While Mitt Romney provided a few more specifics on his immigration policy Thursday—and even tamed down some of his previous tough talk—the speech he delivered to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) did not impress longtime journalist and political observer Dan Rather.
Rather, an anchor of HDNet and author of Rather Outspoken, said Romney failed to make his case to the Latino community.
“He has time to make his case but he just nibbled around the edges yesterday,” Rather said. “What this is really about is four states: Florida, Colorado, Nevada, and Virginia. Those are places where even a little nudge of the Hispanic vote needle in the direction of Mitt Romney can make a difference. He doesn’t expect to get the majority of the Hispanic vote.”
Both candidates are courting the Latino vote, and President Obama will address NALEO Friday afternoon.
A new poll from Latino Decisions (chart below courtesy Jansing & Co.) shows the president well-ahead of Romney in terms of Latino voters in the swing states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and Virginia. He also holds a wide margin over Romney nationally in this demographic.