Obama bids for Western votes as key to victory
By LIZ SIDOTI and KATHLEEN HENNESSEY
Associated Press
August 20, 2008
Page 3 of 3
Hispanics now account for about 20 percent of the population in Colorado, 25 percent in Nevada and a whopping 45 percent in New Mexico.
They are the political wild card because it's uncertain how strongly they will turn out to vote.
As a Democrat, Obama has a formidable edge among them, but McCain's ties to a nearby state, as well as his years of work in the Senate to change the immigration system, could help him lessen that margin much the same way Bush's Texas roots and long relationship with Hispanics did in previous elections.
It won't be easy for McCain.
Take Maria Alfaro, 51 and a housekeeper at the Las Vegas Hilton.
A Honduras native who became a U.S. citizen in June, Alfaro said her family is made up of Democrats and that, as a member of the local Culinary Workers Union, she will cast her first vote for Obama. "He's focused about the workers and what he wants for our future," Alfaro said. "He never forgot where he came from."
She's unhappy with the direction of the country and Bush's Iraq policies. And, she doesn't know much about McCain, saying: "We see him on the news, but we don't pay much attention to him."
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Liz Sidoti reported from Washington.
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