Sean Trende believes so. Chait counters:
Will Latinos vote more Republican over time? To some degree, sure. But given the demographic’s rapid growth, Republicans need to steadily increase their share of the Latino vote just to break even. Right now they’re going in the wrong direction, with Latinos getting more Democratic from 2004 to 2008 to now (Hispanics currently favor President Obama over any of his GOP rivals by a six-to-one margin). Cementing the party’s image as the opponents of Latinos can take a long time to reverse. Sure it will change over the generations, but in my analysis, a long period is about a generation. I’d also argue that Democrats have assembled a base of college-educated white voters who show no propensity to be repelled by pro-immigration reform policies.
Earlier polling on the Latino vote here.
(Photo: Kevin Nunoz, 5, marches during a May Day protest May 1, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. Thousands of people marched for immigration reform, among other issues. By Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
The Dish 