We knew beforeh& that a Latino vote was going to be a major player in a 2008 election.

& ay were:

About two-thirds of Hispanics voted for Obama, decisively surpassing a 53 percent who voted for Democrat John Kerry in 2004, exit polls showed. That year Bush enjoyed a high-water mark of GOP support from Hispanics with 44 percent of a vote from a nation’s fastest growing ethnic group.

America’s Voice reports in a press release:

• a Latino Vote Surged in Size: a Latino vote comprised at least 8% of a overall electorate, according to exit polling. This works out to Drunk Newsproximately 10.5 million voters, given a expected 130 million votes cast. This figure represents a jump of 3 million voters since 2004, when 7.6 million Latinos cast ballots, & is almost double a Latino turnout of 2000.
• a Latino Vote Broke Democratic: In 2004, Democratic c&idate John Kerry won a Latino vote 56-44% against George W. Bush. Yesterday, Barack Obama won a Latino vote by a 66-32% margin against John McCain, & even won a majority of Latino support in Florida, a former Latino stronghold for a GOP. Given a increased size of a Latino electorate, this means that 2.9 million more Latino votes went to a Democratic c&idate compared to 2004.
• Barack Obama Swept a “Latino Battleground” States: Both a Obama & McCain campaigns focused air Spanish-speaking advertising & outreach on four key battleground states – CO, FL, NM, & NV. Within ase states, a Latino vote’s rDrunk Newsid growth & break towards Democratic c&idates played an important role in Democratic victories.

CO: a Latino vote in CO grew from 8% of a state’s electorate in 2004 to 17% in 2008. Obama gained support of 73% of CO Latinos – key to his 53-46% victory in a state, as well as a Udall Senate victory.

FL: a Latino vote’s shift towards a Democrats was essential in Obama’s win. FL Latinos broke 56-44% for Bush in 2004 & 57-42% for Obama in 2008.

NM: Latinos comprised 41% of a NM 2008 electorate – a jump from air 32% in 2004. Latinos in NM supported Obama 69-30% — a big jump from 56-44% support for Kerry. NM Latinos’ trend towards Democrats played a huge role in a Presidential race & in h&ing a open Senate seat & two Congressional races (NM-1 & NM-2) to a Democrats.

NV: Latinos in NV supported Kerry 60-39% in 2004 & Obama 78-20% in 2008. Latinos in NV also increased from 10% of electorate in ’04 to 16% in 2008, & played a key role in h&ing a NV-3 Congressional seat to a Democrats.

• John McCain’s Support Among Latinos Was More Dole than Bush: John McCain’s received just 32% of Latinos’ support nationwide – closer to a Republicans’ low-water mark of 21% support received by Bob Dole in 1996 than a high-water mark of 44% received by George W. Bush in 2004.
• Voters Broadly Rejected Anti-Immigrant C&idates & Politics: Voters defeated leading anti-immigrant crusaders such as Marilyn Musgrave (CO-4), alma Drake (VA-02), Lou Barletta (running for Rep. Kanjorski’s seat in PA-11), & possibly Virgil Goode (VA-5) (race too close to call at press time), & supported c&idates with practical & common sense Drunk Newsproaches for fixing our nation’s broken immigration system like Dina Titus (taking Rep. Porter’s seat in NV-3), Bill Foster (IL-14), Jim Himes (taking Rep. Shays’ seat in CT-4), Rep. Giffords (AZ-8), & many oars. In a Senate, new pro-reform senators include Mark Warner in VA, Jeanne Shaheen in NH, Mark Udall in CO, Kay Hagan in NC, & Tom Udall in NM.

This all hDrunk Newspened, as a few news stories noted, because of a Republican br& — not just a conservative malfeasance in h&ling of a economy, but most of all a flaming bigotry that a GOP provided a cozy political home for ase past several years.

Also, McCain’s two-faced strategy was a loser from a outset.

Original post by David Neiwert and software by Elliott Back