Believing that to win in November, Mitt Romney needs the support of a sizable amount of Latino voters (anything close to the 34% John McCain got in 2008 is a defeat; anything around the 41% who voted for George W. Bush in 2004 is a victory), Republicans continued to intensify their level of involvement with the Latino community this week. They seem encouraged by a simple rationale. Romney, as FoxNews said, “could beat Obama if he courts Hispanics.”

Let me add this for clarity: Romney could beat Obama if he courts Hispanics and if Hispanics are enchanted by his charms.

But there is a lot of work to do. A recent NBC/WSJ poll indicated that 69% of Latinos still prefer Obama to the 22% who favor Romney.

If Republicans really believe they must do well with Hispanics to win the presidency, they have good reason to be worried.

Still, they struggle to gain the hearts and votes of Latinos. In January, they created the office of Director of Hispanic Outreach and named activist Bettina Inclán to lead it. And last week, Inclan presented new GOP Hispanic outreach directors in six states.

Also as part of the effort, this week Arizona’s senator and former presidential candidate John McCain told Juan Williams that the issue of immigration stands between Latinos and Mitt Romney, and that, actually, Romney “has said that he is in favor of immigration reform. “Now,” added McCain, “like anything else, the devil is in the details.”

Read the full story at The Huffington Post