Washington: US President Barack Obama won his re-election bid to the White House after garnering a diverse coalition of support from women, minorities, the young and a new powerhouse in American politics – the Hispanics.
While Republican rival Mitt Romney’s votes came overwhelmingly from older white voters, whose share of the electorate is diminishing, Obama’s success was fuelled by the Hispanic vote, which is growing in numbers and influence with every election.
As America’s fastest-growing demographic, Hispanics made up to 10 percent of all votes cast on Tuesday – and they backed Obama in huge numbers.
According to the Daily Mail, angered by Romney’s hard line stance on immigration, Hispanics voted for Obama by an overwhelming 70 to 30 percent margin.
In Florida, the biggest battleground with 29 electoral votes, Romney’s failure to secure the state was blamed squarely on losing the Hispanic vote, the paper said.
There was no surprise that black voters backed the President by a massive majority, and his election victory was also boosted by women and younger Americans, it added.
Matt Barreto, a political scientist at the University of Washington, said it was critical for the president to retain the Hispanic voting bloc, especially because he lost support among white men – which had declined to 36 percent from 41 percent four years ago, the report said.
“We saw Obama’s standing among Hispanics and overall voter enthusiasm increase after his announcement this summer,” Barreto said.
ANI
First Published: Thursday, November 08, 2012, 16:31