Newsflash:
The End of the Perpetual War President Obama’s speech on Thursday was the most important statement on counterterrorism policy since the 2001 attacks, a momentous turning point in post-9/11 America.For the first time, a president stated clearly and unequivocally that the state of perpetual warfare that began nearly 12 years ago is unsustainable for a democracy and must come to an end in the not-too-distant future.       Read the Full Story
Banks’ Lobbyists Help in Drafting Financial Bills WASHINGTON — Bank lobbyists are not leaving it to lawmakers to draft legislation that softens financial regulations. Instead, the lobbyists are helping to write it themselves. Read the Full Story
Elizabeth Warren: Trade talks could weaken bank oversight Sen. Elizabeth Warren raised concerns Tuesday that negotiations over new trade agreements could be used as a backdoor way to water down financial regulations. Read the Full Story
Exclusive: Why I Spoke Out at Obama's Foreign Policy Speech On why Obama's policies themselves, not those who speak out against them, are rude Having worked for years on the issues of drones and Guantanamo, I was delighted to get a pass (the source will remain anonymous) to attend President Obama’s speech at the National Defense University. Read the Full Story
Pivoting From a War Footing, Obama Acts to Curtail Drones WASHINGTON — Nearly a dozen years after the hijackings that transformed America, President Obama said Thursday that it was time to narrow the scope of the grinding battle against terrorists and begin the transition to a day when the country will no longer be on a war footing.       Read the Full Story
New Terror Strategy Shifts C.I.A. Focus Back to Spying WASHINGTON — For more than seven years, Mike — a lean, chain-smoking officer at the Central Intelligence Agency’s headquarters in Virginia — has managed the agency’s deadly campaign of armed drone strikes. As the head of the C.I.A.’s Counterterrorism Center, Mike wielded tremendous power in hundreds of decisions over who lived and died in far-off lands.       Read the Full Story
Boy Scouts End Longtime Ban on Openly Gay Youths GRAPEVINE, Tex. — The Boy Scouts of America on Thursday ended its longstanding policy of forbidding openly gay youths to participate in its activities, a step its chief executive called “compassionate, caring and kind.”       Read the Full Story
PDA, Allies March Against Fracking in Maryland More than 100 "Fracktivists" rallied for clean air and water outside the Democratic Governors Association meeting in Maryland yesterday. Concerned about the controversial practice of extracting methane gas from shale rock formations known as hydraulic fracturing or "Fracking", Progressive Democrats of America, Food and Water Watch, MoveOn, Progressive Neighbors, and Progressive Cheverly members and others gathered to hear speakers and then matched chanting outside the high-level meeting. Read the Full Story
Congresswoman Barbara Lee Responds to President Obama’s Call for AUMF Repeal, Introduces Legislation Creating Greater Oversight of Drones Washington, D.C.— Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) released the following statement in response to President Obama’s speech focusing on drone warfare and national security. In advance of the speech, Congresswoman Lee introduced related legislation, The Drones Accountability Act. Read the Full Story
Obama Heckled During Speech On Drones, Gitmo (VIDEO) President Barack Obama was heckled during a speech at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. Read the Full Story
IMF Sounds Warning on U.K. Austerity LONDON—The International Monetary Fund urged the U.K. government to counter the effects of its austerity program by raising spending on infrastructure projects to avoid long-term damage to the nation's growth prospects. Read the Full Story
Congresswoman Lee Introduces “No More Ghost Money Act” Washington, D.C.— Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced the No More Ghost Money Act of 2013. The bill would prohibit illegal payments to foreign officials and would require a report to Congress on payments made by the CIA to employees, officers, and elected officials to foreign entities. Read the Full Story
image The End of the Perpetual War
image Banks’ Lobbyists Help in Drafting Financial Bills
image Elizabeth Warren: Trade talks could weaken bank oversight
image Exclusive: Why I Spoke Out at Obama's Foreign Policy Speech
image Pivoting From a War Footing, Obama Acts to Curtail Drones
image New Terror Strategy Shifts C.I.A. Focus Back to Spying
image Boy Scouts End Longtime Ban on Openly Gay Youths
image PDA, Allies March Against Fracking in Maryland
image Congresswoman Barbara Lee Responds to President Obama’s Call for AUMF Repeal, Introduces Legislation Creating Greater Oversight of Drones
image Obama Heckled During Speech On Drones, Gitmo (VIDEO)
image IMF Sounds Warning on U.K. Austerity
image Congresswoman Lee Introduces “No More Ghost Money Act”
Tuesday, 21 August 2012 12:49

Will Latino voters fully flex their voting power in 2012?

Written by  Chris Kromm | Facing South
Will Latino voters fully flex their voting power in 2012?

This election season there are two dominant stories about the much-discussed "Latino vote." One, that President Obama enjoys a strong advantage among Hispanic voters. But two, it may not matter much because, even though Latino communities are growing fast, they have yet to be a major force at the ballot box.

Of the two storylines, the first is difficult to argue. In the last 10 polls of Latino voters, Obama has led Republican Mitt Romney by an average of 67 percent to 23 percent. If Romney were to receive only 23 percent of the Hispanic vote in November, it would be the poorest showing of any Republican over the last 30 years.

Even more surprising, Romney's low marks with Latinos -- likely cemented due to his hard-right turn on immigration during the GOP primaries -- wouldn't improve much even if he chose a Hispanic running mate. For example, a Latino Decisions survey of Florida Latinos found that only 25 percent would be more likely to vote for Romney if he picked Sen. Marco Rubio for VP -- and the data shows many of those were likely Romney voters anyway.

Still, in a state where Obama leads Romney by only two points -- and Obama's current projected vote share is just 50.1 percent of Florida's electorate -- that could be all it takes.

Which leads to the second issue: Will there be enough Latino voters in 2012 to make a difference, especially in battleground states like Florida?

The conventional wisdom is that, despite the dramatic growth of Latino communities, they have yet to fully reach their electoral potential. The first culprit is the registration gap: While Census Bureau records suggest that there are about 21 million eligible Hispanic voters in the country, just over 10 million are currently registered.

The second obstacle is turnout: Hispanic voters who are registered vote at lower rates than other groups. The record-breaking 10 million Latinos who cast ballots in 2008 still amounted to just half of the total registered voters, compared to 66 percent of eligible whites and 65 percent of eligible black voters.

But the official figures may be understating the clout of Latino voters. Even in states that ask voters to identify an ethnic/racial background when they register (not all do), the number of Hispanic voters may be undercounted.

For example, this week Democracy North Carolina released a report [pdf] looking at Latino voters in the sometimes-battleground state. The report's authors point out that N.C. registration forms didn't include a "Hispanic/Latino" classification until 2002, so long-term Latino voters may not be counted. The state also offers an "Other" option, which some Hispanics may be using.

By comparing state voter registration numbers to Census Bureau estimates, the group projects that the actual number of Latino voters is closer to 115,000 in North Carolina -- still under two percent of the electorate, but in a state where the 2008 presidential race was decided by just over 14,000 votes, a hardly insignificant number.

What's more, Democracy North Carolina estimates another 100,000 eligible Latinos have yet to register. And if North Carolina's Latino turnout matches its 2008 rate -- 60 percent -- there's no question it could make a big difference in November.

Link to original article from Facing South

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