The Vaya Blog: Just A ‘Lil NYC Spanglish!

What party do you think they lean to, the Democratic Party or the Republican Party?

Hispanics are the nation’s largest and fastest growing minority group. There are now 46% million of them and that means that it makes up about 15% of the U.S. population.
However, in 2008 Latinos will comprise to about 9% of the eligible electorate nationwide, since a lot of them are not citizen or are not yet 18 years old.

Vying for the Latino vote:

The Hispanic vote is neither homogenous nor loyal to one party. Though the current political moment seems to favor the Democratic Party, the affinity should not be taken for granted.
Some surveys show that most of the Latinos view the Democratic Party as the one that shows more concern for them and it does a better job in the issue of illegal immigration. Even though some of the Latinos see no difference between the parties on these matters.

Too young to vote or ineligible:

The Latinos vote in this country is considered a “swing vote” in this year presidential elections. Latinos constitute a sizable share of the electorate in states like New Mexico, Florida, Nevada and Colorado. All four states are expected to be contest very closely in 2008.
Therefore this booming Latino population in political swing states is creating opportunities and headaches in both political parties as they try to court the Latino vote. Presidential candidates from both parties have to fully embrace the importance of the Latino vote.

Latino Vote 2004 campaings:

“Democrats have traditionally enjoyed a strong advantage among Hispanic voters, though Mr. Bush changed all that, gaining 35 percent in 2000 and as much as 44 percent in 2004. Two years later, however, Republicans’ support among Hispanics collapsed under the weight of the immigration debate, falling to 30 percent for Republican congressional candidates”

Despite the furor over immigration, that issue might not be the most important to Latino voters. Education, the Iraq war, the economy and health care my take precedence over immigration.
“It is important to distinguish issues that matter to the Latino community versus the issues that matter to Latino voters. Those are not the same”.

To learn about the Latino issues, here there are two interesting sites to look at:

http://www.progressnow.org/policy/67/latinohispanic-issues

http://www.house.gov/baca/hotissues/latino.htm

The question for you is: Who do you think is going to win the Latino vote, the Democratic Party or the Republican Party?
Give us your reasons about what you think? They will sure be very interesting and helpful for all of us!!