Thread: McCain works on building Hispanic support

McCain works on building Hispanic support
Presumptive GOP presidential nominee has Latino support in home state but is struggling nationwide.

By Eunice Moscoso
WASHINGTON BUREAU
Monday, September 01, 2008

WASHINGTON — John McCain, who received more than 70 percent of the Latino vote in his most recent Senate re-election bid in Arizona, is struggling to attract Hispanic voters nationwide.

The presumptive GOP nominee is trailing Sen. Barack Obama by a wide margin, according to various polls.

As the Republican National Convention begins, McCain is waging an uphill battle for Latinos, a key voting bloc in several contested states, including Florida, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada.

A Gallup poll conducted Aug. 18-24 showed that 58 percent of registered Hispanic voters preferred Obama and 31 percent preferred McCain.

A survey released last month by the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, showed a wider margin: 66 percent preferred Obama, 23 percent McCain.

Hessy Fernandez, McCain's spokeswoman for Hispanic media, said that the climate for Republicans this year is difficult but that many Latinos will ultimately vote for McCain based on his record.

"Sen. McCain has been fighting for the issues Latinos care about for over two decades. ... He is a true friend of the Latino community," she said.

The campaign is reaching out aggressively to Hispanics, with efforts including Spanish and English language advertising on the Internet, radio and TV in Florida and other swing states.

The campaign's goal is to get more than 45 percent of the Hispanic vote nationwide, Fernandez said.

McCain is spending time with Latinos and other Americans at town hall meetings across the country and has received many endorsements from Latino leaders, Fernandez added.

President Bush received 40 percent of the Latino vote in 2004, a record for a Republican presidential candidate. But exit polls showed that Latino support for Republicans in the 2006 midterm elections fell to about 27 percent.

Political analysts said McCain's poor showing with Latinos is surprising.

McCain championed an immigration measure popular with Hispanics that would have given illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.

However, McCain has backed away from his immigration bill during the campaign, saying that the border must be secure before any legalization efforts.

Analysts say McCain is hurt by many Latinos' negative view of his party.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/n ... sider.html

McCain needs to be getting the support of the AMerican workers displaced ;by illegal aliens ....such as the hundreds of Americans in Louisiana...who were fired, laid off, or never hired in favor of the illegal alien Mexican workforce at Howard Industries. Methinks if McCain would issue a statement supporting the black Americans at Howard Industries who were passed over for jobs, laid off or fired.....he'd convert a lot of Obama votes.....

We should send this articles regarding the Howard Industries raids to Sara Palin's people. I think she "gets it" on this issue.