Hispanic Support for Obama Has Declined Since Arizona Immigration Law Passed

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2:42 PM, Jul 14, 2010 • By JOHN MCCORMACK

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More evidence that Obama's lawsuit against Arizona is a disaster for Democrats: CBS is out with a new poll that shows 57% of Americans think Arizona's immigration law is "about right" and 17% think it "doesn't go far enough."

On the other hand, White House officials have argued that Obama's aggressive actions against Arizona will help boost Hispanic support:

White House advisers are said to be concerned that Obama's declining numbers among Latinos could spell trouble in key states in 2010 and 2012. And Harry Reid needs big Latino support to get reelected.

Immigration reform -- the best way to boost Latino support -- may not move this year. And so, in embracing the effort to overturn the law, the White House appears to be opting to speak to Latinos and other base voters on this contentious issue.

But according to a new poll by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, it doesn't seem like the lawsuit against Arizona is helping Obama much. Though Hispanic support for the president ticked up slightly from last month--from 59 percent to 63 percent--Hispanic approval of Obama is now lower than it was in polls conducted prior to the passage of Arizona's immigration law in late April. PPP's mid-April poll showed that 74 percent of Hispanics supported Obama, and PPP's March poll showed 65 percent supported Obama.

On the whole, the immigration fight seems like a losing one for the Democrats.