Kerry leads Latinos by nine points: poll

WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (AFP) - Democratic challenger John Kerry leads President George W. Bush 47 to 38 percent among Latinos registered to vote in November 2 balloting, according to a poll released Tuesday.
"Kerry has only a nine-point advantage over Bush among Hispanic registered voters," said Robert Desposada, president of the Coalicion Latina, which released the poll.
"That presents a serious problem for Kerry to win in key states with large Hispanic communities, such as New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Florida," he said of states that are still up for grabs.
The poll was taken among 1,000 adult Latinos September 27-October 3, and has a margin of error of three percentage points.
Desposada said the Democrats' goal was to prevent Republicans from garnering more than 35 percent of the Latino vote.
The poll contrasts with a Zogby International poll released Friday, which gave Kerry a comfortable 18-point lead among Latinos, 60-32 percent.