If Republicans weren't convinced that they were doing poorly among Latinos before, a new survey from two conservative groups released this week reaffirms it.
Four joint surveys conducted by both Resurgent Republican and the Hispanic Leadership Network found that most Hispanics do not think the Republican Party respects their values and concerns, and the Democratic Party better understands them than the GOP, which they consider to be "anti-immigrant."
The survey was conducted in telephone in English and Spanish, polling 400 Hispanics in each of four states with heavy Latino populations--Florida, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico--which were also four key swing states during the presidential election in November, all won by President Obama.
The survey results say that Hispanic voters believe the Republican Party does not respect the values and concerns of the Hispanic community. By the numbers, polled Hispanics felt that way by a margin of 51 to 44 percent in Florida, 54 to 40 percent in New Mexico, 59 to 35 percent in Nevada, and 63 to 30 percent in Colorado.
As a whole, the Republican Party was viewed unfavorably by Latinos in the survey. In Florida, only 44 percent of those Hispanics polled favored the Republican Party, while 47 percent in Florida saw the GOP unfavorably. The Republicans were also viewed unfavorably in the other states, 53 percent to 35 percent in New Mexico, 58 percent to 33 percent in Nevada, and 61 percent to 30 percent in Colorado.
In Colorado, 43 percent of Hispanic voters have a "very unfavorable" view of the party.
By contrast, the Democratic Party, has favorable to unfavorable ratings of two-to-one or better in each state, the Resurgent Republican notes. Democrats are favored among Latinos by 60 percent to 30 percent in Florida, 66 to 26 percent in New Mexico, 69 to 24 percent in Nevada, and 72 to 23 percent in Colorado.
"President Obama outperforms even these numbers, with favorable to unfavorable ratings of 64 to 34 percent in Florida, 72 to 26 percent in each of New Mexico and Nevada, and 78 to 20 percent in Colorado," the site states.
Analyst Whit Ayres, a Resurgent Republic Board Member who studied the results, points out that this is a clear sign that Republicans cannot solely rely on winning over white voters in future elections, and that they must cater more to non-whites, such as Latinos and Asians.
"Republicans have run out of persuadable white voters," Aryes wrote. "For the fifth time in the past six presidential elections, Republicans lost the popular vote. Trying to win a national election by gaining a larger and larger share of a smaller and smaller portion of the electorate is a losing political proposition."
However, all is not lost, Aryes pointed out, saying that there is a chance for Republicans to win over more Latino voters by supporting certain policies regarding immigration.
The survey finds that Hispanics who were polled supported eight of nine policies, including temporary work visas, earning legal status by graduating from college or serving in the military, guest worker programs, border security, and legal status provisions, among others.
The only one rejected by Latinos was the proposition taking steps to aggressively seek and deport undocumented immigrants.
"There is ample opportunity for conservatives to support approaches that garner Hispanic support," Aryes added. "Increased border security, for example, draws the support of four-fifths of Hispanic voters in these states, while components of the DREAM Act or Achieve proposals secure even higher levels of support."
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