Thread: 'Pocketbook concerns' top priority for Hispanic voters

'Pocketbook concerns' top priority for Hispanic voters
By Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Thursday, August 28, 2008

The largest Hispanic voter research project that Democratic pollster Andrew Myers has ever heard of included 17 focus groups and nearly 1,800 separate interviews in Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona.

All that work, and the result is this: The top concerns of Hispanics look pretty much like the top concerns of everyone else.

"Pocketbook concerns dominate," said Myers, of Myers Research in Springfield, Va., which worked on Project New West: Hispanic Voters in the New Western Battleground.

That means the rising cost of gas is a very serious concern for 93 percent of those interviewed, and gay marriage is a very serious concern for only 32 percent.

Or, as one respondent told Myers' group, "I would support gay marriage if it would fill my tank with gas so I could get to work."

Social issues such as gay marriage, abortion and illegal immigration have moved to the back burner, Myers said in a press conference with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson during this week's Democratic National Convention.

"When we asked in an open- ended exercise, what is the most important issue in deciding your vote for president, a full majority, 55 percent, said the economy, jobs - everything is clustered in that area," Myers said.

"That was followed by the war in Iraq, which is as much an economic issue in these voters' minds because we're spending $2 billion a week there rather than focusing on our needs at home."

Illegal immigration was a deciding issue for one in four of those interviewed, Myers noted, and only 35 percent listed it as a serious concern. "When they express concerns about illegal immigration," he said, "it is far more about the Republican rhetoric, which has damaged them deeply."

The research was done in July and August. The poll of likely Hispanic voters in the four states has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, Myers said.

What Hispanics care about has been a hot topic in DNC meetings this week, and it is hard to overstate the perceived importance of the Hispanic vote. On Monday, Sen. Hillary Clinton spoke at the Hispanic delegate caucus and, on Wednesday, Michelle Obama appeared before the group.

"There is nothing that will be easy about the next few months," Michelle Obama said. "That's why you all are so important."

Myers' poll shows Barack Obama leading likely rival John McCain by nearly 2-to-1 among Hispanic voters in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada.

So why the heavy push? Simple, Myers said, Hispanic voter registration rates and voter participation rates are far lower than those of Anglos and blacks.

In 2004, 58 percent of Hispanics ages 18 and older were registered to vote, 11 percentage points below blacks and 17 points below whites, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

And in the 2006 election in Colorado, a state with a Hispanic population of about 20 percent, only 7 percent turned out to vote, exit polling showed. Low turnouts also were seen in Nevada and Arizona.

Some Hispanic leaders, including Richardson, have said the Obama campaign is not doing enough to court the Hispanic vote.

"He needs to visit more, he needs to campaign more in the West," Richardson said this week. "He needs to put more resources in the West, more volunteers, more offices."

Obama's deputy Latino vote director agreed that the Hispanic outreach effort may have started a little late.

"Our campaign for a year leading up to Iowa was focused completely on Iowa," said Carlos Odio. "There wasn't any national campaign or outreach constituency."

It worked in winning Obama the Iowa primary. But a state with a Hispanic population of less than 4 percent provided little practice in courting Hispanics.

Contrast that to Clinton's effort, which included spending $100 million pre-Iowa on a full constituency outreach that included Hispanics, among others.

"We were focused on the numbers," Odio said. "It wasn't about developing relationships per se."

The emphasis now has shifted to "introducing" Obama to Hispanic voters, Odio said.

"One of the things the campaign takes a lot of pride in is something we like to call the enthusiasm gap between our supporters and McCain's supporters," Odio said. "Our supporters are a lot more enthused. But I wouldn't necessarily say that's the case with Hispanics, because they're still getting to know him."

In the 70 or so days before Election Day, he said Obama's activity in the West will pick up:

"We think if we win Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, Barack Obama is president of the United States."


http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2 ... -hispanic/

My question is: have the voter rolls in these states been proven as to accuracy of the ability for a person registered to vote for voter fraud by illegals has been hitting the headlines these days?

Yeah ..... our pocketbooks. That's what interests them.