Miami Herald: Democrats tout shift in Hispanic voting

[laststeamtrain]

Democrats tout shift in Hispanic voting
BY BETH REINHARD

Hispanic voters registered as Democrats have overtaken Hispanic Republicans in Florida, signaling a trend that, if it continues, could have far-reaching implications for the 2008 election and U.S. foreign policy.

Until now, the politically influential, mostly Republican Cuban-American community in Miami-Dade made Florida the only state in the country where, among Hispanics, Republicans outnumbered Democrats.

April voter registration statistics show 418,339 Hispanic Democrats statewide, compared to 415,068 Hispanic Republicans and 345,108 registered with neither party, according to a Florida Democratic Party analysis of state data. The state provides registration data sorted by party and race to the public only in the month before an election.

The growth among Hispanic Democrats is striking. Since January 2006, when the state began identifying voters as Hispanic, Democratic registration has increased 18 percent. Hispanic Republicans grew by only 2 percent, while Hispanic voters choosing neither party are up 14 percent...http://www.miamiherald.com/campaign08/story/526492.html

[ThomWV]

1. The Miami Herald thinks all "hispanics" come from Cuba and live in Florida

It would suprse the hell out of them to discover that all of those folks from Central America who have been living in our western states for the last several hundred years consider themselves to be hispanic too.

[flashl]

2. In Florida, the number of registered Democrats is not the issue

as of 12/31/07 Registered voters: DEM=4,137,067 and REP=3,825,727.

With a majority registered DEM voter base Florida votes REP.