AZMEX I3-2 10-10-12

AZMEX I3 2 10 OCT 2012

Note: Consider carefully the source. Then realize that the Spanish
speaking populace here in AZ gets a steady diet of this from the
media. Last time we checked, citizens don't often get deported.
But, as reported on the local Univision station, about 80% know at
least one illegal immigrant. Most of us many more than that.
Check the last sentence for how distorted the issue has become.


Poll: Immigration top issue for Arizona's Latino voters
By: Sean Peick/Cronkite News Service
Originally published: Oct 10, 2012 - 6:38 am
http://www.ktar.com/22/1580979/Immigration-top-issue-for-Ariz-Latino-
voters

PHOENIX -- Registered Latino voters in Arizona are more concerned
about immigration policy than the economy and far more likely to vote
for President Barack Obama, a poll released Tuesday suggests.

Asked to list two issues of importance to the Hispanic community, 55
percent of respondents to the Latino Decisions/America's Voice Survey
listed immigration and the DREAM Act while 44 percent listed the
economy and jobs. Education/schools was next at 15 percent.

America's Voice, a Washington, D.C-based group that lobbies for
immigration reform, commissioned the poll.

At a news conference announcing and analyzing the results, a panel of
academics and community organizers said illegal immigration makes
sense as a top issue.

"For Latino voters, the issue of immigration is there, it has been
there, it's not going away," said Rodolfo Espino, an associate
professor in Arizona State University's School of Politics and Global
Studies.

Meanwhile, when asked who would get their vote were the presidential
election held that day, 80 percent of respondents said they would
vote for President Barack Obama, while 14 percent favored Republican
Mitt Romney.

Espino said he wasn't ready to credit Obama's large lead in the poll
to concern about immigration.

"It can cut both ways for Obama," he said, noting that some Latino
voters were upset with Democrats as well as Republicans after SB 1070
passed even though Democrats opposed it.

Latino Decisions, a political polling firm that conducted the poll,
has estimated that approximately 640,000 Latinos are registered to
vote in Arizona. There were 3.1 million registered voters overall for
Arizona's primary election.

The poll, conducted from Sept. 29 to Oct. 4, involved 400 registered
Latinos randomly selected from voter rolls and interviewed in English
or Spanish, according to the interviewee's preference. The results
have a margin for error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

In response to a reporter's question, Gary Segura, a principal with
Latino Decisions and a professor of American politics and chair of
Chicano/a-Latino/a studies at Stanford University, said the results
had nothing to do with the support by America's Voice for immigration
reform.

"America's Voice is a valued client for Latino Decisions, but it's
not our only client," Segura said. "And if we were in the business of
cooking the books for a client, we'd very quickly run out of clients
because people would raise exactly that sort of thing."

Calling immigration a litmus test that frames nearly every other
issue, Stephen Nuño, an assistant professor with Northern Arizona
University's Department of Politics and International Affairs, said
in a telephone interview that the GOP message of job creation isn't
as likely to resonate with Latino voters in Arizona put off by the
party's hard line on immigration.

"Even though jobs are important, who cares?" said Nuño, speaking as a
hypothetical Latino voter. "You don't like me, so why would I trust
you with jobs if you don't even deem that I have or require the
respect that you consider me as being part of this country?"