Thread: Hispanic voters punish Republicans in US elections

http://elections.us.reuters.com/top/new ... 55448.html

PHOENIX, Arizona, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Hispanic voters irked by the Republican hard line on immigration policy turned out in force and helped Democrats win in U.S. congressional elections, according to exit polls and analysts.

Democrats won control of the U.S. House of Representatives in Tuesday's elections, and clinched control of the Senate by a 51-49 majority when a final race was decided on Thursday.

Exit polls showed more than two-thirds of Hispanics voted for Democrats in House races, while just 27 percent voted for Republicans.

Latino activists said many were revved up to support Democrats by a GOP pledge to crack down on illegal immigration and build stretches of wall along the Mexico border.

The policy was crafted to reach out to core conservative voters. But along with widespread concern at President George W. Bush's handling of the Iraq war, it triggered a backlash among Latino voters.

"(Treating) immigration as a wedge issue dealt a double whammy to the Republican Party" at the polls, said Clarissa Martinez, the director of state policy for the National Council of La Raza activist group.

"It didn't work as a strategy with the broader electorate, and it actually had the effect of driving Latinos away from the Republican party," she added.

Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority in the United States and comprise about 9.3 million voters.

Exit polls showed nearly seven of 10 Hispanics voted Democratic in races for House seats. Some 27 percent voted Republican, and 4.6 percent for independent candidates.

BUILDING WALLS OR MENDING FENCES?

Nationally, Hispanics have no affiliation as a group to either major U.S. political party, and in the past they have given greater support to the Republicans than they did on Tuesday.

The question is whether they will remain disenchanted with Republicans as the United States prepares for the presidential election in 2008.

Activists say the key will be how Republicans and Democrats approach the thorny issue of what to do with the 10-12 million illegal immigrants living and working in the country.

Bush and the outgoing Senate favored a comprehensive overhaul of immigration policy that included boosting security on the Mexico border and creating a guest worker program, which is favored by Hispanics.

But House Republicans pushed through Congress a plan to build 700 miles (1,120 km) of fence along several stretches of the U.S.-Mexican border to try to keep out illegal immigrants.

"If the Republicans keep building walls and talking about immigrants as criminals ... they have no where to go but down," said Jorge Mursuli of Democracia USA, which seeks to increase the participation of Hispanics in the democratic process.

"The question isn't whether Hispanics are going or staying, but how quickly they become a part of the fabric of the electorate," he added.

Hogwash. I'm so sick of this revisionism. Hispanics have always voted strongly against Republicans, regardless of whether they support amnesty or not. Bush can spew amnesty until he's blue in the face, hispanics won't support the Republican party and they never will. Hispanics that vote strongly against the Republicans only care about their own race. Not one media outlet is telling the truth on this and are giving Bush a free pass and it makes me sick.

I live in an area where there are few hispanics and one of our republican candidates did not get re-elected to the congress and it certainly had nothing to do with hispanics.

Hogwash. I'm so sick of this revisionism. Hispanics have always voted strongly against Republicans, regardless of whether they support amnesty or not.

Exactly right, Dman. Except in Miami. They vote largely Republican there because they say that they believe the Republicans are stronger against communism.....and Fidel Castro. Only in Miami though. One place.

But the Republicans play on that to the hilt in Miami.

Jose Diaz Bilart, Illeana Ross Lehtinen, Mel Martinez (a high Cuban population in Tampa too) all the local city elected people in Miami and
Jeb Bush used to be head of the Dade County Republican Party before becoming governor.

The Republicans have always catered to that crowd in Miami. They act as though it's the same around the country and it is not.

Why do you think so many Americans have chosen to or been forced to leave Miami just to survive and earn a living?

Remember the American who worked for the Dade County School Board for years and she was told to learn Spanish in 3 or 6 months or lose her job?!! What American wants to live under those kinds of conditions in their own country ???

Guess anyone can vote...huh?...legal or illegal...if they unite in huge numbers...they can control WHO our government is...and WHAT they do.

this is plain bull shit.

The only way that hispanics did any punishing was by voting ILLEGALLY.
Otherwise, the props in Arizona would have LOST but they overwhelmingly WON.

Why? Because the ILLEGALS who voted didn't know anything about the props and were only capable of voting as instructed: for anything that said "democrat."

.

Can't think of his name right now...JD Hayworth?...outspoken House of Representatives member from Arizona...working hard to secure the border and solve the illegal immigration invasion...LOST the election. HOW did this happen???

I am not sure if he was, but someone on the radio said they were going to recount some votes because there is something wrong going on there (Maricopa y some other county)

Perhaps this had more to do with some of the candidates not getting re-elected than any hispanics. Americans are sick of the corruption.

http://thinkprogress.org/abramoff

2ndamendsis wrote:

Why? Because the ILLEGALS who voted didn't know anything about the props and were only capable of voting as instructed: for anything that said "democrat."

You're exactly right! Many of those folks voted simply as they were instructed to do by La Raza and other illegal immigrant advocacy groups. In other words, they didn't vote as Americans, they voted as illegal immigrant supporters. It was called, "follow the leader."