Looking at the results Wednesday morning, 2012 may best be described as the Status Quo Election.\u00a0 President Obama won re-election, the Democrats maintained their majority in the Senate, and the Republicans maintained their majority in the House of Representatives.\u00a0 Moreover, while some races are still undecided, it appears that both parties have held control of their respective chambers by roughly the same margin as before.<\/p>\n
Clearly, the economy was the first issue on voters\u2019 minds.\u00a0 According to an Associated Press<\/em> exit poll, 59 percent of voters identified the economy as their top issue (Associated Press<\/em>, Nov. 7, 2012) Those who felt the economy is improving (four out of 10 voters) tended to vote for President Obama, while those who felt the economy is worsening (three out of 10 voters) tended to vote for Governor Romney.\u00a0 (Id<\/em>.)<\/p>\n Moreover, most voters (about 75 percent) perceived President Obama\u2019s policies would more likely to help the middle class and poor.\u00a0 In contrast, 53 percent said Romney\u2019s policies would favor the rich; 34 percent thought his policies would do more for middle-class America. (Id<\/em>.)<\/p>\n President Obama also fared better among several demographics.\u00a0 Women, in particular, helped President Obama win re-election, voting 55 percent in favor of the President and only 44 percent in favor of Governor Romney.\u00a0 In addition, about 93 percent of African Americans and about 71 percent of Hispanics voted for the President. \u00a0No doubt these results will lead many pundits to claim that Republicans have an “immigration position” problem that requires a whole-hearted embrace of amnesty.<\/p>\n However, polling conducted before the election shows that Hispanic voters, like voters across America, were focused on the economy.\u00a0 In fact, multiple polling firms reported that likely and registered Hispanic voters listed numerous other issues as being more important to them than immigration. According to a USA Today<\/em>\/Gallup<\/em> poll released in June, only 12% of registered Hispanic voters stated that immigration policy was the issue most important to them, taking a backseat to \u201chealthcare\u201d (21%), \u201cunemployment\u201d (19%), \u201ceconomic growth\u201d (17%), and \u201cthe gap between the rich and the poor\u201d (16%).\u00a0 (USA Today<\/em>\/Gallup Poll<\/a>, June 25, 2012)<\/p>\n In September, Fox News Latino<\/em> released a poll of likely Hispanic voters, in which 48% percent indicated the \u201ceconomy\u201d was their number one voting issue.\u00a0 The economy was followed by healthcare (14%), \u201ceducation\u201d (11%), and social issues (8%). Only six percent claimed that immigration was the most important issue to them when deciding who to vote for. (Fox News Latino<\/em> Poll<\/a>, Sept. 18, 2012)<\/p>\n In October, the Pew Hispanic Center released a poll showing similar results.\u00a0 Pew found that more registered Hispanic voters found the issues of \u201ceducation\u201d (55%), \u201cjobs and the economy\u201d (54%), \u201chealthcare\u201d (50%), and the \u201cfederal budget deficit\u201d (36%) to be more important than the issue of immigration when deciding whom to vote for. Only 34% of registered Hispanic voters considered immigration to be \u201can extremely important\u201d issue to them. (Pew Hispanic Center Poll<\/a>, Oct. 11, 2012)<\/p>\n What does this mean for immigration reform?\u00a0 In the final days of the campaign, President Obama promised to tackle immigration in the first year of his second term.\u00a0 Now that the election results are in and it appears that the balance of power in Congress is largely the same, there is a very real chance that the President will push his amnesty agenda in the Democratically-controlled Senate.\u00a0 But the House of Representatives, which gained immigration enforcement advocates in 2010, will still present a serious challenge for the President\u2019s agenda.\u00a0 Hopefully, enforcement-minded Republicans will see the voting patterns for what they are \u2013 economically based \u2013 and hold their ground against what will surely be increased pressure to pass amnesty legislation.<\/p>\n To see FAIR\u2019s press releases on the 2012 election, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Looking at the results Wednesday morning, 2012 may best be described as the Status Quo Election.\u00a0 President Obama won re-election, the Democrats maintained their majority in the Senate, and the Republicans maintained their majority in the House of Representatives.\u00a0 Moreover, while some races are still undecided, it appears that both parties have held control of<\/p>\n