US-vote-Hispanic

   New book: Hispanics could elect next US president

   MIAMI, June 1 (AFP) - Hispanics, the largest US minority, could determine the outcome of this year's presidential election, a star Spanish-language TV anchor said in a book published Tuesday.

   "If the race turns out to be as close as many suspect it will be, then a bloc of Spanish-speaking voters could be the group that puts either of the two main candidates in the White House," Jorge Ramos said in his latest book, "The Latino Wave."

   This year's elections will mark "the Hispanic perfect storm," he said, adding that dozens of political organizations were registering Latino voters, more numerous than ever, while the candidates appeared to be running neck-and-neck.

   In 2000, it was the Latino vote that gave George W. Bush the White House, with the Cuban-American community in the swing state of Florida voting overwhelmingly for the Republican candidate, the Emmy Award-winning journalist said.

   But other than Cuban-Americans, Latinos predominantly vote Democratic, and this could work in John Kerry's favor, said Ramos, a popular anchorman with Univision television.

   "John Kerry will win the Hispanic vote. The only question is will he win over 70 percent of the Hispanic vote. If he does, then, as Bill CLinton did, he will get the White House," Ramos said at a book-launching party Tuesday.

   Both Bush and his Democratic rival are reaching out to some extent to the 13 million Latinos who are eligible to vote.

    "Bush is the first US president who speaks Spanish -- or who thinks he does -- and Kerry is a master of the seven Spanish words he knows," Ramos said.

   But that is not enough, he said.

   "Hiring a mariachi band, cooking chicken and rice and rattling off a few words in Spanish isn't enough to win over the Latino voting community."

   "This sombrero-and-tacos approach doesn't work anymore," said Ramos, a Mexican national who has lived in the United States since 1983.

   "This year, Latino voters are much more sophisticated," he said.

   Latino voters are concerned with the same key issues as the rest of the electorate -- jobs, education and health care, said Ramos.

   The Hispanic electorate is largely concentrated in 10 US states in which more than 10 percent of the population is Latino, including New Mexico, California, Texas and Florida.

   And the Latino influence in the United States is here to stay.

   "The United States is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world with the exception of Mexico." The 40 million Latinos make up the largest minority in the United States, and by 2115 should outnumber non-Hispanic whites, said Ramos.