SWOPblogger

karlos says: ...a few polls showing Latino unity, values. My favorite quote from the articles below: "The question is: Are there leaders and organizations that can take these perceptions and turn them into action?"

Latinos forge political unity from immigrant rights rallies
Tyche Hendricks, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, July 14, 2006

Pro-immigrant marches this spring and the nation's ongoing immigration policy debate have unified and politically energized Latinos, according to a national survey conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C.

For the first time since the center began polling the attitudes of the country's Latinos in 2002, a majority said they feel that Latinos of different national origins are working together to achieve common political goals. Of the 2,000 people polled this year, 58 percent said so, compared to 43 percent four years ago.

"All the polls previously showed a lack of unity, so the fact that the marches united people is very important," said Gabriel Escobar, the center's associate director for publications. "The national debate on immigration talks a lot about immigrants, and it's possible that Latinos in general identify with immigrants."

Two-thirds of Latinos surveyed felt the immigrant rights marches -- which drew an estimated 3 million people, mostly Latinos, into the streets of cities across the nation -- signal the beginning of an enduring new social movement. Three out of four said the debate in Washington over immigration policy would impel many more Latinos to vote.

"The survey shows very clearly that Latino public opinion was affected by these events in the spring, and one effect is this greater sense of political mobilization and political unity," said the center's director, Roberto Suro. "The question is: Are there leaders and organizations that can take these perceptions and turn them into action?" More...


Commentary: Health care a moral issue for Latino voters

By Timm Herdt
July 10, 2006

The 2004 presidential election spawned the widespread use of the term "values voter." It was the phrase of choice for much of the instant analysis of the re-election of President Bush, and in that context, "values" was used as shorthand for the highly charged social issues of same-sex marriage and abortion.

Conventional wisdom held that these issues put Bush over the top, in large part because they helped him to capture up to 40 percent of Latinos, who voted their socially conservative, mostly Roman Catholic values.

Now comes a new national survey of Latino voters that shows, heading into the 2006 midterm elections, Latinos will again be driven by concern about values. Only this time, the poll suggests, that will be good news for Democrats.

The reason is that Latino voters define "values" somewhat more broadly than most political analysts. For them, values start with family and their family members' well-being.

Topping their list of concerns is health care. It is an issue, said pollster Celinda Lake, that registered Latino voters consider to be "a core family value."

The survey of 800 registered Latino voters in states, including California, with the highest density of Latinos showed a striking level of concern over access to quality, affordable health care. More...

Latinos
Polls
Elections
Values
Politics
Healthcare
Immigration Rights
Immigration