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Will Hispanics be the swing vote in the 2008 presidential election? Sam Rodriguez offers a resounding “yes.”

Rodriguez is president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which is the National Hispanic Association of Evangelicals serving approximately 15 million Hispanic believers in issues of leadership, fellowship, networking, partnerships and public policy.

Rodriguez is also a well-known evangelist, author and founding pastor of Third Day Worship Centers in California. The Voice magazine caught up with Rodriguez to discuss the Hispanic view of the 2008 election.

THE VOICE: Who is the Latino evangelical voter?

RODRIGUEZ: Latino evangelical voters are the quintessential conservative compassionate voters. They personify Bush’s compassionate conservatives. Latino evangelicals are pro-life and pro-traditional marriage. However they also have a commitment to social justice issues; alleviating poverty, war, AIDS.

THE VOICE: How much will Hispanics impact the 2008 election?

RODRIGUEZ: We are the wildcard in the 2008 election. In the 10 major swing states, the Latino population is not only growing but it’s significant. George W. Bush took the majority of those states in 2004 and 2000 as a direct result of the Hispanic evangelical vote. Pew Research and USA Today both indicated that. In other words, without the Hispanic evangelical vote, Bush would not be sitting in the White House today. That was the vote that took him over in those swing states.

THE VOICE: Will Hispanics swing it toward the Republican ticket again in 2008?

RODRIGUEZ: The question in 2008 is whether or not Hispanic evangelical voters will vote Republican in light of the immigration reform debacle. That’s the great question Hispanic evangelical voters will be answering in November 2008.

The question is whether or not they will be supporting a candidate in McCain who is a champion of immigration reform and look beyond the party that did not support it. Hispanic evangelicals are vehemently, vehemently disappointed with the Republican party. The Latino evangelical voters will not support the Republican ticket in the sheer numbers the did in 2004, which was 44 percent.

Latinos are caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Will they support the party that doesn’t want them but believes what they believe? Or are they going to vote for a party that wants them but absolutely does not believe what they believe?

THE VOICE: What’s your prediction, then?

RODRIGUEZ: My prediction is that on Nov. 5th the headlines will read either “The first African-American president” or “The oldest president ever to be elected to the White House.’ But I think the more powerful headline may very well be the that the alienation of a large voting demographic away from one party was a specific and direct result of immigration. Our impact on the polls this year will be greater than ever. We are registering voters in unprecedented numbers. We are visiting every Hispanic evangelical congregation and registering voters.

Jennifer LeClaire is the editor of The Voice magazine and author of "Doubtless: Faith that Overcomes the World." You can also visit her online at www.jenniferleclaire.org.