Morning NewsTaco
Tuesday July 3, 2012
Half of U.S. Hispanics Identify as Political Independents (Gallup): A majority of U.S. Hispanics identify as political independents (51%) rather than as Democrats (32%) or Republicans (11%). However, once their partisan leanings are taken into account, most Hispanics affiliate with the Democratic Party (52%) rather than the Republican Party (23%). Both sets of numbers shift more decisively in the Democrats’ favor among the roughly half of U.S. Hispanics who are registered to vote.
Hispanic power may swing US election (Today Online): With 50,000 of them turning 18 every month, the 21-million-and-rising Latinos eligible to vote are being eyed keenly by those pursuing power. Ballots from growing Hispanic populations, who tend to be younger and Democrat-leaning, could dictate whether President Barack Obama, who led among them by 26 points in 2008, can edge victories this year in crucial battleground states such as Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Virginia – and therefore hold on to the White House.
No one-size-fits-all approach to wooing Hispanics (CBS News): The reasons that Hispanics give for choosing between Obama and Romney are just as diverse as the countries that they or their ancestors once called home, suggesting there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to courting the nation’s fastest-growing minority group.
GOP’s voter ID antics are all about politics, not democracy (The Virginian-Pilot): Jenny Flanagan is director of voting and elections at Common Cause, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. “Usually targeted at minorities and in minority neighborhoods, deceptive practices are the intentional dissemination of false or misleading information about the voting process with the intent to prevent an eligible voter from casting a ballot,” she testified last week before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.
Farms a casualty of immigration war (The Miami Herald): Tougher immigration rules and the threat posed by human traffickers have caused shortages of workers in farms across the country. In Florida, most farms are unaffected, so far.
Sen. Rubio: Democrats want immigration to be ‘unsolved issue’ (The Hill): “I think there are many in the Democratic Party that want immigration to be an unsolved issue at least for the time being, because it’s more useful as a campaign issue than it is as a solved issue,” Rubio said in an interview with CBS News on Monday.
Immigrants express shock at return of Mexico’s PRI (Associated Press/The Seattle Times): Mexico’s new president may dissuade some immigrants from returning home, despite promising economic opportunities there and a faltering U.S. job market.
