Campaigns & Elections' Politics - February 2008 - (Page 37) Part of the push to win Hispanic votes is to make sure Latino supporters understand the primary and caucus systems. Here Hispanic voters get a primer on the Iowa caucuses at Barack Obama’s campaign headquarters in Des Moines. Young Hispanics, the majority of the population, boast the highest number of undecided voters. GETTY IMAGES vocal opposition to comprehensive immigration reform. He also has pledged to cut federal funds to cities that refuse to comply with immigration laws. And while all the Democratic candidates participated in a December debate sponsored by the Spanish-language television network Univision, only one Republican—McCain— accepted an invitation to the network’s GOP debate. Immigration: The Ultimate Wedge The immigration debate has done much more than heat up the halls of Congress and the stages of the early presidential debates. It’s also become one of the driving forces behind the Hispanic vote. Although Hispanics tend to care a lot about education and healthcare, it is the immigration issue that most stirs their emotions.The Pew Center poll found that the majority of Hispanics feel personally affected by the tone of the immigration debate. The survey also found that about half of all Hispanic adults in the U.S. worry that they, a family member or a close friend could be deported. “I think immigration is so huge that it will trump every other February 2008 Politics 37
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