Republican National Committee courts Latino voters

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Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus was in Los Angeles this morning meeting with Latino and Asian-American business and political leaders behind closed doors at the Mexican restaurant Tamayo in East Los Angeles. Priebus and the Repubilcan Party are on a national tour to figure out how to grow the party. 

“This has been a good learning experience today," Priebus said after the meeting. "Talking about solutions, talking about what we need to do with other Hispanic leaders in Southern California."

According to data from the Pew Research Center only 27 percent of Latinos voted for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. A far cry from the 71 percent who voted for Barack Obama.

Priebus said he believed that outreach efforts on behalf of the democratic party are a big reason for that statistic. 

“While we were playing footsie with each other debating 23 times the other side was spending 150 million dollars on voter data, outreach with a lot of bodies in communities across America,” Priebus said.

A part of their goal to revitalize the Republican Party's image, Priebus hopes to make strides in states that are primarily Democratic.

"We're dropping the idea of the blue state and red state analysis," he said.

He hopes that by spending more time on the ground the Republican Party can open up to minority voters.

“We need to be a welcoming party, that puts a smile on our face," Priebus said. "We continue to win the math war. We win the war on arithmetic. People trust us with jobs, the economy, debt and spending. But we need to start winning the heart war.”

In a city like Los Angeles, where the majority of voters lean Democratic, Republicans have reason to worry. But Republican Mayor Mario Guerra of the City of Downey said he's hopeful of garnering a larger piece of the pie. 

“The Latinos are republican they just may not know it,” Guerra said.

Guerra said many Republican strongholds, like small government, strong family values and focus on job creation, resonate with Latino voters but that the party often shoots itself in the foot on other issues, such as immigration.

“The No. 1 obstacle is talking about the issues and being very anti-welcoming to everybody," he said. "The Republican stance on immigration is not actually what people think it is.”

However, Jorge-Mario Cabrera of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, disagrees. He said Latinos do understand the Republican stance on immigration but just don't like it. 

“There have been a number of candidates who have made it a point to ostracize Latinos with their anti-immigrant rhetoric," Cabrera said. "So it will take a lot more than just casting a vote for immigration reform.”  

But with all this effort, some say the Republican Party still won't be ahead of the game.

“The ability of the RNC to change the image of the party is very limited," said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont Mckenna University.

"Surveys suggest that the majority of Latino voters are liberal on economic and social issues with the possible exception of abortion," Pitney said. "So it's unlikely Republicans will ever be able to capture the majority of voters but they might be able to do better than they are now."

He said the best outcome for the Republican Party, at least in California, would be if they could win back enough state senate and assembly seats to get rid of the Democratic Party's super majority.

“Marginal gains can have a significant impact in the long run,” Pitney said.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio is a rising Latino star within the Republican Party and analysts say he could be the next presidential nominee for the party.

"But even Rubio is not going come close to winning a majority," Pitney said.