Obama Campaign: GOP Rhetoric ‘Sealed Political Fate’ with Hispanics - East Idaho News
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Obama Campaign: GOP Rhetoric ‘Sealed Political Fate’ with Hispanics

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Getty P 102910 PeopleVotingPolls?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1327923279242Ethan Miller/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — As the Florida primary hurtles to a close on Tuesday, President Obama’s re-election campaign is claiming an early victory: the loyalty of a strong majority of Hispanic voters, many of whom, they say, are disgusted by the GOP candidates’ rhetoric on immigration.

“Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich may very well have already sealed the political fate of their party with the Hispanic electorate — the fastest growing voting bloc in the country,” Obama for America Hispanic pollster Sergio Bendixen and spokeswoman Gabriela Domenzain wrote in a memo to reporters on Monday.

“Their extreme rhetoric on immigration during the televised debates has rejected our history as a nation of immigrants and alienated millions of Hispanic voters nationally,” they said.

The memo calls Romney’s vocal opposition to the DREAM Act, which he’s described as a “handout,” a “demagogic appeal to Tea Party voters.”  Eighty-five percent of Hispanic voters support the measure, according to a new Univision/Latino Decisions poll.

It also cites Gingrich’s 2007 comment on Spanish as “the language of living in a ghetto” — resurfaced by Romney in a 2012 campaign ad — as “offensive on face value.”  The former House speaker made the remark while promoting bilingual education.

Polls show that Hispanic voters are turned off by harsh primary season rhetoric on immigration and remain strongly supportive of Obama in Florida and nationwide.

Obama leads by wide margins among Hispanic voters in hypothetical general election match-ups with Romney and Gingrich, according to a Univision/Latino Decisions poll released on Jan. 25.

Hispanics would choose Obama over Gingrich, 70 to 22 percent, according the poll, while preferring Obama to Romney, 67 to 25 percent. In 2008, Obama won 67 percent of the Hispanic vote over John McCain, who won 31 percent.

And even if Romney or Gingrich draws strong support from conservative Florida Hispanics on Tuesday, Bendixen and Domenzain claim, the GOP nominee would still face a support deficit in the general election fight for the Sunshine State’s 29 electoral votes.

Obama leads Romney (50-40 percent) and Gingrich (52-38 percent) among Florida Hispanics in general election match-ups in the Univision/Latino Decisions poll.

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