Hispanic vote for Pres. Bush slipping fast

July 22,2004 -- President Bush is trailing his Democratic challenger John Kerry by a big margin among potential Hispanic voters, according to a new survey of Latino attitudes toward politics released Thursday.

Kerry and his vice presidential choice, John Edwards enjoy a 2-1 advantage among registered Latino voters. Hispanics give Bush lower approval ratings than does the overall population, and the poll shows that the bulk of Latino community continues to identify with the Democratic Party.

The findings suggest that Bush is falling short of his goal of notably improving on the 35 percent share of the Hispanic vote he received four years ago, although his advisers said he is still on track to do so. Kerry advisers said they are determined to keep Bush from winning as much of the Hispanic vote as he did in 2000

The survey polled 788 adults between July 12 and 20, and had a margin of error 3.5 percent.

The results were released together with a separate poll of Latino attitudes toward politics, which showed Hispanics were generally skeptical on the war in Iraq.

Fifty six percent of Hispanics disapproved of Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq, roughly mirroring sentiment among the overall U.S. population, the survey said.

Registered Hispanic voters ranked education as their top priority, with 54 percent saying the issue was extremely important in deciding their presidential vote, followed by the economy and jobs.

Only 27 percent considered immigration – an issue often used to court Latino voters – as a major concern, ranking it eleventh overall, behind the federal budget deficit.

About 40 million Hispanics reside in the United States, with about seven or eight million expected to vote, according to Hispanic groups.

The annual Pew Hispanic/Kaiser Family survey polled 2,288 Hispanics between April 21 and June 9, 2004, and had a margin of error of 2.83 percent.