Republicans who assume Marco Rubio could successfully woo large blocs of Hispanic voters in 2016 could be in for a rude surprise.
"I just don't see his ethnic background as a thing that (alone) manages to win Hispanic voters," said Ali Valenzuela, an assistant political science professor for Latino Studies at Princeton University.
With white non-Hispanics declining as a share of the electorate, Republicans must capture 42%-47% of the Hispanic vote, an analysis by Seattle-based polling firm Latino Decisions concluded in July.
Such rhetoric will damage the GOP among Hispanic voters in November 2016, even if the nomination fight is won by Rubio or former Florida governor Jeb Bush, the two candidates seen as having the best shot with those voters, said Sylvia Manzano, a former assistant political science professor at Texas A&M University who has studied Hispanic voting patterns.