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1121 “L” St., Suite 908
l Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 449-6190 Fax (916) 449-6199 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Michael Bustamante April 2, 2007 916.425.0839 TWO IN THREE LATINO VOTERS OPPOSE
ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE WAR IN IRAQ; BELIEVE THE WAR WAS A MISTAKE,
ACCORDING TO NEW NON-PARTISAN SURVEY Nearly Half of Respondents Have Family
Member, Close Friend Fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan SACRAMENTO, CA – Latino voters overwhelmingly oppose President
Bush’s request for additional funding for the war in Iraq and strongly believe
the war was a mistake, according to a new non-partisan survey of Latino voters
conducted by Lake Research Partners for the Latino Policy Coalition, a national
non-partisan consortium of leading Latino research organizations and
scholars. Of particular interest, the
survey found that almost half of Latinos surveyed said they have a close
relationship with someone who is currently serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. “The war in Iraq continues to have resonance among Latino voters and they have a remarkable level of personal connectedness to the issue,” said Celinda Lake, president of Lake Research Partners, who conducted the non-partisan poll for the Latino Policy Coalition. “During last year’s election, eighty-five percent (85%) of Latino voters said the war in Iraq would be an important part of their decision. We are finding that the issue has become even stronger among Latino voters and their belief that the war was a mistake has grown considerably.” According to the national
survey, an overwhelming number of Latino voters (66%) oppose President Bush’s
request of Congress for an additional $100 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. In fact, half of voters (51%) strongly oppose extending the requested
funds. Even among self-identified Latino
Republicans, only a bare majority (53%) favor giving President Bush the
additional funds while thirty-six percent (36%) oppose. “Latino
families are among this nation’s most patriotic in sending their sons and
daughters to the armed services, and war,” said Jim Gonzalez, Chair of the
Latino Policy Coalition. “Yet for Latino
voters in this nationwide poll, the War in Iraq is overwhelmingly considered a
mistake, and Latino voters want to cut off Bush’s funds for the war. What’s really compelling is that this is the
opinion of the Latino families, and friends, of those who are currently
serving.” Indeed, the survey found that a stunning forty-six percent (46%) of Latinos say they have a close family member (19%), close friend (16%), or both a close family member and close friend (11%) currently serving in the military in Iraq or Afghanistan. The survey also found that two-thirds (66%) of Latino voters now believe going to war with Iraq was a mistake, up eight percent from September 2006. Even among Latinos who have a close relationship with someone who currently serves in Iraq or Afghanistan, sixty-three percent (63%) believe it was a mistake, compared to sixty-eight percent (68%) among those who do not have a relationship to someone currently serving. "The very high percentage of Latino respondents
who indicate that they have a family member or close friend currently serving
in Iraq or Afghanistan is again indicative of the commitment this community has
to serving the country,” concluded Luis Fraga, Ph.D., Associate Professor of
Political Science at Stanford University.
“As in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, Latinos continue to serve the nation in
times of war. This should give great pause to those who question the
loyalty and patriotism of Latinos to the U.S. Perhaps most importantly,
it behooves our nation's leaders to reconsider our current policy given how
severely most Latinos are questioning the effectiveness of our current military
efforts." Methodology Lake Research Partners designed and administered this survey which was conducted by phone using professional interviewers. The survey reached 1000 Latino registered and likely voters in the 23 states with the highest Latino population density. These states include: California, TX, FL, NY, IL, Arizona, NJ, New Mexico, Colorado, GA, NV, NC, WA, MA, VA, PA, CT, MI, OR, MD, IN, OH, and WI. The survey was conducted March 13 and 21, 2007. Telephone numbers for the survey were drawn from files of registered voters. The data were weighted slightly by age and national ancestry. The margin of error for the survey is +/- 3.1 percentage points. About the Latino Policy Coalition
The
Latino Policy Coalition is a national non-partisan non-profit consortium of the
country's leading Latino research organizations and scholars. These
organizations are dedicated to measuring through nationwide polls public policy
issues affecting the Latino community. Chaired by former SF Supervisor
Jim Gonzalez, the LPC's mission is to help define Latino community concerns on
key contemporary issues in order to stimulate public policy debate among local,
state and national elected officials. For
more information please visit our website at
www.latinopolicycoalition.org # # # |
