Political Eye: Republicans pushing for Latino votes

When Reince Priebus visited Las Vegas last month, he took time to do an interview with Univision, the Spanish-language television network with the most Hispanic viewers in the United States.

It's all part of the Republican National Committee chairman's playbook to court Latinos in key states such as Nevada, where vast majorities of Hispanics have traditionally supported Democratic candidates.

As soon as today , the RNC plans to launch a big push for the key demographic by naming Hispanic outreach directors in vitals states such as Nevada. The RNC also plans to open a "victory office" in Las Vegas and hire a director to handle the political ground game.

In an interview last week with a Washington Post blogger, Priebus said the RNC will be fully staffed in nine battleground states by the end of the month, including Nevada.

Priebus also said he thinks the GOP can boost Hispanic support for the presidential nominee to the levels that former President George W. Bush enjoyed, or more than 40 percent.

He said unemployment remains higher among Hispanics than other workers, which could hurt President Barack Obama in 2012 among Latinos. And he noted that several states have popular GOP Hispanic leaders such as Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez.

"The messengers are just much better," Priebus told the Post.

Still, he acknowledged Republicans need to do a lot of work with Hispanics on issues such as immigration, including how to counter the Democrats' DREAM Act that would put children of illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship if they attend college or serve in the U.S. military.

In the end, however, likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney will have to make his own case to Nevada's Hispanics, three-quarters of whom backed Obama in 2008.

'BUFFETT RULE'

Obama's re-election campaign is heavily focused on Hispanics and not just on immigration.

Last week, the Obama campaign sent California Rep. Xavier Becerra to Las Vegas to do a round of interviews with Latino TV, radio and newspaper outlets to promote the "Buffett rule."

Named for billionaire business­man Warren Buffett, the proposed law would increase the income tax rate on millionaires to 30 percent in line with what most middle-class taxpayers pay.

"Most of the folks who are stuck right in the middle of the income scales are Latinos," Becerra told the Review-Journal as he made the rounds, including stops at Univision and Telemundo. "They tend to populate the middle-class and modest income brackets in the United States."

Becerra said about 1,500 millionaires and billionaires didn't pay any income taxes at all, according to 2009 data. If the Buffett rule passed, it would raise $47 billion over 10 years.

The Republican National Committee, however, argues that raising the tax rate for millionaires would add only $1.1 billion in federal revenues in the coming year and would barely make a dent in the estimated $1.2 trillion budget deficit Obama is expected to run up at the same time.

HELLER GEARS UP

U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., last week named four statewide co-chairs of his Senate campaign, including Gov. Brian Sandoval, former Sen. Paul Laxalt, former Rep. Barbara Vucanovich and former Nevada first lady Dema Guinn, wife of the late Gov. Kenny Guinn.

The former Northern Nevada congressman also listed 450 county co-chairs in all of Nevada's 17 counties whom he said would "drive the momentum of Dean Heller's grass-roots campaign."

It's no surprise that Heller's pretty much wrapping up all the Republican support across Nevada. His Senate challenger, U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., will likely do the same with her Democratic Party supporters as the two head toward a near-certain photo finish in the Nov. 6 general election.

The battle will be for the swing independent voters in Nevada, where one out of every six registered voters is nonpartisan. And the outcome of the close Senate race will be tied closely to the White House contest, according to a new analysis by Jennifer Duffy of The Cook Political Report.

If Obama wins Nevada, so will Berkley, Duffy opined last week.

If Romney wins the Silver State, Heller will stay in the Senate, she said, winning his own six-year term after being appointed to replace ethically challenged U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., last year.

The Nevada contest "may end up being among the closest in the country," Duffy wrote. "Both candidates face minor primary opposition, but these challenges represent more of a nuisance than real competition. As such, the general election battle is well under way.

"Ultimately, this race will be one of two or three Senate contests in which the outcome will be determined by the presidential election."

The bottom line: "Nevada is a true swing state," Duffy said.

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow @lmyerslvrj on Twitter.