Why Obama Leads by 16% in California

I can hear my Republican friends now: "They're just a bunch of fairy-loving, Spanish-speaking liberals out there. Might as well give it back to Mexico."

Well, I'm talking demographics now. The LA Times is reporting that whites in California are even less of a minority now than they were in 2000, while Latinos and Asians have increased in population. And minorities -- particularly Latinos who are angry with Republicans over the immigration issue -- are heavily voting for Obama.

Some nice nuggets from the story:

On Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, along a boulevard of shops touting Spanish-language signs and Latin American religious icons, immigrants study English and U.S. civics.

Take Luis Perez, 54, a Mexico native who recently retired as a travel agent. He has spent the last 19 of his 20 years in the United States getting by with little English as a legal resident. But as his vision is fading, he's hoping to apply for naturalization this year.

To prepare, Perez spends much of his time poring over a handout of 96 citizenship test questions that he keeps in his backpack. In an impromptu quiz, Perez nailed the answers.

...

At a Ritmo Latino record store, Victor Sandoval, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1998 to join his mother, tends to customers beckoned by the shop's $5.99 audio CD packet on learning English.

I suspect I'll get a response soon about how many of those immigrants are probably illegally registering to vote and are corrupting the true numbers. Bring it on.