For Latinos, Immigration More Personal than Political, Poll Says

"As President, Obama has not delivered on immigration reform, to the chagrin of many Latinos who have complained that he did not push the matter with the same drive and zeal that he did, say, healthcare reform. Nonetheless, a majority of voters said in the poll that, if they were to vote now, they’d choose Obama over any of the Republican candidates, who all have taken hard-line stances on immigration and English as the official language. “The question for most Latinos is not whether they want more immigration or less immigration,” said Allert Brown-Gort, associate director of the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame. “It has to do not so much with the [candidate's] stance on immigration, but the attitude that Latinos perceive that Republicans have of Latinos when they talk about immigration.” The 2010 Census showed that there are 50 million Hispanics in the United States. About 21 million are registered to vote.  It is speculated that some 12 million will cast ballots this year. Political experts say the Republican presidential nominee would need to get at least 40 percent of the Hispanic vote to win." - Elizabeth Llorente, FNL, Mar. 6, 2012.