An important mission that President Obama needs to accomplish in the wake of the Democratic National Convention is keeping Latino voters engaged and getting them out to vote.
That’s the viewpoint of Roque Planas, writing at Fox Latino News. The columnist says, ” … with a commanding lead among Latinos over GOP nominee Mitt Romney in the polls, Obama’s challenge isn’t winning over more voters-it’s motivating them to head to the polls.”
Planas quotes some facts about the last presidential election. “On Nov. 4, 2008, a record-breaking 10.2 million Latino voters cast ballots in the U.S. presidential election—a 25 percent jump over the 2004 tally. Obama won nearly 70 percent of those votes, targeting the fastest-growing segment of the electorate with bumper stickers reading “Obámanos,” promises of immigration reform, and a vague-but-positive slogan of ‘Hope.’ Four years later, the economy remains stalled and the unemployment rate for Latinos hovering between 10 and 11 percent.”
For many Latino voters, this year’s election could come down to a choice between the lesser of two evils: a Democratic president that failed to live up to the hype of 2008, or a Republican that has embraced the immigration hardliners that turn off some Hispanics, Planas wrote.
Read the entire Fox News Latino op-ed.
Photo (c) White House
