The 2010 U.S. Census shows — not unexpectedly — that the nation’s Hispanic community, already the largest minority, has the fastest-growing population in the United States. Hispanic voters are a very important factor in the 2012 Presidential election. President Obama’s campaign has put an emphasis on many different groups including Latinos. The following is from the President’s campaign site: “President Obama has been and will continue to be an advocate and ally on issues important to the Latino community.” Eva Longoria (a very influential and brilliant Latina) sent out a letter expressing her support for the President in 2012. The following is an excerpt from her letter: “I also support the President because he's fighting for the Hispanic community. He knows that the future of America is closely tied to the success of the Hispanic community. He knows that Latinas are helping drive the economic recovery, starting small businesses at a rate of six times the national average. He’s made historic investments to help our small businesses and established programs to help more Hispanics get a college education.”
A majority of Latinos would re-elect the president in 2012 over his main GOP rivals, according to a poll by the Pew Hispanic Center. “In a hypothetical match-up against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney,” the report said, “Obama wins 68 percent to 23 percent among Latino registered voters.”
“And in a match-up against Texas Gov. Rick Perry,” it continued, “Obama wins the Latino vote 69 percent to 23 percent.
Other candidates seem to not even be trying to get the Hispanic population’s votes. It’s like they think they can win the election with only the non-minority religious right votes. For instance Mitt Romney has distanced himself from the Latino community and seems to come off unfriendly to a whole population of people. The leaders of the Hispanic Leadership Fund(a Republican-leaning group), are so upset with Romney that if he wins the nomination, they might withhold an endorsement and curtail plans for an extensive voter-contact campaign in Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Florida to bolster the GOP presidential ticket. After taking heat from his fellow Republican presidential candidates for supposedly being soft on immigration, GOP frontrunner Newt Gingrich laid down a stricter rhetoric on the issue. While refusing to back off his previous statement, that it was unjust to deport undocumented immigrants who have lived in the country for 25 years and have families in the U.S., Gingrich said that the federal government should drop lawsuits against states, like Arizona and Alabama, with strict immigration laws. How does he expect the families that have been here for 25 years not to be deported if some states are allowed to have such strict immigration laws?
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