E-Mail: 19 Feb. 2008

DATE: 19 Feb. 2008

TO: My Political E-Mail List

SUBJECT: We Who Support Obama Must Reach Out to Latinos

Latinos represent a vast, mixed group of voters with great influence and potential. They have determined outcomes in primary elections; they will continue to do so, very likely in the upcoming Texas primary; and in the general election, they can make the difference between a President Obama and a President McCain for the next four, or eight, years. What have we done to reach out to Latinos? And what can we do better?

There is good news and bad news when you consider Latino voting. The good news begins with the fact that despite much-publicized inroads made by George W. Bush in the last presidential election — which were perhaps significantly overstated — Latino voters continue to identify with Democrats by a more than two-to-one margin. Also good news is that in 2004, according to U.S. Census figures, of the more than 27 million Hispanics of voting age, about 16 million were citizens (about 18 million now); and of those, over 9 million were registered, 82% of whom voted (compared to 89% of all registered voters who voted), representing 6% of the total votes cast. The bad news is that means almost 7 million U.S. Hispanic citizens (some 42% of those eligible to vote) did not register, let alone vote — over twice as many votes as put George W. Bush in the White House! Obviously, registering Latinos and getting out their vote is extremely important to the success of our campaign; but that depends upon our effectively reaching out to them and seriously addressing their concerns.

Or Here > http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/19/192048/831/761/459950

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