Hispanic Voters in 2008 President

Hispanic Voters in 2008

President George W. Bush had great success in drawing Hispanic voters over to the Republican Party. Susan Page of USA Today notes that 40% of Hispanic voters in 2004 voted for Bush, showing remarkable gains over the past decade, and coming in with twice the number of Hispanic voters that Bob Dole did in his Republican bid for the Presidency on 21996 (Page, 2007). President Bush's success was the result of many things, not the least of which was his choice to speak Spanish at many of his campaign stops, and to make sure to praise traditional Hispanic values in an attempt to illustrate the ways in which the Republican Party and his own personal ideologies were aligned with those of the general Hispanic population.

But even back in 2007, it was clear that Bush's success was wearing off, and that Hispanics were returning to what has been the traditional party of Hispanics and other minorities for most of the twentieth century -- the Democratic Party. In fact, a poll conducted in 2007 showed that Hispanics were more likely to identify as Democrats by a three-to-one ration compared to Republicans (Page, 2007). Part of the reason, it is suspected, is the same reason that President Bush's and the Republican Party's approval ratings fell overall during his second term in the highest office in the land; the continued entanglement in the Iraq war, the abuses of power that became widely reported and the accompanying resignation of many prominent members of President Bush's Cabinet, and other factors not directly related to Hispanic voters in specific had an affect on these voters and citizens across the country (and indeed, around the world). Though his approval ratings had soared at times, President Bush's second term cost him the confidence of a lot of voters, including Hispanics and other minorities. There were other factors that led specifically and directly to a loss of Hispanic voters for the Republican Party, though.

Immigration reform became a big deal during Bush's second term, and the comments and proposals made by many Republicans regarding this issue, especially as it pertained to the United States' border with Mexico, offended many Hispanic voters in the country (Page, 2007). Though President Bush introduced legislation that would have allowed illegal immigrants to obtain legal status in some situations, the bulk of the Republican Party was still taking a hard line on immigration, with the exception of Senator John McCain, who early in his bid for the Presidency was careful not to take to strong a position, and who took the time to praise the bravery of Hispanic soldiers in the Vietnam and Iraq wars (Page, 2007). Most other members of the Republican Party, however, remained firmly against relaxing immigration laws.