The Blaze notes: "The survey, with a reported margin of error +/- 4 points, reveals 57 percent of young Hispanics agree that “if taxes on business profits were reduced, companies would be more likely to hire.” Likewise, a staggering 70 percent of Hispanic young adults say they would “decrease” federal spending if given the chance to “set America’s fiscal priorities.”
The poll also reveals a number of additional elements:
• By nearly a 3:1 ratio, Hispanic young adults prefer “reducing federal spending” (69 percent) to “raising taxes on individuals” (27%) in order to balance the federal budget….
• In a separate question, a 56%-majority majority concurred "the economy grows best when individuals are allowed to create businesses without government interference.”
• 61% indicated their agreement with “American Exceptionalism” — described as an ideal of freedom and democracy exclusive and unique to the United States.
Paul Conway, president of Generation Opportunity and a former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Labor, indicates,
The desire to work, the drive to succeed, and the ambition to build financially for the future are shared among all young Americans. Young Americans in every community across the nation have been negatively impacted by unemployment and the lack of opportunity, especially within the Hispanic community, and they know the solution to recovery is not more federal spending, taxes and interference with those who have the courage and resources to create jobs.
If elected leaders in Washington think the generation they encouraged to get involved in reshaping the future of America is now simply going to sit back, take instructions to be patient and remain hopeful as they watch their dreams and country put at risk — then they are out of touch with the very citizens who granted them their trust and vote.
The results of the poll were released shortly after Generation Opportunity appeared at the 2011 League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) National Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the economy and opportunity were of significant importance to the 20,000 attendees.
John Hinderaker of Powerline.com contends that the figures should not come as too much of a surprise considering the number of Hispanic Americans that are involved in small business. However, he does note that the results “suggest that the GOP’s message on spending and debt will find a receptive audience among young people generally.”
Still, regardless of the number of Hispanics engaged in small business, the results may be indicative of a marked change.
In 2007, the Pew Hispanic Center reported that 57 percent of Hispanic registered voters called themselves Democrats, or leaned toward the Democratic Party, while just 23 percent associated themselves with the Republican Party.
An overwhelming majority of Hispanic voters elected Barack Obama and Joe Biden in 2008 by a margin of more than two to one — 67 percent versus 31 percent — reports the Pew Hispanic Center. Across the nation, all Hispanic subgroups overwhelmingly supported Obama and Biden, including young Hispanic voters. The Pew Research Center reported:
According to the national exit poll, 64% of Hispanic males and 68% of Hispanic females supported Obama. Latino youth, just as all youth nationwide, supported Obama over McCain by a lopsided margin — 76% versus 19%.
Obama managed to secure the Hispanic vote in areas where Latinos have historically voted Republican, most notably in Florida, where he won 57 percent of the Latino vote.
Just three years after that election, however, a majority of young Hispanics appear to be changing course and siding with the philosophies of free market economics of those Republicans who are conservative.
The results of the Generation Opportunity poll are seemingly representative of a national trend that encompasses all Americans. For example, a recent Gallup Poll shows that 50 percent of Americans want the deficit to be reduced only/mostly with spending cuts.
Likewise, a July Rasmussen Reports poll reveals that 72 percent of likely American voters favor a free market economy over one managed by the government. A mere 14 percent prefer a government-managed economy, while another 14 percent are unsure. That same poll shows that 56 percent of voters continue to believe that increased competition is preferable over increased government regulation, while only 34 percent take the opposite approach.
Finally, a December 2010 Gallup Poll shows that 80 percent of Americans continue to embrace the notion of “American Exceptionalism.” According to that poll, those surveyed contend that the United States, because of its history and Constitution, “has a unique character that makes it the greatest country in the world.”
It seems there is an increasingly greater divide between young Hispanic voters and this Democratic administration, and a decreasing divide between Hispanic voters and conservative voters.
