Since President Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage, at least one national poll has suggested his stance could hurt him come November’s election.
But among Latinos?
On the whole, they are a religious demographic. And religious conservatism is the driving force for opponents of same sex marriage, abortion and contraception.
But recent polling by Latino Decisions, a national firm, found that a majority of Latino voters believe politics and religion should not mix.
And an overwhelming majority - 75 percent – say politics should be more about economic issues, like jobs, than moral ones.
Latino Decisions co-founder and political scientist Matt Barreto said that while moral issues do remain important in the daily lives of Latinos: “We don’t find that they’re at all salient to their vote choice, and so I would suspect that the Obama announcement is not at all going to hurt him among Latino voters.”
If anything “we’re finding that Latinos are themselves changing and becoming more open and supportive on the issue of same-sex marriage,” Barreto said,
A recent survey by the National Council of La Raza found that more than half of Latinos actually support same sex marriage.
There’s even more support for contraception and abortion rights.
Not all Latinos agree, of course. Polling has found older ones to be more conservative. But overall, the data suggest that the president’s same-sex marriage decision is unlikely to harm his overwhelming support within the Latino community.
