Obama’s support among Latino voters higher than ever, according to poll
Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at 05:28PM He isn’t likely to say it publicly, but President Obama has to be feeling good after the latest version of the Latino Decisions tracking poll, shows his support from Latino voters has hit a record high, with 73 percent support and only 21 percent for Romney.
The Latino Decisions polls have shown growing enthusiasm among Latino voters for Obama since the convention and the weekly tracking polls paint a clear picture. In the six weeks since the tracking poll began, the president’s support had risen eight points from 65 to 73 percent. During the same period Romney’s support has dropped from 26 to 21 percent.
The shake up in the poll numbers coincides with the high-profile release of a secret video by Mother Jones, in which Romney told a group of wealthy donors at a private fundraiser, that he wasn’t worried about 47 percent of Americans who will vote for Obama because they are dependent on government, are victims and don’t take personal responsibility. Since the video’s release the president’s campaign has jumped on the comments, releasing ads playing audio of Romney’s comments along with images of Americans who represent the 47 percent.
“While Republicans had hoped the weak economy would provide an opening to win over Latinos, almost three-fourths of Latinos say they have more confidence in Obama to fix the economy, “ said Matt Barreto of Latino Decisions. ”Romney’s infamous comments about the ’47 percent’ are clearly hurting him among Latinos. He appears out of touch with the average working class family.”
If there is a silver lining for Romney, it’s that while his national support among Latinos looks bad, the numbers are better in battleground states. In the ten battleground states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia, Obama’s support is 61 percent and Romney’s is 33 percent.