http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92471640'Bush Hispanics' Say Goodbye To GOP
by Jennifer Ludden
Audio for this story will be available at approx. 7:00 p.m. ET
![](http://media.npr.org/news/graphics/2008/july/latino_voters_map.jpg)
Latinos in battleground states
Lindsay Mangnum/NPR
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Drawn To Democrats Over War, Economy
This year, 78 percent of Hispanic primary voters voted Democratic. Alas is one of them, and he counts himself as an early and ardent supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. He thinks the Illinois senator can relate to the concerns of low-wage immigrant workers because Obama himself grew up poor and on food stamps.
Tied closely to Alas' economic worries is his deep concern over the Iraq war. For him, Obama's biggest appeal may be his intention to bring U.S. troops home.
"Every single day, a lot of American people die over there," he said. "Every month, how many millions, billions do we spend in our country? We can do more things over here. But I think the war is over long time ago."
Alas says he has a lot of respect for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, especially his efforts to legalize immigrants. But Alas thinks that the Arizona senator will continue too many of President Bush's policies, including in Iraq.
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