The GOP's Latino Problem

While strategists may differ on how to approach the immigration issue, the need to cultivate the Hispanic vote itself should be obvious.

Wall Street Journal: The GOP's prospective presidential candidates have been doing plenty in the past few weeks: travelling to the Middle East (Mitt Romney), releasing books (Tim Pawlenty), feuding with the press over "blood libel" (Sarah Palin) and even forming exploratory committees (talk show host and former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain). But one thing they generally have not been doing is reaching out to Hispanics, a voting bloc that's important to GOP success in the long term. One exception so far has been Newt Gingrich. The former speaker recently told business leaders in Myrtle Beach, S.C., that in order to build a sustainable and effective governing coalition, the GOP needed to spend more than a quarter of its time courting minorities. To that end, Mr. Gingrich started a bilingual website called The Americano, which presents news and opinions with a conservative bent. Likewise, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has put in more effort than most of his peers. When asked by Politico how the GOP might close the gap with Hispanic voters, he answered, "First of all, show up." He dismissed the notion that Republicans could simply appear in the fall and expect to win votes. Mr. Pawlenty, incidentally, was the only presidential contender to appear at the recent inaugural conference of the Hispanic Leadership Network, a group affiliated with both the conservative American Action Network and Jeb Bush. At the event, Mr. Pawlenty largely sidestepped the immigration issue and instead stressed conservatives' commitment to fostering economic opportunity.