>>> we know at this point it's aum about turnout. a new poll finds enthusiasm among latino voters up compared to just two months ago. they find 45% of latino voters say they're more likely to vote, up 8% from just ten weeks ago. the poll also found support for the president matching an all-time high this year with 73% choosing president obama . let me bring in msnbc and nbc latino contributor victoria defrancesco soto, a senior fellow at the university of texas .
>> greetings from austin, chris.
>> an article in "the washington post " talked about president obama 's election strategist david plouffe being so crucial. it depends on plouffe's ability to activate the latino , african-american and young voters who have a more erratic track record shows up at the polls and thus often not up counted as likely voters. the article says plouffe took that voter base for granted. do you agree with the poll. are you sengsing growing enthusiasm among latino voters?
>> we're seeing growing enthusiasm, and in particular we see that enthusiasm grow over the past ten weeks. latino decisions has been tracking latino enthusiasm for the past ten weeks. it started out at lower level and increased at 8% to where 45% of latino are more enthusiasm about 2008 . right now for 2012 we see 60% saying they're very enthusiastic, but what's most important here is in the battleground states , nevada, florida, we're seeing that rate even higher. upwards of 70% of latinos saying they're enthusiastic. that's crucial for the obama cam taken to clench the electoral votes they new.
>> a pew hispanic center said education and the economy pr the top two. you might think based on overall polls we see that will fit with governor romney . when the largest spanish newspaper in the country endorsed obama last week, they did it because of romney 's economic pitch. why do they see it different than the rest of the country?
>> this latest poll shows that 73% of latinos trust obama and the democrats to improve the economic situation. so the economy is the number one concern for latinos , and it has been for a long part of this campaign. they just do not buy the smaller government argument, and we know this from years of polling. latinos in general prefer a more active government, especially when it comes to health care , especially in terms of medicaid. so here latinos are not voting for the democrats for that one single issue for immigration. it's he economically driven like it is for the rest of lakt rate electorate.
>> you talked about the battleground states . the president won the hispanic vote by about 2:1 in 2008 .
>> in florida its going to be really interesting to see bought of the diversity of the latino population there. it's not just the cuban base in south florida . since 2000 there's a booming population of puerto ricans in south florida . they're going to want to cast their ballot and show they have the clout in central florida , and it's not just concentrated down in miami.
>> how much do you think the president's promise in 2008 of immigration reform might have sort of made people less enthusiastic or could not -- might make the margin less than the obama campaign would like to see? he did tell "the des moines register " he'll confident eeg going to achieve immigration reform lass year, but are a lot of latinos saying i heard that in 2008 ?
>> absolutely, chris. they've heard that, and they're forgiven and haven't forgotten. right in and out the focus is on the economy. an interesting statistic in the latest poll was over a third of latinos say if president obama gets re-elected, he's not going to do anything. so apathy with regards to immigration and the same thing with romney . right now the focus is on the economy and latinos also know that immigration right now is dictated largely at the on local level because there's a stalemate in washington. i think the eye is on the state legislatures rather than on congress or the executive. even if president obama gets re-elected, he's likely going to have the same makeup in congress.
>> victoria defrancesco soto, thanks so much.
>> greetings from austin, chris.
>> an article in "the washington post " talked about president obama 's election strategist david plouffe being so crucial. it depends on plouffe's ability to activate the latino , african-american and young voters who have a more erratic track record shows up at the polls and thus often not up counted as likely voters. the article says plouffe took that voter base for granted. do you agree with the poll. are you sengsing growing enthusiasm among latino voters?
>> we're seeing growing enthusiasm, and in particular we see that enthusiasm grow over the past ten weeks. latino decisions has been tracking latino enthusiasm for the past ten weeks. it started out at lower level and increased at 8% to where 45% of latino are more enthusiasm about 2008 . right now for 2012 we see 60% saying they're very enthusiastic, but what's most important here is in the battleground states , nevada, florida, we're seeing that rate even higher. upwards of 70% of latinos saying they're enthusiastic. that's crucial for the obama cam taken to clench the electoral votes they new.
>> a pew hispanic center said education and the economy pr the top two. you might think based on overall polls we see that will fit with governor romney . when the largest spanish newspaper in the country endorsed obama last week, they did it because of romney 's economic pitch. why do they see it different than the rest of the country?
>> this latest poll shows that 73% of latinos trust obama and the democrats to improve the economic situation. so the economy is the number one concern for latinos , and it has been for a long part of this campaign. they just do not buy the smaller government argument, and we know this from years of polling. latinos in general prefer a more active government, especially when it comes to health care , especially in terms of medicaid. so here latinos are not voting for the democrats for that one single issue for immigration. it's he economically driven like it is for the rest of lakt rate electorate.
>> you talked about the battleground states . the president won the hispanic vote by about 2:1 in 2008 .
>> in florida its going to be really interesting to see bought of the diversity of the latino population there. it's not just the cuban base in south florida . since 2000 there's a booming population of puerto ricans in south florida . they're going to want to cast their ballot and show they have the clout in central florida , and it's not just concentrated down in miami.
>> how much do you think the president's promise in 2008 of immigration reform might have sort of made people less enthusiastic or could not -- might make the margin less than the obama campaign would like to see? he did tell "the des moines register " he'll confident eeg going to achieve immigration reform lass year, but are a lot of latinos saying i heard that in 2008 ?
>> absolutely, chris. they've heard that, and they're forgiven and haven't forgotten. right in and out the focus is on the economy. an interesting statistic in the latest poll was over a third of latinos say if president obama gets re-elected, he's not going to do anything. so apathy with regards to immigration and the same thing with romney . right now the focus is on the economy and latinos also know that immigration right now is dictated largely at the on local level because there's a stalemate in washington. i think the eye is on the state legislatures rather than on congress or the executive. even if president obama gets re-elected, he's likely going to have the same makeup in congress.
>> victoria defrancesco soto, thanks so much.