In 48 days, the United States and the rest of the world will know who the next American president will be — whether it’s President Obama capturing his second term or Mitt Romney preparing to lay down the bricks for the next four years.

In either case, the Latino vote most assuredly will play a major role in this year’s presidential election.

In 2004, 44 percent of Latinos voted in support of President Bush’s reelection and President Obama captured 67 percent of the Latino vote in his election four years ago, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Today, there are an estimated 21 million eligible Latino voters in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau. However, it is also estimated that about half are actually registered.

With an ever growing voting bloc, both campaigns have not turned a blind eye to the potential that Latinos represent if they want their candidate to take the oath of office come January.

Colorado is already recognized as a must win swing state because this purple state boasts a growing Latino voting population. In fact, there are more than 400,000 eligible Latino voters in the state alone, according to the Pew Research Center.

Already both candidates and their surrogates have campaigned in numerous occasions in the “Centennial State” in an effort to spread their message — a trend that is sure to continue as Election Day approaches.

With an emphasis that both campaigns are placing on Latinos and the weight that Colorado carries, it’s no surprise that the president’s reelection campaign granted La Voz Bilingüe a one-on-one interview with Mr. Obama last Thursday during his stop in Golden last Thursday. The interview with the sitting president is a milestone for the oldest bilingual newspaper in the state with a 38-year history representing the Hispanic voice of Colorado.