Hispanics' Approval of Obama Drops in 2010; By contrast, whites' and blacks' views have been highly steady.
Byline: Lydia Saad
Synopsis: Hispanics are significantly less approving of President Barack Obama now than they were as the year began, while whites' and blacks' approval has held steady. The monthly declines coincide with two periods of uproar in the Hispanic community over Obama's failure to advance comprehensive immigration reform.
PRINCETON, NJ -- Hispanics' approval of President Barack Obama's job performance slipped to 57% in May, after falling from 69% in January to 64% in February. By contrast, whites' and blacks' approval of the president has been steady throughout 2010.
These trend figures are based on monthly averages of Gallup Daily tracking for 2010, including interviews with approximately 1,000 Hispanics each month.
Taking Reform Off the Table
The two major drops in Hispanics' approval of Obama this year -- in February and May -- coincide with two periods when the president was under fire for not doing enough to promote comprehensive immigration reform in Congress.
After Obama's State of the Union speech in January, several leading Hispanics and Hispanic groups criticized Obama for not devoting more attention to immigration reform in the speech -- and, more specifically, for not fulfilling his campaign promise of making comprehensive immigration reform a top priority. As one Hispanic activist wrote at the time, "For those looking for a strong statement in support of comprehensive immigration reform, the speech was a big disappointment." Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez was also publicly critical of Obama after the speech.
Gallup Daily tracking showed Obama's approval rating among Hispanics falling nearly 10 percentage points in the week after his State of the Union address compared to the week prior to the speech. And Obama's ratings remained subdued in February, resulting in the five-point drop in Hispanics' approval between the two months.
Obama also drew considerable ire from Hispanic groups -- as well as from New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez -- after making statements at the end of April in which he essentially removed comprehensive immigration reform from his legislative agenda for 2010, citing political obstacles.
Again, there appeared to be an almost immediate impact: Obama's approval rating from Hispanics dropped seven points in the week after he made the statements, compared with the week prior to those statements. Publicity about Arizona's passage of a controversial immigration law around the same time may have only...
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