Obama and the Latino Vote

With Clinton out, the Latino vote goes to Obama. The Pew poll shows Obama stands well with Latinos. This should come as no surprise. With the choice being between McCain and Obama, Obama seems to be winning. RGN

Press Release July 24, 2008 For Immediate Release Contact: Mary Seaborn info@pewhispanic.org 202-419-3606 or Brandon Maitlen bmaitlen@pewresearch.org 202-419-4372 Hispanics Support Obama over McCain for President by Nearly Three-to-One, Pew Hispanic Center Survey Finds Hispanic registered voters support Democrat Barack Obama for president over Republican John McCain by 66% to 23%, according to a nationwide survey of 2,015 Latinos conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, from June 9 through July 13, 2008. The presumptive Democratic nominee's strong showing in this survey represents a sharp reversal in his fortunes from the primaries, when Obama lost the Latino vote to Hillary Clinton by a nearly two-to-one ratio, giving rise to speculation in some quarters that Hispanics were disinclined to vote for a black candidate. In this new survey, three times as many respondents said being black would help Obama (32%) with Latino voters than said it would hurt him (11%); the majority (53%) said his race would make no difference to Latino voters. In addition to their strong support for Obama, Latino voters have moved sharply into the Democratic camp in the past two years, reversing a pro-GOP tide that had been evident among Latinos earlier in the decade. Some 65% of Latino registered voters now say they identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, compared with just 26% who identify with or lean toward the GOP. This 39 percentage point Democratic Party identification edge is larger than it has been at any time this decade; as recently as 2006, the partisan gap was just 21 percentage points. The report also examines Hispanic registered voter engagement, party identification, ratings of national conditions, and top campaign issues. The report, 2008 National Survey of Latinos: Hispanic Voter Attitudes, is available at the Pew Hispanic Center's website, www.pewhispanic.org.

The Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, is a non-partisan, non-advocacy research organization based in Washington, D.C. and is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.