Obama Gains Ground Among Hispanic Voters

In the primary season Barack Obama made little efort to conect with Hispanics and did little to fix the matter. Hillary on the other hand won two-thirds of the Latino vote.   Now, it's John McCain who seemed to have it together when it came to Hispanics, who's now trying to win over Hispanic voters.  Obama's leading over 30 points in many polls among Latinos. It seems his chances of obtaining the hispanic vote are looking good in several key states - Nevada, Florida, New Mexico and Colorado - both candidates are putting a lot of resources into campaigns targeting Latinos.

Some say Hispanics allegiances tend to change back and forth, and thus the current situation could switch back to McCain so election watchers should be careful at taking current research as gospel. The truth is that Hispanics change their style no more frequently than other demographic groups.  Perhaps the main thrust is that many Hispanics aren't excited about having another Republican president, many are ready for a change.

McCain's strategy for winning over Hispanics is immigration reform, while raising concerns about Obama's creditability on the issue. But will this work? Polls show Hispanic voters - who are already US citizens - care less about immigration than about important issues like the economy and healthcare. By comparison, Obama's plan's to put social and economic concerns of Latino citizens first. 

Who's to win, poll watchers can only wait and see.  Nonetheless it's shaping up to be a very interesting election year.

By: Rahan Malik