The Spotlight Falls on Scholars of Hispanic Politics

With Hispanics accounting for nearly 25 percent of eligible voters in the Texas presidential primaries, many political analysts are asking why Hillary Clinton has done well with that demographic and whether she can continue to do so. Leading scholars of Hispanic politics are hearing their phones ring more often, and at least a few have seized the opportunity to publicize their work through newspaper columns.

A recent poll of likely Texas primary voters commissioned by the Texas Credit Union League found Hispanics there favoring Mrs. Clinton over Barack Obama by about a 2-to-1 margin. Her campaign has benefited from similarly high levels of Hispanic support in several other states, such as California, although Mr. Obama appears to be making inroads. Exit polls show he got about half of the Hispanic vote in this week’s primaries in Maryland and Virginia.

On the Republican side, John McCain appears to be faring well with Hispanic voters. Dan Balz of The Washington Post observes in an analytical piece posted online today that the Obama campaign’s lack of support among Hispanic voters poses both a short-term threat to his prospects in the remaining primaries and a long-term threat to his election should he become the Democratic nominee.”*

*From: chronicle.com

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