Obama Makes Push for Latino Voters

(Newser) – President Obama will speak today to La Raza, the country’s top Hispanic advocacy group, as he aggressively pursues the Latino vote in 2012. He’s already been the first sitting president since JFK to visit Puerto Rico, nominated the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, given a major speech on immigration reform, and invited leading members of the Hispanic community to the White House, NPR notes. But immigration overhaul has fallen by the wayside, despite Obama's 2008 “promise that comprehensive immigration reform would be an absolute top priority,” notes La Raza's head.

“I think it's been disappointing for many of us in the Latino community.” Obama, nevertheless hopes to win an even bigger chunk of the Latino vote than he did in 2008. But he's got competition: With the Latino vote rapidly growing across the country, Republicans are also hoping to win over the community—though La Raza's head notes that none accepted an invitation to address the group today. “I feel like they're missing an incredible opportunity to engage and to court a growing segment of the electorate.”