记录数字表明西班牙籍美国人准备投票美国总统

AS IT IS 2016-09-20 Record Number of Hispanic Americans Ready to Vote for President 记录数字表明西班牙籍美国人准备投票美国总统

A record 27.3 million Hispanics are eligible¹ to vote in the U.S. elections this November.

Hispanics now make up about 12 percent of all U.S. voters. That is the same percentage as African-American voters, according to Pew Research Center.

Albert Camarillo teaches history at Stanford University in California. He is also a founding director of the university’s Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity.

Camarillo said 3,000 more Hispanics become eligible to vote in the U.S. elections every day. In a Stanford University report, he said Hispanic voters could make a “huge difference” in states where Hispanics make up a large percentage of the population.

The growth of Hispanic voters, he said, changed Arizona, a state that historically had strong ties to the Republican Party. The state has only supported one Democrat² in the past 10 presidential elections. But now, Arizonans could vote for either a Republican or Democratic candidate, he said.

Clinton Hispanic Support Compared to Obama’s

Political observers thought that Hispanics would vote in larger numbers for Democrat Hillary Clinton than they did for Barack Obama in 2012. Four years ago, Obama defeated Republican Mitt³ Romney 71 percent to 27 percent among Hispanics, according to exit polls.

But a new study suggests Clinton, while leading Trump⁴ among Hispanic voters, will have a hard time topping Obama’s 71 percent support.

The opinion that Clinton would do better with Hispanic voters was based on statements made by Republican Donald Trump. Trump had called on the government to expel all 11 million illegal immigrants. He suggested many Mexican immigrants were drug dealers⁵ or rapists, and promised to build a huge wall along the Mexican border.

‘There’s Nothing More Personal’

Yvanna Cancela is political director of the Las Vegas, Nevada Culinary Union. Many members of the group are Hispanic.

“A lot of times you hear this rap about how politics doesn’t affect their life,” she told the Associated Press last month. “But that changes when it’s personal, and there’s nothing more personal than Donald Trump talking about deporting⁶ 11 million immigrants.”

In recent days, efforts to measure the Hispanic vote produced mixed results.

Polling organizations questioned likely voters after Trump gave an immigration speech on August 31.

In the speech, Trump said he would focus on removing illegal immigrants who were guilty of crimes. He did not say what would happen to the large majority of illegal immigrants who were not guilty of crimes. But he said illegal immigrants who want legal guarantees in the United States would first have to return to their home countries.

In his speech, Trump blamed illegal immigrants for violent crimes. And he said the United States would be more selective in deciding who to admit -- choosing people who shared American values and would not take away jobs from U.S. citizens.

“We take anybody,” he said of current immigration policy. “Come on in, anybody. Just come on in. Not anymore.”

Some members of Trump’s Hispanic advisory⁸ group said they were disappointed he did not soften⁹ his earlier statements on immigration.

Mixed Findings in Recent Poll

A recent poll found that Clinton is getting a lower percentage of Hispanic votes than Obama did in four states where the Hispanic vote is important. The polling results were reported by Univision, a Spanish language television station.

Univision said “Hillary Clinton holds a wide lead over Donald Trump among Hispanics in Florida, Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado. However, her support among Hispanics does not match Obama’s in 2012.”

The station added that Clinton led Trump among Hispanic voters 53 percent to 29 percent in Florida, 68 percent to 18 percent in Arizona, 62 percent to 17 percent in Colorado and 65 percent to 19 percent in Nevada.

These are large leads, but Obama won between six percent and 13 percent more in the four states, according to polls taken after the 2012 election.

The good news for Clinton is that the same Univision poll showed Trump getting a lower percentage of Hispanic votes than Republican Mitt Romney did in 2012. Romney won between six percent and 10 percent more Hispanic votes than Trump is receiving in the states covered by the Univision poll.

Poll Came After Bad Week for Clinton

Kevin Wagner teaches political science at Florida Atlantic University. He said recent poll results may not relate to how people vote in November because it came after a “bad week” for Clinton.

She had to leave a New York City ceremony marking the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks because of she wasn’t feeling well. She also had to back away from a statement in which she called half of Trump’s supporters deplorable. She described them as holding racist¹⁰ or far-right opinions.

Wagner said even more important than what percentage of Hispanics support Clinton or Trump is how many actually vote. In past elections, Hispanics voted at lower percentages than both whites and African-Americans, according to the Pew Research Center.

“I expect Secretary Clinton to carry the Latino vote by a sizable margin¹¹, but the key will be whether the Latino voters turnout in enough numbers to tip some of the closer states,” Wagner said. “That is still very much in question.”

Camarillo of Stanford University said Hispanic voter turnout will depend on motivation. By that, he means how much worse voters think a candidate can make their lives.

Wagner said it is important that people understand that Hispanic/Latinos include many nationalities.

Many Cuban-Americans live in the southeastern state of Florida. They are considered more conservative than other Hispanics and often vote Republican.

Wagner noted¹² that Cuban-Americans vote differently than Mexican-Americans, who are more likely to support Democratic candidates.

Words in This Story

eligible - adj. able to do something

poll - n. an activity in which several or many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to get information about what most people think about something

rap - v. criticism or punishment that is given in a gentle way for something that you did wrong

deport⁷ -- v. to remove people from a country

focus - v. to direct attention or effort at something specific

selective --adj. involving choosing people from a group

disappoint - v. to make someone unhappy by not doing something that was hoped for or expected

tip - v. to move from one result to another

motivation - n. the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something

1 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

6 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：

7 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

8 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

9 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

10 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

11 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。