John McCain: “I want to assure you we will address this issue in a humane and compassionate fashion,” he said, calling illegal immigrants “God’s children.”
Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain courted Hispanic support on Saturday, and Obama accused his White House rival of backing away from comprehensive U.S. immigration reform under pressure from his party.
In separate appearances before a group of Latino public officials, the two presidential contenders portrayed themselves as dedicated champions for Hispanics — a fast-growing and critical swing voting bloc in November’s election.
Obama took aim at McCain’s approach to comprehensive immigration reform and his change of emphasis on legislation to offer a pathway to citizenship for the country’s 12 million illegal immigrants.
Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in the United States and account for about 9 percent of the national electorate. They could be a critical swing voting bloc in November battleground states like Florida and in the U.S. Southwest.
In 2004, President George W. Bush won about 40 percent of the Hispanic vote — a Republican record — in defeating Democrat John Kerry. But opinion polls show Republicans have been hurt with Hispanics by the debate over immigration reform.
Obama has had his own problem with Hispanics, who heavily supported his primary rival Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.
Polls show Obama has rebounded among Hispanics since clinching the Democratic nomination. Many polls show McCain falling short of Bush’s 40 percent of Hispanic support.
Obama, who will be the first black nominee of a major U.S. political party, stressed the groundbreaking nature of his candidacy to the Hispanic group.
“I’m hoping that somewhere out in this audience sits the person who will become the first Latino nominee of a major party,” he said.