That's a fair point, Ronnie. The thing is, many Latinos want to be able to vote conservative. A good portion of them are Christian and very religious, so falling into the Evangelical Right isn't that much of a stretch for them. They just don't want to vote for a wingnut like Perry. The overwhelming majority of anti-Castro Cubans in Florida will embrace a moderate Republican, especially "one of their own," like Rubio. Plus, Rubio will appeal to Latinos (not just Cubans) everywhere.
With that logic, McCain should've won that vote in '08. But he didn't. Why?
Because that party, whether the prospective nominee is actively serious in their politics or not, is run by the base...and that base screams and shouts at anything that is seen as being "friendly" to za immigrantz. Or for that matter, states like Arizona taking the issue to solve themselves, actively cheerleaded by Fox News. You might want to agree with them on abortion or hating the gays or whatever, but if you're treated like a criminal and pulled over to be questioned about your citizenship simply because of your skin color...why the hell would you support those assholes?
Dubya at one point was onto something perhaps. He had the highest Latino voting % for a GOP candidate ever in 2004, and he sought to destroy that Democratic voting bloc by passing Immigration Reform. But then the base (mostly Southwest/Rocky mountain) reacted like someone gaped them in the middle of the night, and that effort crashed and burn. So loud, so viotile that reaction, McCain and the party as a whole got tainted. Even though McCain was one of the leading figures for Reform, that did him zero good and he ran away from that shit like the plague in the '08 primaries.
It's the same reason why Republicans have never been able to break the loyal American Jewish voting bloc from the Democratic Party, despite supposed logic and demographics and whatever numbrs Karl Rove has. On paper, something issues could attract cross-over votes but ultimately, if your party is seen as being against you and your interests and just filling up your ass with gas, you won't support them.
(Recent example: Congress wanting to cut U.S. funding to the Palestinian Authority over the U.N. affair, which Israel pleaded no. But if the House GOP had its way, it would be severed. Even against the wishes of said ally they're supposedly allied with because of religion. More Pro-Israel than Israel.)
