| issues drive the latino vote |
| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Monday, July 26 2004 |
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| Armando Rivas spent a good part of his life serving the Army. He was on active duty for four years and in the National Guard for one, and for 33 long years he worked as a deputy commissary officer, a fancy title for managing groceries.
As a veteran Army man, Rivas has a very strong position on the war in Iraq. He is against it. "There was never anything concrete," he said. "We are pouring a lot of money into that conflict, and we have no business being there." The war will be the most important factor that will determine his vote on Nov. 2. He has voted in almost every presidential election since he returned from serving in the Korean War in 1952, where he fought with the 25th Infantry Division.
Rivas is not alone. He is one of the 1,600 Latinos who participated in the most extensive poll of Hispanic voters ever done in U.S. history. The poll by Univision Network, The Washington Post and the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute was conducted in the 11 states that are home to almost 90 percent of Latino voters in the United States. Of those polled, 63 percent think it was not worth it to go to war with Iraq.
The following are some of the most interesting findings. If the election were held today, 60 percent of those polled said they would vote for John Kerry; 30 percent would vote for George W. Bush. Those numbers are not surprising, since in 2000, Al Gore got 64 percent of the Latino vote and Bush got 35 percent, according to exit polls. There are no official results, since the Federal Election Commission does not divide the vote by ethnic groups.
The poll results also show that the most important issues to Latino voters are: first and foremost, the economy and jobs, followed by education, the war against terrorism, Iraq and health care. That is not good news for Bush, because 62 percent disapprove of the way he is handling the war in Iraq. The same amount don't agree with the way he deals with the economy.
On the other hand, on all those issues, Latino voters think that Kerry would do a better job of handling them. But it's not all bad news for Bush -- 54 percent think he is doing a good job in the war against terrorism. Fifty-eight percent consider him a strong leader, and 61 percent think he is a pleasant person.
That, to Harry Pachon, director of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute based in Los Angeles, was one of the most surprising findings of the poll. "Latino voters like Bush as a person, but they don't approve of his policies," he said. The real news from this poll, he added, is that Latino voters are becoming more sophisticated: "It's not just about the candidate; it's about the issues." To the new Latino voter, issues count.
The survey also found that Bush is more popular among Latinos than his party is. Half of those polled said they think the Democratic Party cares about the Latino community, while only 14 percent think that Republicans do.
Half of the voters questioned were naturalized citizens, which might explain why two out of three consider the ability to speak Spanish an important attribute for a presidential candidate. Bush has an advantage over Kerry on this one, having mastered a few phrases in Spanish from his time in Texas.
Latino voters will be watching closely during both the Democratic and Republican conventions -- among them, Armando Rivas from El Paso, Texas. He'll be looking to see if and when they will bring the troops back from Iraq. What are they going to do to improve the economy and prevent jobs from going overseas? And will they make health care more affordable and bring down the cost of medicine?
And even though Rivas describes himself as a Democrat and plans to vote for Kerry, like almost 20 percent of those who participated in the poll, he said he would consider changing his mind if he thinks Democrats are not addressing his concerns. |
