Poll: Hispanics give Barack Obama mixed marks - Carrie Budoff Brown - POLITICO.com

Image via WikipediaPoll: Hispanics give Barack Obama mixed marks - Carrie Budoff Brown - POLITICO.com

Hispanic voters gave mixed marks to President Barack Obama in an election-eve poll released Wednesday -- an early sign that he has ground to make up with this constituency ahead of his 2012 reelection campaign.

Forty-nine percent of Hispanic voters said they approved of Obama’s handling of immigration, and 40 percent disapproved, according to the polling by Latino Decisions, which surveyed 3,200 voters in eight key states.

Thirty-nine percent said they would definitely support Obama in 2012, while 20 percent said they might and 29 percent said they wouldn’t back him for reelection.

“This is not a resounding endorsement and reflects frustration in the Latino community,” said Gary Segura, a senior researcher with Latino Decisions and Stanford University professor. “The president’s path to reelection with Latinos requires some work and investment of time.”

The findings provide a benchmark for Obama's support within the Hispanic community after months of contentious debate over the Arizona enforcement law and the collapse of immigration reform in Congress.

His overall job rating was 68 percent approve, 25 percent disapprove.

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Opinion: Jewish vote veers right – at times - Tevi Troy - POLITICO.com

Opinion: Jewish vote veers right – at times - Tevi Troy - POLITICO.com

For decades, conservative Jews have been wondering when the traditionally Democratic Jewish voter would make the same migration as other ethnic groups and start voting Republican. At the same time, liberal Jews have been explaining the variety of historical and religious reasons why such a switch would never take place.

While this debate seems never-ending, it’s possible that both sides have been looking at the wrong metrics. The shift in the Jewish vote is already taking place — but at the state, not the national level.

Nationally, Jews are only about 2 percent of the U.S. population, but they are heavily represented in big cities and have disproportionately high voter turnout rates. They are major contributors to both parties, though Democrats get the lion’s share. Some groups within the Jewish community, like Orthodox Jews, have shifted to the GOP – 70 percent supported George W. Bush in 2004. In addition, Jewish neoconservatives have long been vocal Republicans — with voices louder than their numbers suggest. Overall, though, the Jewish vote remains strongly Democratic at the national level. The GOP share in the last two decades fluctuating between Bush’s 25 percent in 2004 and his father’s 11 percent in 1992. (See chart below.)

At the state level, however, Jews can and do vote less Democratic. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie attracted 38 percent of the Jewish vote in 2009, proving that Republicans who can be competitive in the Jewish community gain an edge against Democratic opponents, who then can’t take the Jewish vote for granted.

For this reason, it is worth paying close attention to the Jewish vote in close Senate races in states with significant Jewish populations. In the complicated Pennsylvania race, for example, a Republican-turned-Democrat Jewish senator, Arlen Specter, is involuntarily leaving, and the Jewish vote is likely to help determine his successor.

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Democrats Hoping Black Voters Come to the Rescue - BV Black Spin

Democrats Hoping Black Voters Come to the Rescue - BV Black Spin

Democrats are relying heavily on black voters to keep them from hemorrhaging House and Senate seats in the mid-term elections and black voters should take this opportunity to seek a fully flushed out agenda from Washington.

The New York Times writes:

Without Mr. Obama atop the ticket this year......vulnerable Democrats, mostly in the rural South, face the challenge of reviving the spirit of 2008 for black voters without alienating right-leaning white majorities in their districts. The candidates' ability to walk that line may decide whether Democrats maintain control of the House of Representatives, and could affect several Senate contests and governor's races.

The Democrats confront multiple obstacles, but also enjoy several advantages. Working against them: turnout for midterm elections is often a third lower than in presidential years; some African-Americans are disillusioned with the pace of economic recovery; and several Democratic incumbents, including Mr. Kissell, who is white, have angered black constituents by opposing Mr. Obama on major initiatives like the health care law.

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Voter Mood Still Favors GOP But Not Totally: NPR Poll : It's All Politics : NPR

Voter Mood Still Favors GOP But Not Totally: NPR Poll : It's All Politics : NPR

Voter sentiment leading into the midterm elections continues to look like it could deliver Republicans a decisive victory and House control, according to a new survey done for NPR.

But the poll, done by Democratic pollster Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and Republican pollster Public Opinion Strategies, suggests that, as bad as things seem now for Democrats, it was somewhat worse a few months ago.

NPR Battleground Survey - October 7-10, 2010

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