We have written at length about the political ineptitude of Mitt Romney’s decision to run to the extreme right on immigration – the largest single factor behind Romney’s historically low standing among Latino voters. Increasingly, prominent Republican figures are making similar assessments, recognizing that the GOP’s anti-immigration reputation will...
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National Journal’s Ron Brownstein writes about the changing demographics in the United States — and how that impacts elections. He notes that Latinos, the fastest growing voting bloc, are a key to the future. And a number of Republican strategists are deeply worried about their party’s chances in that...
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In the last few weeks, much attention has been paid to the importance of the Latino vote and its crucial effects on the upcoming election next week. Also important are the people who are pushing the Latino vote to turn out—in many cases, DREAMers, who cannot vote but who...
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The Wall Street Journal today published a front-page story titled “Election May Hinge on Latino Turnout.” Reporters Peter Nicholas and Colleen McCain assert that, should President Obama win re-election, Latino voters could end up being decisive. In exploring what motivates and influences Latino voters, the Journal article joins an...
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Last night in Alabama, undocumented former Washington Post reporter Jose Antonio Vargas spoke at an Immigration Town Hall entitled “Do I Look ‘Illegal’?” and discussed Alabama’s HB 56 anti-immigrant state law as well as anti-immigrant sentiments like it around the nation. One of HB 56’s sponsors, state Sen. Scott...
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Yesterday, Mitt Romney’s health care advisor Avik Roy appeared on Up With Chris Hayes, where the conversation veered toward President Obama’s recent comments that if he wins a second term, it will have been because Republicans “have so alienated the fastest-growing demographic group in the country, the Latino community.”...
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Cross-posted at Latino Decisions, Latino Vote Matters, and Daily Kos: The latest impreMedia-Latino Decisions tracking poll shows that Latinos are more enthusiastic and more likely to vote than ten weeks ago when the initial poll was fielded. Forty-five percent of Latino voters say they are more enthusiastic about voting in 2012...
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Arizona Governor Jan Brewer this week decided to inject herself into the super-close Senate race between Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and former Surgeon General Richard Carmona (D), using her political action committee (JanPAC) to spend $100,000 printing and supporting mailers supporting Flake over Carmona. As Capitol Media Services reported yesterday: PAC spokesman Paul...
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Yesterday, we explained “the Harry Reid Effect” – when pre-election polls under-count the Latino vote in such a way that underestimates the actual standing of the candidates that Latinos support. The Reid Effect is caused by (a) methodological problems in pre-election polls that create a skewed Latino voter sample, which...
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After Arizona passed the viciously anti-immigrant law SB 1070, raising questions about whether the state was legalizing racial profiling, Congressman Brian Bilbray (R-CA) jumped into the fray by claiming that police officers wouldn’t have to resort to race in order to identify undocumented immigrants. “They will look at the kind...
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