Posted by: Luis Cruz - Posted on: 08-01-2009

Latino Vote propels Obama to the Presidency

The Latino vote always plays a major role in American politics. It certainly did in the 2008 campaign the Latino community put their votes in support of Democrat Barrack Obama, shattering the dreams of the Republicans. The polls suggest that about three quarters of Latinos supported Obama during the presidential elections. Historically, the Latino community staunchly supporter the Democrats and Obama has proved himself a worthy candidate. Obama also attracted many first time voter immigrants, who believed that he would be the candidate to do more for immigrants and address their issues.

During the election campaign, the media and the political analysts had at times suggested that the Hispanic community would not approve of a Black American president. But, the presidential election results proved otherwise. About 66% of all Latino votes were for Obama.

When Hilary Clinton contested states with large Latino communities, such as Texas, Florida, California, Arizona, New York and New Mexico, the results were in her favor. Once Obama was chosen to be the president election candidate, the Latinos supported the Democratic Party and hence Obama, with little mind toward any racial difference. Experts whose opinions suggested any racial discrimination in the casting of votes were proved wrong when the outcome demonstrated Americans were prepared to elect an African-American as their new president.

The power of the Latino community as voters was demonstrated when they put their support behind the Democratic candidate. Proving the significance of their votes to America the backing of Obama by Latino voters saw him triumph over McCain where these voters had swayed the vote previously towards Clinton. Prior to the election, about 9.2 million Latinos were expected to vote. In the final tally it was in fact a whooping 10 million Latinos voted this year. This number corresponds to 8% of electorates, owing to a community which constitutes 14% of the US population.

The Latino voters helped Obama win in four major battlegrounds – Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New Mexico. Obama was able to capture over 70% of the votes in each of these states. 57% of Latino votes in Florida favored Obama and overall, the Latino community represents the largest monitory in America to show their combined power, proving the experts wrong by supporting an African-American candidate.

Several reasons were stated for the support extended by the Latinos to Obama. The most essential factor is the Latinos loyalty towards the Democrats. During the previous elections, Republican Bush was selected as the president when he held a greater percentage of Latino votes. This time, the Latinos wanted to show their dissatisfaction for the Bush leadership and hence supported the Democrats. Furthermore, the policies and principles of Obama appealed to many Americans.

Many minority communities in America are of the opinion that electing a person of some color will bring major benefits for people of all colors. Though race was talked of during the initial campaign, as time passed by, far more focus was given for the policies of the candidates. This presidential election emphasized that America is ready for a change. With an African-American president supported by both minority communities and white people in America