More Crap From Ruben Navarrete

Right now, Ruben Navarrete's ability to give me heartburn is remarkable.  I just came across his July 7 commentary on CNN.com and he's got the wrong facts out again.

There are 46 million Latinos in the United States. And, contrary to what the nativist fringe thinks, that figure refers to U.S. citizens and legal residents. Illegal immigrants are, shall we say, off the books. At least 9 million Latinos are expected to cast ballots in the fall, but that number could go as high as 10 million. They could have a disproportionate influence on the election because they're swing voters concentrated in battleground states.

OK, there's nothing wrong with that.  I just needed to add that to put his stupid comment in perspective:

And because this year, neither Obama nor McCain has a lock on Hispanic voters, even if it appears otherwise at the moment. Polls show that among Hispanics, Obama is leading by a 2-to-1 ratio.

Two-to-one, Mr. Navarrete?  Think again.

Obama leads McCain, 47% to 40%, with 13% saying they prefer someone else or are not yet sure about their selection in the race – just a slight shift from June’s survey, when Obama led McCain 47% to 42%. . . Among Hispanics, Obama has significantly boosted his lead over McCain to 71% to 19%. In June, Obama led among Hispanics with 54% support, compared to 44% support for McCain.

Emphasis added.  And again.

Obama leads among liberals, and has a smaller lead among moderates. He leads among black voters by a very large margin, and has a sizable margin among Hispanics.

Emphasis added.  How big?  Try 62%-23%.  That's closer to three-to-one.

The facts are that Obama has steadily gained support from the Latino community after he was deemed the presumed nominee.  He will hit a wall at some point and his numbers will go back and forth some.  Obama can't keep getting better forever (hate to break this to the Obamaniacs, but, he's only human).  But right now he's doing better than two-to-one.

The facts also are that while McCain had a three-month head start since he became the Republicans' presumptive nominee, he has not managed to attract Latinos - Cubans aside - in any significant way.

But Mr. Navarrete won't let the facts get in the way of a good political story: "Latinos Torn Between Obama and McCain."  It would make for a heck of a story . . . if it were true.