With a record of immigration reform, John McCain once appeared a near-lock for the Hispanic vote—but the bloc is instead turning to Barack Obama, Politico reports. McCain is hovering around 26%, nowhere near Bush's historic 40% in the last election. Not only is McCain not getting credit for his prior support of reform, he's being associated with the GOP's general anti-immigration sentiment, thanks in part to Democratic ads.
“We find ourselves between the proverbial rock and the hard place,” says the head of a Hispanic coalition. "We really like John McCain. We really don't like the Republican Party." The Hispanic vote is looking increasingly important as the batteground shifts to Florida, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico, all with large Hispanic populations; both campaigns are flooding airwaves with aggressive Spanish-language ads.
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