GOP Successfully Alienates Latino Voters

Republicans have destroyed their approval ratings with Latinos.

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The most you can say about the Republican Party's performance with Latino voters right now is that it isn't in the single digits. Eight years after George W. Bush won 44 percent of Latino voters-and four years after John McCain nabbed 31 percent of the overall Latino vote-the GOP has seen the bottom drop out of its reputation with Latinos.

According to the latest survey from Fox News and Latin Insights, 73 percent of Latinos approve of President Obama's job performance, compared to 35 percent approval for Mitt Romney, 13 percent for Ron Paul, 12 percent for Newt Gingrich, and 9 percent for Rick Santorum. What's more, in a head-to-head matchup with the president, none of the GOP candidates would win more than 14 percent of the Latino vote.

It's not hard to figure out the why of Latino disdain for the Republican Party. At this point, the GOP fervently opposes every priority held by Latino voters. To wit:

The Fox News Latino poll show likely Latino voters across the country overwhelmingly support the DREAM Act (90 percent), favor a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants (85 percent), and believe undocumented workers help to grow the U.S. economy (82 percent).

It should be said that head-to-head matchups aren't particularly useful at this point in the year. But if Obama's tally with Latinos in November looks anything like these numbers, then Republicans are in for an exceptionally tough election.

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