Dem poll: Obama leads among Latinos

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Barack Obama is polling well among Hispanics in key battleground states, a party-affiliated survey claims.

A poll conducted by Sergio Bendixen for the Democratic Party think tank NDN indicated Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, is leading Republican opponent Sen. John McCain of Arizona among Hispanic voters in Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado, while he was tied with McCain in Florida, USA Today reported Wednesday.

Information about the poll's sampling size and margin of error were not included by the newspaper.

Securing Hispanic votes in the Western states and Florida could be a key factor for Obama if he is to win the U.S. presidential election because they are expected to turn out in big numbers, an analyst said.

Matt Barreto, a University of Washington political scientist, told the newspaper he is predicting an all time-high turnout of more than 9 million Hispanic voters this year, compared to 7.6 million in 2004.

McCain spokeswoman Hessy Fernandez dismissed the survey results as partisan, and noted that McCain won 70 percent of the Arizona Hispanic vote in his last U.S. Senate election.