June 2 (Bloomberg) -- The Democratic presidential nominee this year was supposed to be a sure thing with Hispanics.

The party's candidates received almost 70 percent of the Hispanic vote in the 2006 congressional elections, up from less than 60 percent two years earlier. Democrats had expected to replicate or improve on the 2006 showing this year, after a Republican-backed anti-immigration movement sparked protests by hundreds of thousands of Hispanics.

While the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, may still do well, he faces two challenges. He will be running against John McCain, the one Republican candidate with pro- immigration policies and proven appeal to Hispanics; the Illinois senator also will have to overcome Latino voters' lack of familiarity with his record, and the reluctance of some to support a black politician.

``Obama is going to have a fight on his hands,'' said Antonio Gonzalez, president of the San Antonio-based William C. Velasquez Institute, which aims to increase Latino voting.

In a nationwide Gallup poll conducted May 19-25, 62 percent of Hispanics favored Obama, compared with 29 percent for McCain. Getting an additional 5 to 10 percentage points of support will mean attracting 500,000 to 1 million more Hispanic voters, a number that could be determinative in tightly contested swing states such as New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Florida.

Hispanic Population

New Mexico is the state with the largest proportion of Hispanics, at 42 percent, followed by Texas and California, with 36 percent, Arizona, with 32 percent, Nevada, with 23 percent, Florida, with 21 percent, and Colorado, which has 20 percent.

To attract those Latino voters, Obama's advisers said he must address their concerns on jobs, the economy, the Iraq war, health care, immigration, border violence and Cuba, and overall establish a personal and political rapport with the Latino community.

The Democratic candidate will need to ``intensively talk about some of their issues, connect with them in Spanish,'' said New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a prominent Latino backer.

Obama, 46, has begun to do so. Last week, he ended a three- day tour of New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado, states that have large Hispanic populations where President George W. Bush beat Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004.

`Fertile Territory'

These states ``have been ignored by Democrats and are prime, fertile territory,'' said Richardson, a secretary of energy during the Clinton administration who ran for the Democratic nomination this year.

Obama is venturing beyond large cities to fast-growing areas such as Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he gave a speech to veterans and active-duty troops May 26.

On May 27, Obama focused on the economy, dropping in on two Latino hotel workers facing foreclosure on their Las Vegas home. The following day, he talked about the need to overhaul the public-education system in the Denver suburb of Thornton, which is 21 percent Hispanic.

The campaign is mobilizing on other fronts, too. An adviser, Federico Pena, a former transportation and energy secretary under President Bill Clinton, said he would try to persuade Latino supporters of Obama's Democratic rival, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, to stump for his candidate.

Bush Approval

Even with Bush's approval rating at record lows, Obama will struggle to secure a decisive majority of the Hispanic vote, political analysts said.

One obstacle will be enduring racial tensions. More than 60 percent of Hispanics who said race was important voted for Clinton during the Super Tuesday primaries on Feb. 5, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, an independent research organization in Washington.

Obama also will face a strong rival in McCain, 71, a Vietnam War hero and Arizona senator who has campaigned for his state's large Hispanic vote since he won a House seat in 1982.

``Republicans nominated the very best possible candidate in the field to try to capture a large share of the Hispanic vote,'' said Adam Segal, director of the Hispanic Voter Project at Johns Hopkins University in Washington.

The McCain campaign is trying to capitalize on the patriotism of Hispanics, who account for 10 percent of U.S. military personnel.

Memorial Day Video

On Memorial Day, McCain released a video showing images of the Vietnam War monument and troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and reprising comments he made during a Republican debate in June 2007. Some Hispanics who aren't U.S. citizens, the voiceover said, ``love this country so much that they're willing to risk their lives in its service.''

To counter McCain, Obama will try to tap into Hispanics' anger about the Iraq War, Pena said.

``Serving our country is truly a badge of honor,'' he said. Yet, ``the war is unpopular among Hispanics.''

That may not be enough. Obama may also have to overcome some hard feelings left over from the campaign against Clinton, who dominated the Hispanic vote in most primaries.

Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America and a Clinton supporter, said her bitterness over the Democratic battle would make it difficult for her to campaign for Obama.

A groundswell of Hispanic support for Obama ``can happen,'' she said, ``but he's going to have to do a lot of work.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Bliss in Washington jbliss@bloomberg.net; Kim Chipman in Middletown, Connecticut, at kchipman@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 2, 2008 00:01 EDT