WASHINGTON (ABP) — According to a new survey, Latino Protestants view immigration reform as a moral issue on par with abortion and — even after overwhelmingly voting for President Bush four years ago — now lean toward Barack Obama in the upcoming presidential election.
The study of Hispanic Protestants, the vast majority of whom consider themselves “born-again” or evangelical, was released Oct. 16. It found that Latino Protestant voters, who comprise about 25 percent of the total Hispanic vote, favor Obama over the Republican candidate John McCain by a 17-point margin — 50 percent to 33 percent.
That is a significant shift from a post-election survey in 2004, when 63 percent of Latino Protestants said they voted for President Bush over his Democratic challenger, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.
Among Latino Protestant voters, 77 percent said their religious beliefs are important in influencing their views on immigration. Nearly 83 percent said a candidate's position on immigration is important in determining their vote this year. Twice as many trust Democrats to pass immigration reform that reflects their values (42 percent) than trust Republicans (20 percent.)
That doesn't mean the demographic is sewn up for Democrats, though. Support for Obama is 18 points lower than the percentage of the Protestant Latino vote that went for Democratic candidate Al Gore in 2000.
In the latest poll, Sixty-two percent of Hispanic Protestants said they have heard public officials speak negatively about immigrants, and 43 percent of those said they associated such negative rhetoric with both parties. A significant number — 31 percent — said they would leave their political party if it did not find a more positive way to address immigration reform and welcome immigrants.
Samuel Rodriguez, president of National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, termed Latino Protestants "the quintessential swing vote." His group was one of five that commissioned the survey.
"The biblical mandate to welcome the immigrant could not be clearer, and we draw our values from our Bibles," Rodriguez said in conference call with reporters. "This poll powerfully demonstrates that immigration is a profoundly religious issue for Hispanic evangelicals. We will vote our faith, and we will vote our values. It's time that all candidates take notice."
Jesse Miranda of the Jesse Miranda Center for Hispanic Leadership said Latinos are expected to vote in record numbers this year. "To many in this community, we see an awakening of this giant," he said.
With large Hispanic populations in key swing states like Florida, Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado, Rodriguez said the Latino vote this year could be decisive.
Social issues on which many Anglo Protestants base their votes appeared less important to their Hispanic brethren than immigration. Three-fourths of Latino Protestants ranked abortion as extremely or very important in their voting decisions, and about 55 percent said the same for gay marriage. Rodriguez said while conservative Hispanics are comfortable with the Republican positions on those issues, many feel like the Republican Party doesn't want them because of their ethnicity.
The Democrats, meanwhile, appear more multicultural and have tried to move toward a more centrist stance on abortion and gay marriage. "Elections are won around the margins," Rodriguez said, offering a possible explanation for the pendulum swing toward Obama.
Miranda described the Hispanic conservative as "a political paradox in the United States," conservative in matters of faith and national security but more liberal toward immigration. He described those voters as "uncomfortable with either/or thinking" and said they cannot be taken for granted by either party.
"We are dreamers," he said. "We are the sons and daughters of Don Quixote, seeking the American dream."
Rodriguez said immigration reform "is not a second-tier issue to be considered post facto after abortion and gay marriage," but rather "a Kingdom issue" high on the moral agenda for Latino Protestants.
Miranda said the survey should be "a clarion call" to the next president.
The survey, conducted a month before the Nov. 4 election, polled 500 Latino Protestant registered voters by telephone. More than 80 percent of Latino Protestants self-identified as being born-again or attending an evangelical denomination.
The other sponsors were Faith in Public Life, America's Choice Education Fund and Gaston Espinoza, associate professor of religious studies at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif.
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