A new NBC/Latino Decisions poll (pdf) shows Barack Obama's numbers improving with Hispanics along a number of important fronts, in the wake of his immigration announcement.
Key numbers:
a. Obama leads Romney among Hispanics, 66%-26%.
That's a 6% jump from last month.
b. Obama's approval rating with Hispanics is 65%.
That's a 4% hop.
c. His approval rating on immigration was just 45%/42% before the immigration move.
That jumps to 61%/30%, post-proposal.
g. Obama's lead among Hispanics in swing states jumped from 57% to 67% after his announcement.
Now... Here's why Obama's lead seems fairly bullet-proof.
On an open-ended question, 10% of Hispanics said Obama is "doing the best he can" and doesn't get enough support for his efforts.
That was tied for the highest response, and is a ton for an open-ended question.
In other words, Hispanics don't seem to hold high Hispanic unemployment against him.
Hispanics also think Obama's policies have improved economic conditions, as opposed to hurting them, 42%-17%.
First Read notes just how Democratic Hispanics have become on numerous issues.
72 percent of Hispanics said the president inherited the economic situation; All respondents: 60 percent;
64 percent said government should do more to help; All respondents: 49 percent;
62 percent of Hispanics approve of Obama’s handling of the economy; All respondents: 42 percent;
62 percent said the economy is recovering; All respondents: 51 percent;
56 percent of Hispanics said last month’s jobs report, which showed just 69,000 jobs created, was a reason for optimism; All respondents: 43 percent;
By 50-16 percent, Hispanics prefer Democrats on immigration; All respondents: Democrats 33-30 percent;
By 48-20 percent, Hispanics said Obama’s push for health care was a good idea; All respondents: bad idea by 41-35 percent;
By 46-16 percent, Hispanics preferred Democrats on taxes; All respondents: Republicans 34-32 percent.
By 42-17 percent, Hispanics believe President Obama’s economic policies have helped not hurt; All respondents: 33-32 percent;
42 percent of Hispanics said the country is on the right track; All respondents: 31 percent;
30 percent of Latinos said the government was doing too many things; All respondents: 47 percent
When a group sympathizes with a particular party that heavily on so many issues, it's tough to see how Romney can do any better than the roughly 30% he's already getting.
