The Week in Polls: Number of Eligible Latino Voters Swells in 2012

Population of Latino voters sees 22 percent jump, plus more.

Americans Weigh In - Congress loses a popularity contest, the number of interracial marriages in the United States reaches all-time high, President Obama gets kudos for fiscal cliff dealings, plus more national polls. – Joyce Jones and Britt Middleton

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Americans Weigh In - The population of eligible Latino voters grows in 2012, Americans criticize media's coverage of Mitt Romney's "47 percent" comments, health physicians practice what they preach, plus more. —Joyce Jones and Britt Middleton

Population of Eligible Latino Voters Grows in 2012 - Courting the Latino vote has been a focus of both the Obama and Romney campaigns, and new numbers from the Pew Research Center shows the potential level of influence Latinos have in the 2012 presidential election. A record 23.7 million Latinos will be eligible to vote in the presidential election, up 22 percent from 2008, although, historically, Blacks and whites have higher voter turnout rates, the survey reported. (Photo: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

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Population of Eligible Latino Voters Grows in 2012 - Courting the Latino vote has been a focus of both the Obama and Romney campaigns, and new numbers from the Pew Research Center shows the potential level of influence Latinos have in the 2012 presidential election. A record 23.7 million Latinos will be eligible to vote in the presidential election, up 22 percent from 2008, although, historically, Blacks and whites have higher voter turnout rates, the survey reported. (Photo: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Upward Bound - Rand Corporation has taken a novel, error-free approach to polling the presidential campaign: survey the same 3,500 people every month. The group was evenly split between Romney and Obama, but since Bill Clinton's convention speech, the president has been gaining the edge and now has a seven-point lead, according to Rand's latest survey. (Photos from left: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Darren McCollester/Getty Images, AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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Upward Bound - Rand Corporation has taken a novel, error-free approach to polling the presidential campaign: survey the same 3,500 people every month. The group was evenly split between Romney and Obama, but since Bill Clinton's convention speech, the president has been gaining the edge and now has a seven-point lead, according to Rand's latest survey. (Photos from left: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Darren McCollester/Getty Images, AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Romney Disparages 47 Percent of Americans - In the final leg of the presidential campaign, a video was released of Romney at a May 2012 fundraising dinner condemning 47 percent of the American population as overly dependent on government services.   (Photo: Courtesy of Mother Jones)

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How Much Is Too Much? - While Mitt Romney's "47 percent" comments drew the ire from pundits on the left and right, 49 percent of Americans said media outlets covered the gaffe far more than needed, while 28 percent called the level of scrutiny appropriate, according to an Oct. 1 Pew poll. Thirteen percent said the comment was covered too little. (Photo: Courtesy of Mother Jones)

Mitt Romney on voters who support President Obama:  - “There are 47 percent who are with him; who are dependent upon government; who believe that they are victims; who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them… My job is not to worry about those people.”    (Photo: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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Losing Ground - Mitt Romney's recent bumps along the campaign trail are starting to look more like landmines on the road to fail. In a new poll conducted for The Hill newspaper by Pulse Opinion Research, 53 percent of likely voters think that President Obama will win in November, up from 43 percent who said the same just before the Democratic National Convention. (Photo: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Supporting America's Most Vulnerable - Only 43 percent of people in an Oct. 4 Pew Poll agreed that the government should help those in need, even if it means going into debt, down from 48 percent in 2009 and 54 percent in 2007.   (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

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Supporting America's Most Vulnerable - Only 43 percent of people in an Oct. 4 Pew Poll agreed that the government should help those in need, even if it means going into debt, down from 48 percent in 2009 and 54 percent in 2007.   (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

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Setting a Good Example - Physicians appear to be good at practicing what they preach when it comes to encouraging a healthy lifestyle. In a Gallup poll released Oct. 3, 58 percent of physicians said they exercised three or more times a day, 60 percent eat five or more servings of fruits and veggies daily and less than 5 percent said they smoked cigarettes. (Photo: Tetra Images)

Obama Pulls Ahead in Battleground States - Just hours before the start of the first presidential debates, President Obama appears to have the edge among likely voters in three crucial battleground states. In three separate NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls released Oct. 3, the president narrowly leads Mitt Romney 47 to 46 percent in Florida, 48 percent to 46 percent in Virginia and 51 to 43 percent in Ohio. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

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Obama Pulls Ahead in Battleground States - Just hours before the start of the first presidential debates, President Obama appears to have the edge among likely voters in three crucial battleground states. In three separate NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls released Oct. 3, the president narrowly leads Mitt Romney 47 to 46 percent in Florida, 48 percent to 46 percent in Virginia and 51 to 43 percent in Ohio. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Romney's Economic Edge - In terms of handling the economy, however, 50 percent of Americans believe it will improve if Romney is elected, compared to 35 percent who said it will do worse, according to a Gallup poll released Oct. 2. Asked the same question about President Obama, 48 percent predicted it would improve if the president is re-elected while 40 percent said it will be worse. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Romney's Economic Edge - In terms of handling the economy, however, 50 percent of Americans believe it will improve if Romney is elected, compared to 35 percent who said it will do worse, according to a Gallup poll released Oct. 2. Asked the same question about President Obama, 48 percent predicted it would improve if the president is re-elected while 40 percent said it will be worse. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

America Is Not Impressed - Days before President Obama and Mitt Romney face off in the first presidential debate on Oct. 3, the candidates may want to focus on winning over a lukewarm public. In a Pew poll published Sept. 24, 54 percent of people said they are either "very" or "fairly satisfied" with the presidential choices this year, compared to 40 percent who disapproved altogether. (Photos from left: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images, David Calvert/Getty Images)

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America Is Not Impressed - Days before President Obama and Mitt Romney face off in the first presidential debate on Oct. 3, the candidates may want to focus on winning over a lukewarm public. In a Pew poll published Sept. 24, 54 percent of people said they are either "very" or "fairly satisfied" with the presidential choices this year, compared to 40 percent who disapproved altogether. (Photos from left: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images, David Calvert/Getty Images)

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Bias Much? - Is the media too tough on Romney? Forty-six percent of Americans say the coverage has been fair, according to a Pew Research Center poll, although 45 percent of Republicans disagree. Just 26 percent of Democrats think the press is too hard on Obama. (Photo: Charles Dharapak/AP PHOTO)

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Mounting Debt - About 19 percent of households reported they are struggling with student loan debt, according to a Pew analysis survey published Sept. 26, up from 15 percent of people who reported the same in 2007, the year before the start of the global recession. Respondents reported owing an average of $23,349 in 2007, which increased to $26,682 in 2010. (Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

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Thumbs Up! - Obama's convention bounce may have dipped but he's still on a high. According to Gallup's job approval daily tracker for Sept. 23-25, his three-day rolling average has been 51 percent. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

You Say Tomah-To - The outcome of this year's presidential election may well hinge on how effective voters think the government is. Not surprisingly, there's a huge gap between Republican and Democratic views. Responding to the Pew Research Center's 2012 American Values Survey, 77 percent of Republicans said that the government is usually inefficient and wasteful when it tries to run something. Conversely, just 41 percent of Democrats said the same. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

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No More Big Government - Is "Big Government" taking over the country? Yes, according to 47 percent of people in a Sept. 24 Gallup poll who said there was too much government regulation of business and industry, compared to 26 percent who said there was too little. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Romney, Not So Much  - Mitt Romney has been under fire from pundits on both the left and the right — and Americans agree. In a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, 61 percent of respondents said they disapprove of how he's handling his campaign and 54 percent said they disapproved of his remarks about people who allegedly don't pay income taxes. (Photo: Charles Dharapak/AP Photo)

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Romney, Not So Much  - Mitt Romney has been under fire from pundits on both the left and the right — and Americans agree. In a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, 61 percent of respondents said they disapprove of how he's handling his campaign and 54 percent said they disapproved of his remarks about people who allegedly don't pay income taxes. (Photo: Charles Dharapak/AP Photo)

Carry Only What You Need - Try not to overstuff your purse or wallet with items that you don’t need with you for that night — you might lose them or, even worse, they might get stolen. Take only the essentials: your cell phone, ID, subway/bus card, one debit/credit card and some cash.  (Photo: KEYSTONE /Landov)

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It's the Economy - Among registered voters, the economy remains the top concern for Americans, with 87 percent of people calling the issue "very important to their vote," according to a Pew poll released Sept. 24. The outcome is identical to numbers reported in Aug. 2008. (Photo: Gaetan Bally KEYSTONE /Landov)

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Minds Made Up - The pool of swing voters has grown smaller in 2012, with just 22 percent who are undecided or could change their mind, compared to 27 percent in 2008. A Pew Research Center poll published Sept. 25 found that 43 percent of all registered voters say their choice is Obama, while 35 percent said they would definitely vote for Romney. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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Keeping Up With the Times - Social media may soon edge out television as the leading source for where Americans get their news. In a Sept. 27 Pew poll of adults under 30, 33 percent of respondents said they read news or news headlines on a social networking site the previous day compared to television news (34 percent) or a print or digital newspaper (13 percent). (Photo: Nick Pandolfo/MCT /LANDOV)