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the southwest courting those Latino voters. It also helps that Obama is a more appealing candidate in terms of his less restrictive policies dealing with immigration. The Latino vote will go to Obama.

*The religious vote. Assessing this is a little trickier this year. In past elections we didn't have to think twice before allocating this vote to the Republican candidate; however we are seeing the emergence of an evolution of the prioritizing of issues among religious thinkers. Particularly among the religious youth, issues such as the environment, war and poverty are gaining higher precedence on their list of concerns. The traditional "value voters" will continue to vote on the issues of abortion, gay marriage and gun rights, giving their support to John McCain, even though he is particularly liberal on these social issues. Though, we can rest assured that he will flip flop on his social position when trying to court the evangelical vote. For now, we'll give the edge to McCain throughout the Bible belt, for a change this dramatic doesn't just happen overnight.

*The environmentalists. Even though John McCain has recently touted his plan to encourage the shift from oil to clean energy in the form of offering rewards to anyone who could develop a revolutionary battery pack for automobiles, he is still viewed by many as the face of big oil, much like George W. Bush. His proposition to begin drilling off the coast of California is contrary to any plans he has of changing the direction of this country's energy policy. No matter how hard McCain tries to appeal to environmentalists, and those with energy concerns, he is not going to win them over. This is a Democratic issue and it always has been, so this is like a ninth inning attempt by McCain to switch sides, which doesn't gain credibility with the voters. Not to mention the added advantage of Al Gore in Obama's corner. The environmentalists, no doubt, go to Obama.

*The veterans. There will certainly be many veterans who feel outraged about this senseless war we are engaged in. No one knows better the sacrifice that has to be made to give your life for your country, so many veterans feel the careless nature in which this war was waged is repugnant and will therefore throw their support behind Obama. On the same token, many of those veterans can relate to the heroic time served by Senator McCain, and will therefore feel more comfortable with him serving as Commander in Chief. This will certainly be a polarized group

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