The mean spirited politics of Wilson-Dornan-Tancredo- Jim Ryan in Illinois is what the Latinos see in the media. Every time a George Bush or Jeb Bush appears even slightly friendly, the mean spirited letters to the editor and emails pop up.
Not only does this mean spiritedness lose Latino votes, it loses even more votes from White women who are turned off by mean spiritedness.
There is no constitutional or logical reason in conservative thought for this mean spiritedness. It is totally unnecessary. But until our alleged friends either get smart, or compassionate (in their tone of voice) it will be a difficult, but winnable challenge to get the Latino vote.
Latinos in my area who went 100% for Bush in 2000 and local Republicans in 2001, went overwhelmingly agaisnt Jim Ryan this time.
As with all of us, Latinos are more motivated to vote against than to vote for.