New Pew Report on Hispanic Voters

Republican gains among Hispanic voters have eroded over the past year, according to a Pew Hispanic Center report issued today. A survey conducted for the “Hispanics and the 2008 Election: A Swing Vote?” report found 57 percent of Latino registered voters consider themselves Democrats or “lean” to the Democratic Party while 23 percent “align” with the Republican Party.

Most of the movement in this direction comes from those lean towards the Democrats without formally identifying themselves as members of the Democratic Party.

RNC Response to DNC’s Statement on Hispanics

Last week, Howard Dean issued a statement regarding Hispanic, which included the following:

“Today Democrats are building momentum across the country, and building stronger ties than ever with the Hispanic community. The Democratic Party shares the Hispanic community’s values centered on family, faith, and hard work, and our candidates offer the new direction the American people want.

Today, Hessy Fernandez who is the Republican National Committee’s Director of Hispanic Communications sent me the following statement in response:

“Actions speak louder than words, and the Democrat Party have failed to put forward accomplishments that resonate with Hispanic working families. The reality is that Democrats would say and do anything to win political points and will conveniently forget their promises. Hispanics will continue to reject their policies, which propose dramatic spending increases, massive government growth and higher taxes for hard working families and small businesses. On issue after issue the GOP and the Hispanic community share the same values and priorities”.

Howard Dean on Hispanics

DNC Chair Howard Dean issued a statement about the importance of Hispanic voters:“Selecting Nevada as an early caucus state and placing the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado show that we respect voters enough to ask for their votes in every part of the country. Both states also have strong Hispanic populations, which will now play an important role not only in electing America’s next Democratic President, but also in that candidate’s nomination.

“Today Democrats are building momentum across the country, and building stronger ties than ever with the Hispanic community. The Democratic Party shares the Hispanic community’s values centered on family, faith, and hard work, and our candidates offer the new direction the American people want.

“Here in Nevada, enthusiasm over the upcoming caucus and the involvement of the Hispanic community have helped state Democrats double the Democratic voter registration edge. Hispanics are critical to the success of the Democratic Party and our candidates, and we won’t take a single vote for granted.”