Study finds many issues for Latinos
Study finds many issues for Latinos
http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2008 ... r-latinos/
By Amy Dominello
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
Published: August 3, 2008
Hispanic voters have emerged over the past 10 years as an important constituency, and both John McCain and Barack Obama are devoting significant resources to wooing Hispanics.
But immigration reform doesn't always top the list of concerns for those voters. Family and pocketbook issues often rank higher among the concerns of Hispanic voters, said Susan Minushkin, the deputy director of the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center.
"It is not the top issue," she said. "It is never the top issue for Hispanic voters."
In a survey the center released last week, 75 percent of registered Hispanic voters ranked immigration as an important issue. But it ranked below education, cost of living, jobs, health care, crime and the war in Iraq.
And although McCain has a history when it comes to immigration reform, 59 percent of Hispanic voters polled said that Obama would do a better job of dealing with immigration than McCain. Nineteen percent believe that McCain would do better.
Clarissa Martinez, the director of immigration and national campaigns for the nonpartisan civil-rights group the National Council of La Raza, said that Latino voters don't differ much from the rest of the electorate.
The way candidates approach immigration reform can influence Latino voters, she said.
"It does become a proxy for how a candidate feels about or regards this community," Martinez said. "It's felt at a very personal level."
