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Will the Hispanic vote be up for grabs in 2012?

U.S. President Barack Obama's changing popularity among Hispanics could lead to a bump in GOP support. UPI/Chip Somodevilla/POOL
U.S. President Barack Obama's changing popularity among Hispanics could lead to a bump in GOP support. UPI/Chip Somodevilla/POOL | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama's lower approval among Hispanics in recent polls indicates the Latino vote could be up for grabs in the 2012 election, a pollster says.

In a recent Gallup poll, Obama's approval rating among Latinos dipped to 48 percent, the lowest in his presidency and a big drop from the 60-percent approval he had within that group as recently as January, The Washington Post reported Sunday. Obama's approval rating among Hispanics is 7 percentage points higher than it is among the general public in Gallup polling, a huge decline from earlier in his term.

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Obama's slip among Hispanics draws a parallel with his struggle with a broader electorate that has become more dismayed about the economy and the administration's inability to address it, the Post said.

"President Obama's decline among Hispanics, like most other segments of the electorate, is very real, and it is a consequence of his weak performance on the core issue affecting people's attitudes -- the economy," Republican consultant Danny Diaz said.

Another reason cited for the drop in support is the lack of any real action in immigration reform.

Obama supporters say reports about Hispanics leaving his base are exaggerated, noting that while Hispanics may not be entirely happy with Obama's performance, that voting bloc will support him against the Republican presidential candidate, likely to take positions that most Latinos abhor, the Post said.

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Joel Benenson, Obama's lead pollster, pointed to an August tracking poll from ImpreMedia/Latino Decisions indicated 72 percent of Hispanic voters said Republicans either "didn't care" or were "hostile" to the Hispanic community as support for the argument that Obama's numbers likely would improve once the GOP nominee is set.

"Latino voters see a very clear choice," Benenson said, "between President Obama, who is fighting for measures to restore balance, fairness and the economic security for working and middle-class Latino families through programs like the Dream Act, job training programs and common-sense immigration reform versus a Republican lineup of congressmen and presidential contenders who vehemently oppose and denounce every one of these measures."

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