Consolidating the Hispanic Vote

A special Democracy Corps and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner survey of Hispanic voters in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada shows that Barack Obama holds a commanding lead among Latinos in the southwest. The Democratic nominee leads John McCain by 45 points and has a chance to perform better among Hispanic voters than any Democratic presidential candidate in recent history:

Youth for the Win

Encouraging new survey results from Democracy Corps and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner:

Analysis: Audacity of Hope

At a time of tightening national surveys, Barack Obama’s support among young people is stable and convincing (currently 57 – 29 percent Obama). This stability rests in part on the strong belief among young people that Barack Obama can change things in this country. In a remarkable set of questions, we asked young people to rate the importance of changing issues like the economy, Iraq and health care, and then asked how likely these issues will change if Obama is elected and how likely these issues will change if McCain is elected. Impressive majorities of young people defy the cynical stereotypes of this generation and predict major changes on the economy, on Iraq, on health care, on energy, even gas prices. The necessary antecedent for these changes is the election of Barack Obama. Young people do not believe John McCain can bring about change.

• Read the rest of the Analysis Analysis (PDF)

Does your car label you as a Democrat or Republican?

Does the car you drive hint at your political leanings? From U.S.News:

An unscientific survey shows some distinct trends related to the types of cars voters drive. The informal survey, conducted on the U.S. News' automotive site in February 2008, garnered over 500 responses. Respondents identified as 45 percent Democrat and 42 percent Republican, with 13 percent identifying as unaffiliated or Independent. Here's what we found:

Domestic and Foreign Policy

It may not surprise you that the survey found import cars to be a more popular choice among Democrats than Republicans, with 71% of Dems claiming to drive one. But another piece of data may be a surprise -- imports outnumbered domestics even among the Republicans, where about 57% claimed to drive one. In the survey, Republicans endorsed Ford and GM cars by almost a two-to-one margin compared with Democrats, who preferred Hondas and Toyotas. Chrysler (including its Dodge and Jeep brands) appeared to be common ground, where voters on either side of the aisle were equally likely to own one.

Read the Fine Print Car Dealership Tactics Why Buy at the End of the Month? Going upmarket, however, voters in the survey again start to differ: More Democrats chose Acura, while Republicans preferred Lexus. Republicans were also slightly more likely than Democrats to drive German cars. Within the German brands, Republicans reported being partial to BMW and Porsche, while Democrats were more likely to choose Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen.

The survey may be unscientific, but it does give you something to think about. Next time you want to know someone's political affiliation, don't go looking for a bumper sticker--check out the bumper itself instead.