Obama Tops Univision Polls, GOP Seen As Openly Hostile

According to the latest Univision poll, Barack Obama leads the top three GOP candidates by a two-to-one margin among Latino voters.   But that doesn’t mean it’s smooth sailing for the President in 2012.  While Republicans remain less popular with the Latino electorate in general, votes are still up for grabs should Obama slip up on any of the key issues, or if the GOP relaxes its hard line stance on immigration.

As pointed out in the poll, given the rising numbers of Latinos in the US, and the rise in numbers of those eligible to vote in 2012, a 26 percent increase from 2008, they are the fastest-growing voting group in the nation.

Other highlights from the Univision poll include stances on immigration and the economy:

Immigration reform remains important but But the Latino community is currently more concerned with jobs and the economy than they are with immigration reform. According to the Univision News/Latino Decisions poll, among all voters nationwide, 74 percent said the most important issue in how they will pick a candidate to support will be jobs and the economy, while only 10 percent said immigration reform. Among Latinos, 65 percent said it was jobs and the economy, with 23 percent saying immigration reform.

Latino attitudes on whose to blame for the current economic woes:

Latino voters are not blaming Obama for the struggling economy. Sixty-seven percent believe that President George W. Bush is most responsible for the nation’s economic woes (including 25 percent of Latino Republicans) and only 19 percent say Obama shoulders most of the blame. Those numbers track significantly higher than the sample of general population, which split 50-33 percent between Bush and Obama.

And not only are GOP candidates unpopular, so is the entire party:

Republicans need to do more Latino outreach: Only 13 percent of Latinos say the GOP has done a good job reaching out to them, while 42 percent say Republicans don’t care too much about them and 30 percent believe they are being openly hostile.

So Latinos haven’t completely given up on Obama – but is it because of his policies, his outreach to the community, or because he’s simply a better alternative to the GOP?  And can Republicans overcome their negative image before 2012? Check out all the data at Univision’s tumblr.