PAPER: Dems gain demo edge; Rise in minority population should help...

Democrats gain demographic edge in US

By Richard McGregor in Washington
Published: April 4 2011 19:47
Last updated: April 5 2011 00:27

Barack Obama’s campaign for re-election as US president, launched with a video and fundraising website on Monday, is targeting a population which has been transformed racially in the past decade in ways that could have profound repercussions for the 2012 poll.

The electorate has become less white and more Hispanic more rapidly than predicted, according to the national census, two trends that will influence elections for decades.

America is in the midst of a profound demographic change. Each election now brings a different electorate than the one just past,â€