Hispanics Did Not Surge To Bush

• Bush received less Latino support than he received in 2000 or that Ronald Reagan received in 1984 [more]

It instantly became part of American political legend: President Bush received a hefty 44% of the Hispanic vote on Nov. 2, up sharply from the 35% he garnered in 2000. Pundits credited the Latino surge to the GOP -- as measured by two sets of media exit polls -- for Bush's wins in such battleground states as Florida, New Mexico, and Nevada. Sounds impressive. But is it true? Some Democrats and Hispanic activists say it's not. The William C. Velasquez Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, conducted its own exit polls, which found Bush winning 34% of the Latino vote -- no better than four years ago. ``Bad science is being used to misrepresent a community,'' says Robert Aguinaga, research director of the institute. Republicans who derided the media polls on Election Day -- when they showed Democrat John Kerry running ahead of Bush -- are now embracing them. In fact, none of the polls appear to get the Latino vote right. BusinessWeek examined real election returns from 62 jurisdictions in 13 states -- mostly places where Hispanics made up 75% to 95% of the population. [more]