Post-Mortem on the Hispanic Vote

After every election "experts" stir the entrails of the successful candidate's vote to determine its make-up. One conclusion shoutng loudly from the Obama victory is that the Hispanic vote went overwhelmingly for him, contributing significantly to wins in four states -- Florida, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. Immigration was up front for many Hispanic voters, but in the last days they were spurred as much by the downturn in the economy and so went to the polls in droves. (See AP analysis.) This should position Hispanic organizations and immigrant advocates to press the new president to move quickly on immigration reform. Obviously, that will have to wait till after dealing with the financial crisis and the need for an economic stimulus. It will compete for attention with other issues that impact on the Hispanic community -- health care and education reform.