Latinos give Obama edge in Nevada

>>> and president obama is showed with an overwhelming lead with the latino voters, in fact, 78% say they would vote for him if it was held today. the state only has six electoral votes , but 76% of people identifying as latino , it could be a window into the november results. joining me is john ralston , host of "ralston reports." so that is a big number, what do you think of president obama 's support among the latino voters.

>> well, i think there are a couple of things going on, the exit polls in nevada showed that barack obama won, but i think mitt romney got himself in trouble with the latino community with the positions he took running to the right in that primary. and now, that is hurting him here in nevada . also, you have to -- realize that the democrats here, especially the culinary union, which is heavily hispanic, has been registering voters at a remarkable clip the last couple of months. and while it is hard for me to believe the margin is that big, alex , it is pretty big.

>> hey, john, are nevada 's latino voters unique in some sort of way, that we can't take what we see there, and take it to a national level? i mean, do you think it is a fair representation?

>> i don't see any reason why it would be different, alex . listen, latinos here are higher unemployment than the white population, just as they do across the country. they have the same hopes and fears . some of them are not as enthusiastic about obama as they once were. but they're just not going to buy into romney. polls across the country, as you know, alex , have shown that latinos are not going to vote for mitt romney in big numbers . they have wanted to get it up into the low 30s as opposed to the low 20s, they are not getting there.

>> well, the latest nbc news poll for all the likely voters gives the president a narrow lead, 49-47% for mitt romney . what do you hear on the ground? is that pretty much what you hear?

>> i don't think it is that close here right now, alex . listen, i mentioned the registration figures. the democrats, yesterday was the end of on-line registration. they have now built up such a huge lead here in clark county , about 70% of the population. this would be very difficult, from a math standpoint for mitt romney to win the state if he loses to clark county , by as much as he is likely to. and don't forget, the hispanic vote which you mentioned before, will be 15-20% of the overall vote here in nevada . you can't lose a demographic vote by as large a margin as mitt romney does, as part of the electora electorate, i think he is in trouble here, despite what the poll says.

>> nevada has voted with the winning candidate nine out of ten times. so as nevada goes, so goes the nation, you think?

>> well, you know, it is funny, alex , because at one time, maybe a long time ago, people said nevada was such an alien land, different from the rest of the country, but i think las vegas , nevada , is a reflection of the country, a melting pot community. the highest unemployment in the country, the foreclosure crisis has hit this state harder than any state. we really are a reflection of what is going on in america. and i don't think we are very different. but we are happy to have the record of the state that has picked presidents the most.

>> yeah, hey, john, i know you recently interviewed steve wynn that has donated millions, what did he tell you?

>> well, he didn't tell me much about those donations, politico has reported that money, i am sure he has given a lot to carl rove , they are friends, he doesn't want to be out there as much as friend -- but i'm telling you, he has said pretty harsh things about the president, during this interview, which is going to air. he said the president doesn't have a clue. he started buying into.

>>> of the anti-colonialism stuff from the far right. it is really startling what he has to say. he is saying the president is destroying his employees' paychecks in real time . trust me, he is very opposed to barack obama win ining re-election.

>> thank you so much for joining us.