MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Majority of Hispanic voters support Kerry.

Most Hispanic U.S. voters support Democrat John Kerry in next week's presidential election and think President George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq was a mistake, according to a new poll by The Washington Post, Univision and a Latino affairs think tank.

The survey was conducted Oct. 4-16 among 1,603 registered Hispanic voters from the 11 states with the highest Hispanic population. Joining the Post and Univision - the largest U.S. Spanish-language television network - in carrying out the poll was the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute.

In the 2000 elections, Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore received 62 percent of the Hispanic vote nationwide. The Republican Party acknowledged that number for that election and launched an aggressive campaign this time around to court the vote of the largest and most rapidly growing of the minorities in the country.

In the latest poll, 59 percent of the Hispanic voters believe Kerry should be president, 30 percent support Bush, and 1 percent back independent candidate Ralph Nader. The remaining 10 percent were undecided on who to vote for.

Of the Hispanics interviewed, 62 percent believe the war in Iraq was unnecessary, compared to 31 percent who believe the invasion was worth it.

The results of the poll suggest that while Bush promised to look after immigration issues, it will be difficult for him to obtain the 35 percent of the Hispanic vote he received in 2000.

The new poll found that 62 percent of Hispanic voters believe that racial and ethnic groups have suffered a proportionate amount of casualties in the war, with 29 percent saying they believe Hispanics have borne a disproportionate number of casualties. Hispanics make up almost 14 percent of the U.S. population and 9 percent of the soldiers serving with U.S. forces.

In the war in Iraq, 12 percent of the casualties have been Hispanic soldiers, but this appears to reflect the fact that, Hispanics have a higher presence in the enlisted ranks than among the officer corps.

While 54 percent said that Kerry "understands the needs of people like me" only 28 percent said they had found that quality in Bush.

Bush and Kerry are deadlocked at 43 percent among the Hispanics asked which one they consider "a strong leader." About 44 percent of the Hispanics polled believe Bush is a person who takes a clear stance on issues and sticks with it, while 39 percent see this quality in Kerry.

"As with all voters, economic concerns have emerged as the top issue among Latinos, the survey found. More than one in four - 27 percent - named the economy and jobs as the issue that will determine their vote on Tuesday," The Washington Post said in its article detailing the poll results.

"If Bush falls short of the 40 percent mark among Latinos," the Post said, "that will prove to be a major disappointment to his strategists and to the Republican National Committee, who jointly have invested four years and substantial amounts of money to attract greater support in the Hispanic community." At the same time, the daily noted, Kerry has paid "more attention to Latino media and advertising than Vice President Al Gore did four years ago.

Several outside groups, notably the New Democrat Network, have poured money into Spanish-language advertising in battleground states with heavily Hispanic populations."