President Bush Does Well With Hispanic Voters Due to Pro-Life Abortion Stance 
Email this article
Printer friendly page
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 6, 2004
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new poll shows President Bush faring well with Hispanic voters — better than he did in 2000 — primarily because he and Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry offer such a stark contrast on the issue of abortion.
Conducted by Latino Opinions, the poll shows Kerry with just a nine-point lead. That’s well short of the two-one lead Kerry needs to make up for Bush’s strong showing with white voters.
The small lead among Hispanics makes it more difficult for Kerry to carry such key battleground states with large Latin American populations such as Arizona, New Mexico, Florida, Colorado, and Nevada.
Part of the reason Bush has cut into Kerry’s lead has to do with his pro-life stance.
For example, President Bush enjoys wide support for his position supporting parental notification before a teen’s abortion, with Hispanics backing him by a 69%-26% margin.
Raimundo Rojas, the Hispanic outreach director for the National Right to Life Committee, tells LifeNews.com he’s not surprised Kerry is having problems rallying support.
"Not only did John Kerry vote against the ban on the partial birth abortion six times — a ban that the vast majority of Hispanics wanted; but, combined, Kerry and Edwards voted against allowing Miguel Estrada to be considered as an appeals court judge nine times," Rojas said. "Hispanics don’t forget that."
"Sadly, on election day, the majority of Hispanics will probably vote for Kerry," Rojas told LifeNews.com, "but, if President Bush continues gaining on Kerry in key swing states, Hispanics may be responsible for re-electing a pro-life president that sees so many social issues the same as we do."
According to the poll, when it comes to representing Hispanic personal and family values Kerry holds only a 45%-38% lead and he is tied with the president on being in touch with the Hispanic community (37%-37%).
The poll also showed Hispanic voters believe President Bush is a more decisive and a stronger leader than Kerry and by a margin of 50% to 36%.
Leo Lacayo, the vice-chair for communications for the San Francisco City and County Republican Party, says Kerry is "making the same mistake made by California Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante during his campaign for governor during the recall last year."
"He is focusing his Hispanic strategy in addressing the issues of concern to the more radical liberal segments in the Hispanic community, and by doing so is alienating more mainstream Hispanic voters who could become the swing voters in targeted states he needs to carry in November," Lacayo explained.
The National Survey was conducted by Opiniones Latina/Latino Opinions between September 27 and October 3, among 1,000 Hispanic adults.
