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Republicans lag among Latinos

Four years ago, Republicans couldn't have imagined being in this situation.

President Bush and other GOP leaders were working hard to reach Latino voters and succeeded, as Bush received nearly 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in his re-election campaign against John Kerry.

But the brutal, fruitless immigration debates in Congress in 2006 and '07 damaged the GOP brand among Latinos, and Republicans have seen their standing among Latinos go south.

True, some high-profile Hispanics were on the GOP convention stage last week in St. Paul, Minn. Still, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll shows only 23 percent of Latinos backing Republican nominee John McCain.

McCain can hardly afford that huge drop-off. He especially can't afford an exodus of Latino Protestants, a key part of Bush's base.

In 2004, 37 percent of Latino Protestants considered themselves Republicans. But a June survey by Calvin College's Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics reveals that number has fallen to 16 percent heading into this election.

That this dramatic decline appears to be wrapped up in the immigration debate makes the situation an ironic, unfair blow to McCain. His presidential campaign almost went into the ditch before the first primary votes were counted because conservatives abhorred his courageous stand on immigration reform. Unlike some of the more vocal in his party, McCain wanted Congress to pass a comprehensive plan that included giving illegal immigrants a chance to earn citizenship over time.

He since has adjusted his stand to say he wants to secure the border first, but he never has backed away from a comprehensive solution. His stance is mostly a nod to the reality that the only way Congress can get enough votes to overhaul immigration laws is through satisfying skeptics that the Mexican border is less porous.

Nuance like that is tough to drive home in a heated fall campaign, but McCain needs to make clear he's not backing down from fairly and thoroughly overhauling our immigration laws. He may risk alienating the Lou Dobbs crowd, but he also can't keep hemorrhaging Latino support.

McCain has a message for Latinos. He should sell it.

-- The Dallas Morning News, Sept. 2