Jennifer Korn to Newsmax: Hispanic Voters 'Shopping Around'

Hispanic voters are “shopping around” for new leadership because President Barack Obama has failed on the promises he made in the last election, conservative strategist Jennifer Korn tells Newsmax.TV.

“Hispanics voted for President Obama in the last election cycle because there were promises made,” Korn, executive director of the Hispanic Leadership Network, told Newsmax on Monday. “One, on immigration. He campaigned very hard on what he was going to do on immigration. And two, returning jobs and lowering unemployment.

“He’s really failed on those fronts – and Hispanics are affected by that, and so they’re shopping around. They’re looking at the other options.”

Editor's Note: Who Do You Think Will Be Romney's Pick for VP? Vote Here!

One clear option is presumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, she said.

“Romney has a window of opportunity to go in the community and really make a case for how he’s going to return jobs to the United States. And really that is the No. 1 issue.”

Referencing the current 11 percent Hispanic unemployment rate, Korn added, “Just like all Americans, when you poll Hispanics, jobs and the economy are the No. 1 issues, and second and third are healthcare and education. Immigration doesn’t come until about fourth or fifth.”

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On the issue of immigration, Korn said, the U.S. has a “broken federal immigration system” that has forced states such as Arizona and California to develop their own measures.

“We have a broken federal immigration system, and so it has the states sort of begging the federal government for an answer – and they’re not getting an answer from this administration or from the Congress, and so they’re taking matters into their own hands,” Korn said.

“Unfortunately, having 50 different immigration systems is really not the answer. It’s a patchwork and Band-Aids. What we really need is to fix the federal immigration system, because it’s completely broken.”

Korn, who served on George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign, criticized the Affordable Care Act, which recently was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. She said Obamacare’s individual-mandate provision could affect as many as 300,000 Hispanics.

“Hispanics have Medicare Advantage, a disproportionately high number, and so money from Medicare Advantage will be taken from that because of the healthcare bill and put into other provisions of the program,” she said.

But regardless of the issues facing Hispanics this election season, Korn said, the best way to capture their vote is to envision them as individual groups with particular concerns and interests.

“You cannot put Hispanics into a monolithic group,” Korn said. “We talk about that all the time. Hispanics in Florida – Cubans, Puerto Ricans – think differently than Mexicans in New Mexico and even in California and Arizona.

“So really paying attention to Hispanics and what they think in the different states and know that there’s lots of difference there and what they care about is really important.

“Trying to lump them into one group will go against what they’re trying to do.”

Editor's Note: Who Do You Think Will Be Romney's Pick for VP? Vote Here!