I’m honestly surprised Jeb busted out the Spanish this early. I can’t see him surviving the primary after that. As far as I can see, Jeb(!) is mostly popular with hispanics that already vote Republican (and that already turn out well for every election). (I don’t think Rubio does as well with this crowd as Jeb(!
), actually, but there may be polls out there that disagree with me.) That’ll help in a a small number of primaries, and it may only take a little help in the primaries to rise above the rest of that circus. I just can’t envision anyone being able to execute the dance moves required to swing a useful number of hispanic votes in the general without alienating the tea-baggers (who easily outnumber potential Republican hispanic voters).The interesting thing that Jeb(!)’s outreach to hispanics does do, though, is endear him to the campaign press. The stories just about write themselves, and they feel good. That can help a campaign a lot more that I enjoy admitting.
The problem with the GOP, amazingly, is that they look at Latino voters as one great big block of voters. Cuban, Mexican, Honduran, Guatemalan, Brazilian. They don’t recognize that ‘Hispanic’ voters are as disparate and varied and diverse a group as this country has ever seen. And there’s a deeply ingrained series of connections and opinions within each group as to the other groups, white people and politics in general. All the GOP sees is ‘brown people’ who are a growing percentage of the population that they need to win over.
“I think as you look at the two, Jeb Bush is ready to be president,” former Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, a Republican, told CNN. “I think Marco Rubio very well may be president someday. I think just for 2016, after a failed Obama presidency, we need somebody like Jeb Bush to step in there.” (CNN)