Gallup:Obama approval among Hispanics hits new low

Published September 7, 2011 4:00am ET



President Obama’s approval rating among Hispanics hit a new monthly low at 48 percent in August, according to Gallup, another troubling sign as he heads into next year’s election.

In 2008, Obama blew out Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz among the latino voting block, 67 percent to 31 percent, according to exit polls. That not only helped him in states such as Florida, New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado, but given the size of the margin, it also helped put him over the top in traditionally red states including Virginia and Indiana (where Obama commanded 77 percent of the latino vote).

Gallup’s bottom line:

Despite launching his presidency with a large majority of Hispanics approving of his job performance, along with most blacks, Obama has seen significant erosion in Hispanics’ support. As a result, while Hispanics’ approval of Obama was at one time 20 points higher than the national average, at this time it is just 7 points higher. Two significant slips in Hispanics’ approval of Obama were seen in 2010, perhaps linked with the president hedging on campaign promises to make immigration reform a priority. However, that decline has continued into 2011 as the nation’s focus has turned more to the economy and federal budget problems.

If this trend continues, it will put a serious damper on his reelection prospects, especially if Republicans nominate a candidate who can appeal to this growing voting bloc.