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[TheeBadOne]

First-Ever Spanish Language Presidential Debate on Tap ]

Democrats Eye Univision to Reach Out to Latino Voters

As presidential debates go, this one is likely to stand out.

The first-ever Spanish language presidential debate on the Univision network is just one of many ways Democratic candidates are reaching out to Latinos  from radio ads in Spanish to bilingual Web sites.

It's a sign of the growing clout of what is now the fastest growing segment of the electorate.

"If you do not pay attention to the Hispanic community, you're running the risk of losing the future," says Univision anchor Jorge Ramos, who's moderating the debate tonight, along with co-anchor Maria Elena Salinas, from the University of Miami.

"Their vote is up for grabs, and they're waiting to see who is going to convince them  let's see who is going to romance that part of the vote," says Salinas.

Not long ago, President Bush and his ex-strategist Karl Rove worked to make real inroads among Latinos, who tend to be conservative on issues like abortion and gay marriage.

In 2004, a record 40 percent of Hispanics voted Republican. But in 2006, that number fell back to 30 percent.

The reason: fallout from the debate over immigration reform  which some Republicans now worry could swing the Hispanic vote decisively toward the Democrats in 2008 and beyond.

"The reality is, immigration reform hurts Republicans because the rhetoric on the right tends to sound like it's anti-immigrant," says Republican strategist Leslie Sanchez.

Rhetoric from candidates like Rep. Tom Tancredo  who, at one Republican debate, went so far as to propose a moratorium on legal immigration  has alienated many Hispanics who might otherwise be receptive to Republican ideas.

"When the language gets very visceral  when people feel very much as if they're under attack, or a community is under attack  Hispanics are going to look at it holistically and say, 'you mean all of us, not just illegals,'" says Sanchez.

Right now, most Republicans running for president are working hard to court conservatives, whose support they will need to win the party nomination. Significantly, the Republican Univision forum was cancelled after every candidate except John McCain cited scheduling conflicts.

One wild card in all this: turnout. How much Democrats ultimately benefit from the immigration debate will depend on how many Hispanics actually vote. In the past, Hispanic turnout has been lower than that of other voting blocs, and even in 2006, in the wake of the immigration fight on Capitol Hill, it was not significantly higher.

But, liberal activists are working to register new Hispanic voters, and the number of Hispanics applying for citizenship has jumped in recent months  a trend that Roberto Suro, of the University of Southern California, calls "some very surprising numbers.

"Those newly naturalized citizens often tend to be active voters," he says. "The first chance they get to vote, they tend to go out."

If truly motivated, it's a voting bloc that could reshape the electoral map for decades to come.


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[conalabu]

Wow. That is all I can say to that.

[PeterJasonMN]

Hell<------------(Handbasket)---------(us)

[gozling]

no comment
well i did but
nothing good

[Tony]

[1*girl]

Snfgklsnvifrng,xdfklshgakdgn,z .dsi higsnhvk,zx.cm.

That's what I think about it.

[lewisipso]

Snfgklsnvifrng,xdfklshgakdgn,z .dsi higsnhvk,zx.cm.

That's what I think about it.

Perfect.

[Terminator]

The republicans need to be more concerned about the future of America, like Tom Tancredo seems to be, rather than worried about winning the Hispanic vote.

[Norm357]

I saw part of this last night on Univision.

Hillary looked insane. Seriously bug eyed.