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GREEN BAY, Wis. -- I came to the Green Bay Packers' shareholders meeting Thursday at Lambeau Field expecting emotion. Anger. Sustained booing. I wondered if outraged fans would throw cheese curds at general manager Ted Thompson's head.

Pew Hispanic Center. 7/9-13. Registered Hispanic voters. MoE 4.4% (

McCain (R) 23
Obama (D) 66

Remember, exit polls gave Bush 44 percent of the Latino vote in 2004, with Kerry getting just 53 percent. These Pew numbers represent the utter collapse of GOP support amongst Latinos which started in 2006, when xenophobic anti-immigrant rantings scared Latinos away from the GOP. Only 30 percent of Latinos voted Republican that year. I'm guessing today that Democrats earn as much as 75 percent of the Latino vote this year.

That will be significant, as the rest of Pew's report (PDF) makes clear.

[S]ome 78% of Latino registered voters say they are following the election very closely or somewhat closely this year, up from the 72% who said the same thing at this stage of the 2004 campaign. These poll findings, coming on the heels of a spirited Obama-Clinton nomination fight that led to rises in the Latino share of the vote in many Democratic primaries, suggest that the Hispanic community is politically energized heading into the fall election campaign.

More than three-quarters (76%) of Hispanic registered voters have a favorable opinion of Obama, and 73% have a favorable opinion of Hillary Rodham Clinton. In contrast, 44% of Hispanics have a favorable opinion of McCain and 27% have a favorable opinion of George W. Bush.

More than three-in-four Hispanics who voted for Clinton in a Democratic primary or caucus this year say they would vote for Obama or lean toward voting for him, while 8% of Clinton voters say they would vote for McCain or lean toward voting for him.

Latino registered voters are almost three times as likely to say that being black will help Obama (32%) with Hispanic voters than hurt him (11%); the majority (53%) say his race will make no difference.

More than half of Latino voters (55%) say that the Democratic Party is better for Latinos while just 6% say the Republican Party is better for Latinos.

By 2010, the Census Bureau expects the Latino population to be at 47.8 million, or 15.5 percent of the total population. By 2050, they project 102.6 million of us, or 24.4 of the country's total. With Republicans assiduously alienating this key and rapidly growing block, to the point that just 6 percent think Republicans are better for them, it has put a serious strain on their future ability to win.

So yes, this is all great news for Obama this year, but it portends huge things for the future of American politics, quite possibly the death of the modern Republican Party.

As for Obama, we've been mocking the whole "Latinos won't vote for a black guy" thing for months, ever since the Clinton campaign first used that ridiculous (and insulting) line of attack. The numbers since then have been quite clear. Latinos are more than happy enough (and excited) about voting for Obama as anyone else, and likely more so. I'm glad we're finally moving on from that ridiculousness.

Pew Hispanic Center. 7/9-13. Registered Hispanic voters. MoE 4.4% (

McCain (R) 23
Obama (D) 66

Remember, exit polls gave Bush 44 percent of the Latino vote in 2004, with Kerry getting just 53 percent. These Pew numbers represent the utter collapse of GOP support amongst Latinos which started in 2006, when xenophobic anti-immigrant rantings scared Latinos away from the GOP. Only 30 percent of Latinos voted Republican that year. I'm guessing today that Democrats earn as much as 75 percent of the Latino vote this year.

That will be significant, as the rest of Pew's report (PDF) makes clear.

[S]ome 78% of Latino registered voters say they are following the election very closely or somewhat closely this year, up from the 72% who said the same thing at this stage of the 2004 campaign. These poll findings, coming on the heels of a spirited Obama-Clinton nomination fight that led to rises in the Latino share of the vote in many Democratic primaries, suggest that the Hispanic community is politically energized heading into the fall election campaign.

More than three-quarters (76%) of Hispanic registered voters have a favorable opinion of Obama, and 73% have a favorable opinion of Hillary Rodham Clinton. In contrast, 44% of Hispanics have a favorable opinion of McCain and 27% have a favorable opinion of George W. Bush.

More than three-in-four Hispanics who voted for Clinton in a Democratic primary or caucus this year say they would vote for Obama or lean toward voting for him, while 8% of Clinton voters say they would vote for McCain or lean toward voting for him.

Latino registered voters are almost three times as likely to say that being black will help Obama (32%) with Hispanic voters than hurt him (11%); the majority (53%) say his race will make no difference.

More than half of Latino voters (55%) say that the Democratic Party is better for Latinos while just 6% say the Republican Party is better for Latinos.

By 2010, the Census Bureau expects the Latino population to be at 47.8 million, or 15.5 percent of the total population. By 2050, they project 102.6 million of us, or 24.4 of the country's total. With Republicans assiduously alienating this key and rapidly growing block, to the point that just 6 percent think Republicans are better for them, it has put a serious strain on their future ability to win.

So yes, this is all great news for Obama this year, but it portends huge things for the future of American politics, quite possibly the death of the modern Republican Party.

As for Obama, we've been mocking the whole "Latinos won't vote for a black guy" thing for months, ever since the Clinton campaign first used that ridiculous (and insulting) line of attack. The numbers since then have been quite clear. Latinos are more than happy enough (and excited) about voting for Obama as anyone else, and likely more so. I'm glad we're finally moving on from that ridiculousness.

Webcam chat at Ustream

Karen Hughes finally got a successor in her previous role as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, and it is entrepreneur, writer, and thinker James Glassman who was until recently Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Glassman has done much in his DC career, and yes -- he did co-author the market exhuberant book Dow 36,000 with McCain economic advisor Kevin Hassett who is, like Glassman was, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Among his other roles:

- Chairman, Broadcasting Board of Governors, 2007-present
- Editor-in-Chief and Executive Publisher, The American, 2006-2008
- Financial columnist, Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, 2004-present
- Founder and host, TCSDaily.com (technology and public policy), 2000-2006
- Columnist, Scripps Howard News Service, 2004-2006
- Member, Advisory Board on Public Diplomacy in the Arab and Muslim World, 2003
- Syndicated financial columnist, Washington Post (business page), 2001-2004
- Columnist, International Herald Tribune, 1999-2004
- Chief columnist, FOLIOfn, 2001
- Analyst, Left, Right, and Center, KCRW Santa Monica, 2001-2002
- Host, PBS TechnoPolitics, 1995-1999
- Syndicated columnist, Washington Post (opinion and business pages), 1993-1999
- Moderator, CNN Capital Gang Sunday, 1995-1998
- Editor and part-owner, Roll Call, 1987-1993
- Executive vice president, U.S. News & World Report, 1984-1986
- President, Atlantic Monthly, 1984-1986
- Publisher, New Republic, 1981-1984
- Executive editor, Washingtonian, 1979-1981

Glassman will be speaking on "New Approaches to Winning the War of Ideas" between 12:15 and 1:45 pm today EST -- and the meeting will STREAM LIVE here at The Washington Note.

-- Steve Clemons