Notable Quotables: Losing the Latino vote

“It’s absolutely urgent. The demographics are there in black and white…If we don’t figure out a way to open our party up to more Hispanic voters, nothing else we do will matter. Mathematically, we can’t get there from here.”

---Former Rep. Henry Bonilla (Republican) is alarmed at how the Latino vote has mostly fled away from the GOP and towards the Democratic Party.

Bonilla’s comments are nothing to shrug off; the “anti-Hispanic rhetoric” has become louder within the GOP, as ex-Republican Party chairman Mel Martinez observed.

A recent survey by Bendixen & Associates found that 71% of respondents feel that the Democrats best represent the Latino community on immigration and that President Barack Obama has done “an excellent or good job” on Latino issues. Another study conducted by the University of Washington found that four in five Latinos back Obama’s presidency so far.

Image- citypages.com
Online Sources- Politico.com, chron.com, miamiherald.com, Latina

Who is Sergio Bendixen?

Real Clear Politics put out this interesting interview on Sergio Bendixen today.

Bendixen, principal Bendixen & Associates, is a Peruvian immigrant and coordinator of President Obama's Latino voter outreach campaign, and has been a key Democratic consultant for decades. He is widely considered one of the most influential people in American politics, yet relatively unknown. RCP labels him "the most under appreciated and under reported man in American politics"

The story comes in the wake of his own firm's poll, as well as a Latina Magazine poll that shows that over 80% of Latinos support Obama through his first 100 days in office.

Sources: RCP, Latina Magazine, Politico