Two brand new polls of likely Latino voters in California show that Republican missteps on immigration, including Arnold's "close the border" speeches, have all but eliminated Republican hopes of gaining more Latino voters. The Courage Campaign
reported just two weeks ago on the Republican failure, both here in California and nationally, around issues of race and immigration. These new surveys of Latino voters show that the lack of Republican leadership on race and immigration has not escaped voters. Since Spanish-speaking voters make up nearly 20% of the California electorate, this voting bloc could be the difference in the November 7th election.
NDN's poll of more than 600 "Spanish dominant" likely voters shows Governor Schwarzenegger with less approval than President Bush. A Field Poll released this week confirms that Schwarzenegger trails his opponent in the election by double-digits among Latino voters. Follow over the flip for more results and analysis from the polls.
From The Courage Campaign
From the NDN Poll:
- Among this audience, Phil Angelides is leading Schwarzenegger 64% to 21%, despite more than half of these voters having no positive or negative opinion of Angelides (54% say he is unknown to them).
- Schwarzenegger is not only deeply unpopular in these communities, with 69% holding a negative view of him, but he is also seen as untrustworthy. 73% of these voters said they do not trust Schwarzenegger to represent the interests of the Latino community.
- These voters are concerned about their growing inability to afford a middle-class life in California, listing high cost of living, lack of affordable housing, and high natural gas and electricity bills among their top concerns facing the state. The national debate over immigration is also deeply important to these voters, with nearly 60% saying growing anti-immigrant and anti-Latino sentiment in the country has affected them and their family.
- Fully 68% of these voters said the recent comments by Gov. Schwarzenegger, in which he referenced a Latina Assemblywoman as being "very hot" due to her "black blood mixed with Latino blood" were insensitive or racist, with only 26% agreeing the comments were "mostly harmless," as was the primary reaction portrayed in the media.
These results are not at all surprising, considering the Republican failures on immigration. In April, Republican plans to begin a blanket deportation of all undocumented workers in the United States led to massive rallies in cities large and small across the nation. Republican leaders, including former Presidential hopeful Pat Buchanan, have continued to insist on closing the border and deporting Latinos. Arnold Schwarzenegger voiced his support for these positions frequently, and then there was the "hot blood" gaffe earlier this month. Voters, as expected, have decided to leave the Republican party because of these embarassments.