Texas Below I-10 -- Whither The Hispanic Vote

Below Interstate Highway 10 in Texas is the heartland of the Hispanic voter. It was assumed that Hillary Clinton had a lock on that vote. But signs are that Barack Obama has been chipping away at her hold. (See NY Times article.) No matter who the vote goes to, the very fact that candidates are assiduously pursue it is another indication of the growing significance of the Hispanic vote. Even though the Republicans have squandered President George W. Bush's hard-earned progress among Hispanic voters when running for governor and president, the expected Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, is expected to sue vigorously for those voters. So in a general election, the interest of the Hispanic voters will be high and their votes might make the difference as to who goes to the White House and Congress.

. . . U.S. RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE SURVEY
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life just released "a landscape survey" based on 35,000 interviews on the state of religion in American. It found religion to be in flux. Almost half those surveyed have changed faiths. The number of Catholics has remained "stable", largely due to the influx of immigrants. The survey estimates that one in three Americans were "raised Catholic" though only one in four identifies themselves as Catholic now. The survey does not tell us anything new, but confirms what most suspect.