National Review
By Eliana Johnson
July 2, 2013 11:53 AM

Rubio has inched up only 1 percentage point from a place where many analysts saw room, with the right legislative moves from Republican politicians, for ample improvement.

Marco Rubio’s push for immigration reform has yet to boost him much in the eyes of the nation’s Hispanic voters.

A poll of likely Hispanic voters in the 2016 presidential race shows Rubio trailing potential Democratic nominees Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden 66-28 percent and 60-28 percent respectively. Clinton is also viewed favorably by a whopping 73 percent of Hispanic voters, while 17 percent hold a negative view of the former first lady and secretary of state; Rubio’s favorability rating is slimmer: 31-29.

Rubio, however, came out on top among Hispanic voters among potential GOP candidates in a potential primary race with 29 percent of the vote, followed by New Jersey governor Chris Christie with 14 percent, former Florida governor Jeb Bush with 13 percent, and former vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan with 11 percent.

A plurality of those polled — 41 percent — said that the GOP’s support for an immigration bill would have no effect on their feelings toward the Republican party.

The push for immigration reform on the part of many Republicans, including Rubio, comes on the heels of what many viewed as Mitt Romney’s devastating performance among Hispanics in the 2012 election.

Romney lost the Hispanic vote by a 71-27 margin, and while President Obama’s Democratic colleagues are trailing his performance in the last election in a potential 2016 battle, Rubio has inched up only 1 percentage point from a place where many analysts saw room, with the right legislative moves from Republican politicians, for ample improvement.

The poll, from Latino Decisions, was conducted between June 20 and June 30 among 1,200 Latinos who voted in the 2008 and 2012 elections; the results carry a 2.8 percent margin of error.

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