Journalism professor Roberto Suro said in a June 12 National Public Radio interview that the Latino vote could go either way in the 2008 presidential election.
"Right now it could be either party," Suro said. "It's early enough that there are a good number of unknowns."
He said former Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton had the majority of the Latino support, and that Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama would have to work to gain it.
"The question now is can Obama somehow capture that enthusiasm in that machinery," Suro said. "Certainly (Clinton's) enthusiastic support would make an important difference."
He continued: "The Democrats have not had very organized or deliberate efforts to mobilize the Hispanic vote. The one exception was Hillary Clinton, who mounted the single-most aggressive effort aimed at Latino voters of any Democratic candidate ever, including in general elections."
Suro is the founding director of the Pew Hispanic Center, a Washington, D.C., think tank producing policy analysis of Latinos' changing role in society. He is also the author of Strangers Among Us: Latino Lives in a Changing America.
