HispanicBusiness

WASHINGTON--If Hispanic voters could handpick their president, perhaps their candidate would come from the Southwest, where most Hispanics live.

Perhaps the candidate would be a military veteran. After all, more than a third of Hispanics have a family member on active duty.

Or perhaps the candidate would hold a compromise position on immigration reform, showing sensitivity to extended families with varying degrees of citizenship.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona would seem the perfect candidate to fit the bill, but the border state war hero faces a huge challenge among Hispanics this election cycle -- the party banner under which he's running.

"He will have some work to do," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

After Senate Republicans killed immigration reform last summer -- many with fiercely anti-immigrant rhetoric -- one could see the bridges President George W. Bush built to Hispanics in 2000 and 2004 crumble in one divisive congressional session.

"I'm not sure they want (Hispanics)," said Sylvia Manzano, a political science professor at Texas A&M University. "If they did want them, they would not speak out so strongly against them. That's going to be difficult to overcome."

But Mr. McCain aides say the campaign is up to the task, calling Hispanics a "natural constituency" for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

"He's from a border state. He understands how people view the debate from all sides," Mr. McCain spokeswoman Crystal Benton said.

If Mr. McCain is to improve on the roughly 42 percent of Hispanics President Bush won, there's no time like the present to start the outreach.

A recent Texas A&M poll found Mr. McCain had a 48 percent favorability rating among Hispanics voters in Texas, 27 points lower than Sen. Hillary Clinton's rating and 18 points lower than Sen. Barack Obama's.

For Mr. McCain, still struggling to attract the conservative base of the Republican Party, seeking Hispanic support poses new political traps.

"Reaching out to Latinos can create some backlash from white voters," Manzano said.

On immigration, the same middle-of-the-road work in the Senate that may make Mr. McCain more likable among some Hispanics, has him vilified by talk radio hosts and the right wing of the Republican Party. However, polls also consistently show that immigration ranks below health care, the Iraq war and the economy in importance to U.S. Hispanic voters.

While Latinos are patriotic and strongly connected to military service, and admiring of McCain's war hero past, polls show they oppose the Iraq war. Mr. McCain was the most outspoken supporter for increasing troop levels in Iraq last year.

With Hispanics engaged at record levels this primary season, campaigns will need to invest more than Spanish ads in the community to reap its rewards.

Mitt Romney was the only Republican candidate to hire paid staff dedicated to Hispanic outreach efforts in the primary.

Mr. McCain's campaign spokesman said they were still relying on volunteer coalitions, for now.

(Neil H. Simon is a journalist and filmmaker in Washington, D.C. He can be found online at neilhsimon.com)

For HispanicBusiness.com's interview with McCain advisor Carly Fiorina, please see Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina Talks About Her New Role With McCain's Campaign