McCain Hispanic strength said fading

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Sen. John McCain's early perceived strength among Hispanic voters in his bid for the presidency appears to have evaporated, The New York Times says.

Less than two weeks before Election Day, recent Gallup polls indicate Democratic Sen. Barack Obama is running far ahead of his Republican opponent in the quest for Hispanic support nationwide, the report says, with only 26 percent said to be favoring McCain.

Both candidates spent heavily on Spanish-language advertising and continue to woo Hispanics. McCain had made a major issue of his immigration work in Congress and was popular among Latinos in Arizona, his home state, which borders three battleground states in the Southwest -- New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada.

But, Latinos cite the economic crisis as their biggest concern, not immigration or the social conservatism Republicans thought would help among religious, family-oriented Hispanic voters, the Times said.

"The McCain campaign was never set up in a way that spoke to Hispanics," Matthew Dowd, President Bush's senior strategist in 2004 told the Times. "Throughout the entire primary, there was no conversation because they thought that was not where the election was."