The GOP Lag Among Latinos

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/21/AR2006072101400.html

The GOP Lag Among Latinos

By David S. Broder
Sunday, July 23, 2006; Page B07

Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida is one frustrated and worried Republican.

For six years, first as secretary of housing and urban development and more recently as a senator, the Cuban refugee has labored to build support for President Bush and other Republicans among his fellow Hispanics.

But now, he said in an interview, "I see us throwing it away" in the fight that has split the GOP on the immigration issue.

I went to see Martinez the morning after NDN -- an affiliate of the Democratic Party -- released a survey of Hispanic voters who predominantly speak Spanish. It showed a sharp decline in their approval of Bush and the GOP. A group that makes up 5 percent of the electorate and that has been the source of striking Republican gains in the past two presidential races is turning away. Bush's favorability rating has sunk from the 60 percent level to 38 percent among these voters, and Democrats as a party lead the GOP by 24 percentage points.

DNC: GOP Hispanic Outreach Falls Flat; Poll Shows Democrats With 59 percent-23 percent Lead if Elections Were Held Today

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=69562

7/20/2006 4:40:00 PM

To: National Desk

Contact: Luis Miranda of the DNC Press Office, 202-863-8148

WASHINGTON, July 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Washington Post reports today that despite the Republican Party's rosy rhetoric about their outreach to Hispanic voters and the inroads they've made, Hispanics are in fact now overwhelmingly rejecting the failed leadership of President Bush and the Republican Congress. The results come less than a month after Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman told an audience of Latino elected officials from around the country that reaching out to Hispanics was "vitally important" and claimed that "a Republican Party that does not reach out to Hispanics cannot win ... and a Republican Party that does not reach out to Hispanics does not deserve to win." (Washington Post, 7/20/2006; Ken Mehlman remarks at NALEO, 6/22/2006)

The report details a new poll that shows that although Bush "had boosted the Republican share of the overall Hispanic vote to 40 percent in 2004, with almost all his gains coming among the Spanish-speaking voters," today Spanish speakers, roughly half of the Hispanic voting population, would choose the Democrat "59 percent to 23 percent -- far better than the 52 percent to 48 percent showing Kerry achieved among Spanish speakers in 2004." (Washington Post, 7/20/2006)

The poll, released yesterday, shows a full 61 percent of respondents saying the country is headed in the wrong direction, and President Bush with a 58 percent unfavorable rating. In a rebuke of Republican economic policies, an overwhelming 86 percent of respondents worried that the cost of living has increased, and ranked the economy only second to the war in Iraq when asked to identify the greatest issues facing the country. Democrats also outperformed Republicans in 17 of 20 issues, including "respects more my religious beliefs," "better use of my tax money," and "family values." (New Democrat Network, 7/19/2006)

The news also comes just a week after a Pew Hispanic Center Survey showed that 75 percent of Hispanics believe many more Hispanics will vote in the November elections, and that when they do, registered Hispanic voters would choose Democrats over Republicans 46 percent vs 9 percent as the party "perceived to have more concern for Latinos." (Pew Hispanic Center, 7/13/2006)