Candidates intensify efforts to grab Latino vote

[DeepModem Mom]

CNN/AP: Candidates intensify efforts to grab Latino vote
May 31, 2007


Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's endorsement was sought by all the leading Democratic candidates.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton's political courtship of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa landed her an early, influential endorsement this week that highlights the intense competition among presidential candidates for support within the growing Latino population.

Candidates in both major parties are reaching out to Latino voters with an intensity that speaks to the importance of the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority group in the 2008 campaign....

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Hispanics tend to lean Democratic in national elections, but President Bush showed in 2004 that Republicans have much at stake. Bush captured about 40 percent of the Hispanic vote that year, the most ever for a GOP presidential candidate. His Democratic rival, John Kerry, won 53 percent, down from the 62 percent former Vice President Al Gore garnered in 2000.

Villaraigosa, a potential gubernatorial candidate in 2010, is one of the nation's most recognized Latino politicians. He's expected to serve as a strong advocate for Clinton among Hispanics, particularly in vote-rich Southern California.

California's Hispanic population is nearing 36 percent -- more than double the U.S. average. However, Latino historically vote in numbers well below their share of the population, in part because many are either too young to vote, unregistered or foreign citizens....

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/31/hispanics.2008.ap/index.html