From Color Lines:
President Obama's visit to Puerto Rico, the first official state visit by a president in five decades, has been widely recognized as an attempt to reach out to voters back home, where winning the Latino vote is a key part of Obama's re-election strategy. What's still unclear is whether his visit, the latest in a line of high-profile speeches and symbolic gestures aimed at keeping his name in front of Latino voters, can substitute for the substantive reforms that Latino have been pushing for.... "Latinos who turn out in November 2012 are going to vote two to one for Obama," said Louis Desipio, a professor of political science and Chicano and Latino studies at the University of California, Irvine. "Obama can take the Latino vote for granted in some sense, but he shouldn't take turnout for granted." Desipio said that Latinos will vote in higher numbers in 2012 because of simple demographic shifts, but that it's unclear whether Obama can or will really leverage the full capacity of the Latino community. "If Latinos are frustrated in 2012 as they tentatively are now regarding the non-movement on immigration, that might mean a lower increase in turnout. What he needs to do is energize Latino communities to turn out."

For the full story, please visit http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/06/president_obamas_visit_to_puerto.....

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