Give me an ‘R’!

It’s uttered, whispered and alluded to, but the ‘R’ word is rarely said aloud in Latino circles. “Republican,” depending on what part of the country you live in can be seen as a curse word, slur or insult.

Between the Tea Party antics, cabezon party loyalty and conservative policies that affect poor and people of color disproportionately, it’s easy to see why the party of Lincoln isn’t revered by many Latinos, both old and new.

Although GOP rolls reflect Hispanics, that won’t be enough to win back the White House. A 2011 survey by the Pew Hispanic Research Center found that just 12% of people they interviewed identified as registered Republicans.

Despite this relatively low number, South Florida has been consistently a Republican stronghold for decades. So much so that one of the country’s two Latino Senators, Marco Rubio was rumored to be on the short list of Mitt Romney’s running mate list.

Despite this daunting task, Republicans are not throwing up the flag and giving up the Latino vote just yet. “The Hispanic American vote is crucial as Hispanic populations have risen in crucial swing states,” said Ed Cox, chair of the New York State Republican Party.

“I think you are going to see a tremendous national grass-roots effort to reach Hispanic American voters. Republicans will be ramping up social media efforts, knocking on doors, making phone calls, and really engaging individual Hispanic communities.”

Cox believes simple economics will sway the community that’s been hit hardest by the Great Recession to consider the GOP. As of September 2011, a record number of Latino children, 6.1 million, are living in poverty.

“This election is going to be about jobs and the economy,” Cox said. “It is important to recognize that unemployment rates affect Latino Americans disproportionately; they are even harder hit by the Obama administration’s policies.”

But are Latinos, like Ronald Reagan once said, really Republicans in Democrats clothing? “They’re patriots, hardworking and loyal,” said Rodolfo de la Garza, political analyst and professor of political science at Columbia University, of Latinos and why Republicans have believed they are in the wrong party. “They don’t believe you can be all of those things and be a Democrat.”

And while Democrats probably won’t draw Latino voters at the same numbers in 2008, that doesn’t mean that Republicans pick up what Obama loses.

“They don’t have right message yet,” said Angelo Falcon, political analyst and director of the National Institute of Latino Policy. “They have to think about transitioning from rhetoric to something else. Until they get it together and [discuss] positions that are more palatable to Latino voters,” Republicans will not gain any ground with this crucial group.

Will Republicans craft an effective message for the Latino electorate? That remains to be seen but what’s certain now is that the clock is ticking fast.