Latino Voters: Four Myths

They don't want Spanish-language ads—and they will vote for a black guy
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 30, 2008 3:07 PM CDT
Latino Voters: Four Myths
Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is given applause as he delivers his remarks to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Pundits are way off on Hispanic voters, writes Arian Campo-Flores in Newsweek. Four common misconceptions:

  • Immigration is everything. A recent survey showed that education, health care, the economy, and crime were more important in the demographic. Recent immigrants are most likely to care about immigration—and least likely to be voters.

  • Spanish-language ads, por favor. Actually, only 11% of these voters speak only Spanish at home.
  • They’re swing voters. Bush cut into the Latino vote a bit, but these are Democratic voters who break ranks at the margins.
  • They won’t vote for an African-American. Barack Obama is winning Hispanics 2-1.
(More Barack Obama stories.)

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