Clinton Holds Edge Among Key Hispanics

[goldcanyonaz]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton enjoys a major head start over Barack Obama in wooing Hispanic voters, who could prove crucial in Tuesday's 22-state Democratic presidential showdown.

Obama is scrambling to close the gap, matching Clinton's Spanish-language ads and sending Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy to campaign for him in New Mexico and other places where many older Latinos revere the Kennedy name. As for younger Latinos, Obama hopes his proven ability to energize college-age blacks and whites will apply equally to Hispanics in California and other states voting next week.

But the Illinois senator concedes that the Super Tuesday calendar gives him far less time to engage and charm voters than he had in New Hampshire and South Carolina, where he scored two big victories.

Many Clinton supporters, meanwhile, feel her yearslong outreach to Hispanics, and her husband's popularity, will serve her well among the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority. They note she won the popular vote in the Jan. 19 Nevada caucus after taking 64 percent of the Hispanic vote to Obama's 26 percent. If she rolls up similar margins among Hispanics next week, Obama is in for a long night.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jGhRla8sDQNICBnNJEEmue1DFLCgD8UHE3P00