Latinos, from Bush to Obama
02 November 2008 à 12h08
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One day Republican, the next day Democrat : the Latino vote has no frontier. It depends on the position of the candidates concerning the community, especially on immigration, which is the main subject that interests Hispanics. And that could change their mind.
They’re called the “swing voters”. The people who can change the identity of the new American president. In 2000, 40 % of Latinos – the largest minority in the country – voted for George W. Bush. For these 2008 elections though, the experts are convinced that this percentage will be much lower.
Latinos are, by tradition, Democrats. But on social issues, many Latinos are strong conservatives : they’re attached to family and religious values, against abortion and gay marriage.
Today, the great majority of them support the Democrat candidate, Barack Obama : two Latinos out of three have decided to vote for him, and only one out of three declared they supported the Republican John McCain.
But Obama was no easy choice. In fact, Latinos were more receptive to Hillary Clinton’s arguments. Neither because she’s a woman, nor beacause she declared she ate tacos, but in support of her husband, who was very popular in the Hispanic community when he was president, in the 1990s.
Immigration, a crucial theme
Barack Obama is a member of the African-American community, an ethnic group that Hispanics are not so close to. In 2006, he voted for the construction of a wall along the border between the US and Mexico. An unpopular decision for all Latinos.
For them, immigration is a central theme. It’s because they are immigrants, workers and from the lower class that they are closer to Democrat than Republican ideas. Last June, Barack Obama said that McCain “renounced his promises” on the global reform of immigration – notably to help the 12 million immigrants to become US citizens – because of “the pressure of his own party”.
Every Latino in the US has a member of his family, a friend, someone he knows, who lives illegally in the country. That’s an important element for the candidates. And Obama knows it. It explains why he proposes to allow the illegal immigrants to get their driving licence. A detail, but which can make the difference. And turn the page of the Clinton era.
They’re called the “swing voters”. The people who can change the identity of the new American president. In 2000, 40 % of Latinos – the largest minority in the country – voted for George W. Bush. For these 2008 elections though, the experts are convinced that this percentage will be much lower.
Latinos are, by tradition, Democrats. But on social issues, many Latinos are strong conservatives : they’re attached to family and religious values, against abortion and gay marriage.
Today, the great majority of them support the Democrat candidate, Barack Obama : two Latinos out of three have decided to vote for him, and only one out of three declared they supported the Republican John McCain.
But Obama was no easy choice. In fact, Latinos were more receptive to Hillary Clinton’s arguments. Neither because she’s a woman, nor beacause she declared she ate tacos, but in support of her husband, who was very popular in the Hispanic community when he was president, in the 1990s.
Immigration, a crucial theme
Barack Obama is a member of the African-American community, an ethnic group that Hispanics are not so close to. In 2006, he voted for the construction of a wall along the border between the US and Mexico. An unpopular decision for all Latinos.
For them, immigration is a central theme. It’s because they are immigrants, workers and from the lower class that they are closer to Democrat than Republican ideas. Last June, Barack Obama said that McCain “renounced his promises” on the global reform of immigration – notably to help the 12 million immigrants to become US citizens – because of “the pressure of his own party”.
Every Latino in the US has a member of his family, a friend, someone he knows, who lives illegally in the country. That’s an important element for the candidates. And Obama knows it. It explains why he proposes to allow the illegal immigrants to get their driving licence. A detail, but which can make the difference. And turn the page of the Clinton era.
