Prediction

The Republican Party will choose a Hispanic-American vice-presidential candidate in 2012. I am guessing that Marco Rubio, the Spanish speaking son of Cuban exiles, current U.S. Senator for Florida, and rising republican all-star will fill those shoes nicely. As Suzana Martinez, current Republican governor of New Mexico, has shown, Latinos will vote for a Hispanic candidate regardless of their views on immigration or Latinos in general. Suzana Martinez ran the most virulent and overtly racial gubernatorial campaign against Latino immigrants in a state that is almost 50% Hispanic, and easily won a majority of the Latino vote. Rubio could, theoretically, be a hardliner on immigration and still attract huge numbers of votes for the Republican candidate in 2012. The Republican Party has to do something drastic. If not, they will be dragged down by the nativists within their own party and obliterated by the fastest growing demographic in the country.