Bush is trying to reclaim Hispanics with a message of opportunity. Hispanics are changing the political and cultural face of the continent like no other immigrant group since the English landed at Plymouth Rock. Though many in the Southwest trace their American roots centuries back to the Spanish conquest, Hispanics just have begun to make a mark nationally as they move out of the ethnic communities where their forebears married and raised their families. As they join a mainstream society from which they had largely excluded themselves, they are keeping their heritage and to a lesser degree their language. Advances in technology, telecommunications and cheap travel offer Hispanics, more than any other ethnic group, easy ways to stay in touch with relatives in the old country.
Thousands more enter the United States every day.
During the 1990s, the Hispanic population in the United States shot up nearly 39 percent to more than 31 million, according to Census estimates. One-third live in California. Whites, by contrast, grew only by 7 percent and blacks by just under 14 percent. While most populous in the bigger states, Hispanics are seeing their greatest percentage increases in such places as Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina and are expected to surpass blacks as the nation s largest minority, if they haven t already. And it s in the smaller states where Hispanics could turn the election.