The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Washington

John McCain and Barack Obama agree the Latino vote will be pivotal in a close presidential election and both know their disadvantages, with McCain tied to an unpopular party and Obama losing such voters overwhelmingly in the Democratic primaries.

Both see a path to winning Latinos by talking up their biographies and records. Those strategies will be on display in coming days as they speak in San Diego to the National Council of La Raza, the largest U.S. Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, after recent dueling appearances in Washington. The presumptive presidential nominees are highlighting their differences on economic issues before Hispanic groups. In a speech last month, Democrat Obama, 46, pinned the sagging economy on President George W. Bush's policies and said a McCain presidency would be equivalent to a third Bush term. He emphasized the inequalities in Hispanics' access to health care and education, and evoked his experience as a black American.

"Washington has not been working for ordinary Americans," the Illinois senator told the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials on June 28. "Few have been hit harder than Latinos and African-Americans."

The following week, Arizona Senator McCain said he had the better prescription for the economy: helping small businesses and keeping taxes low. "If you believe you should pay more taxes, I'm the wrong candidate for you," he told the League of United Latin American Citizens, known as LULAC, on July 8.

The Republican is aiming for the 40 percent of the Hispanic vote that helped Bush win re-election in 2004; Obama is trying to capture the 70 percent who sided with his Democrats in the 2006 congressional elections after a divisive debate over immigration.The 10 percent of the Latino vote in contention could be crucial in states including Nevada, Colorado, Florida, and Ohio. Obama told LULAC that the 2004 Democratic nominee, John Kerry, lost by less than 6,000 votes in New Mexico, where 44 percent of the population is Hispanic and many are unregistered.

Nationwide, Hispanics have the second-lowest voter registration rate and the lowest voting rate among ethnic groups, according to U.S. Census data. Obama's campaign held organizing meetings at recent Latino gatherings and is undertaking a massive voter-registration drive.