the Caguas club's members canceled their contracts because they were leaving Puerto Rico. After two years of

2008 Election Forecast: All Eyes on Florida, Again

2008-08-08T08:10:00.001-04:00

Florida has been hotly contested in each of the past four elections. Bill Clinton finished 100,000 votes behind President George Bush in 1992, but four years later he carried the state by 303,000 votes. George W. Bush , after his virtual tie — just 537 votes — with Al Gore in 2000, won the most decisive victory of the four in 2004 — by 381,000 votes over John Kerry .John McCain got off to

Obama Fatigue - 48% Hearing Too Much About Him

2008-08-06T20:04:00.001-04:00

As he has since January, this week, Barack Obama enjoyed much more visibility as far as the public was concerned than did John McCain. By a margin of 76% to 11% respondents in Pew's weekly News Interest Index survey named Obama over McCain as the candidate they have heard the most about in recent days. But the same poll also shows that the Democratic candidate's media dominance may not be working

Latino Voters in Central Florida up for Grabs, Study Says

2008-08-06T19:58:00.001-04:00

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama will have to work hard to win the votes of the Hispanic community in Central Florida because these voters lack firm party allegiances, according to a study released Thursday."It's something very interesting, very special here in Orlando and its surroundings: the Hispanic voting population isn't defined. One moment the majority votes Republican

McCain, in Orlando, will have to work for Hispanic vote

2008-08-01T20:23:00.002-04:00

Republican presidential candidate John McCain is in town today to court black voters at the National Urban League convention.He'll also try to show some love to Central Florida's Hispanics, the region's fastest-growing voting bloc.Since 1990, their numbers have quadrupled to about 650,000, according to Democracia USA, a nonpartisan Hispanic voter-registration organization. Their voting population

Democracia on McCain outreach: "I just don't see it."

2008-08-01T20:18:00.001-04:00

Democracia USA, the Miami-based Hispanic political outreach group, held a press conference in Orlando Thursday to tout the region's growing swing Latino voting base and try to entice both presidential candidates to talk about their issues.But Democracia President Jurge Mursuli was blunt when we asked what Hispanic outreach he was seeing in Florida from Republican John McCain."I don't," he said

Obama, Democrats earmark $20 million for Hispanic-focused ads

2008-07-29T20:42:00.001-04:00

Presidential contender Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee will spend $20 million this election cycle on advertising and other outreach to Hispanic voters. The new push was announced Tuesday with U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Tucson Democrat, playing a key role in the effort.Hispanics are key voting blocks in presidential battlegrounds such as New Mexico, Nevada and Florida. The