PPP: Adding Hispanic VP candidate doesn't help Romney with Hispanics in FL/NM/NV

[pbrower2a]

No surprize. The non-Cuban Hispanics are on track to catch up w/ the blacks as the archreliable Dem electorate. To avoid this happening, Republicans will have to work hard. For the moment, though, they seem to be replicating the Southern Strategy.

I thought that Jews were the second-most reliable part of the Democratic electorate.

The Southern Strategy is failing except in the South, and it is becoming repugnant in much of the rest of the US.  The political enmity that Southern whites feel toward blacks may have lessened little -- but that against Hispanics is really, really weak. 

[pbrower2a]

Well of course. Who seriously think Hispanics are stupid or shallow enough to be swayed over by blatant tokenism?

No more than blacks are impressed by Clarence Thomas. Tokens are bad news for reasons other than failure to relate to their supposed community -- such as that they are usually incompetent, mercenary, doctrinaire, or corrupt. They are the efforts by some to show 'that they aren't racist'. 

From what I have seen, Hispanics are much more astute about American political life than many Anglos realize. So far I see no reason to believe that either Brian Sandoval or Susanna Martinez is a token; it may be more significant that a VP choice does not matter that much for 'carrying' a state or an ethnic group. Republicans need to realize that if the selection of Joe Lieberman as VP had made the difference as planned we would have spoken of President Al Gore.

The fault lies with the top of the ticket.  I see the 2012 Presidential election at this stage looking like that of late in the campaign season of 2008 except that Mitt Romney has more time. But at this time in 2008 John McCain seemed to have an edge over Barack Obama.