It is a point that Michael Warren of The Weekly Standard explored a couple weeks ago. Republicans have lost a net 30 points among evangélicos since the 2004 presidential campaign. George W. Bush got 69% of the Latino evangelical vote in 2004, and Mitt Romney only had support of 39% of Latino evangelicals in 2012. Warren argues that Republicans should see this as an opening:
Somewhere in the party’s long tradition, there are principles and policies that can attract a group that values family, community, and the church. A party that can win Hispanic evangelicals might be one that can combine pro-family tax policies, pro-growth economic policies, traditionalism on social issues, and a realistic immigration policy.
What I learned after spending time in Iglesias in Chicago and the far suburbs of Washington is a little more complicated than that. But Warren is on to something. But before Republicans can win them over, they have to know who the evangélicos really are. That is what we explore in the magazine this week.