Hispanic immigrants are poor, dependent on government, and alienated from the American mainstream. They are definitional Democrats as a whole. Are many socially conservative, yes. What of it? Have you noticed how pro-life anti-gay blacks vote?
And going by your logic, Washington state and Oregon and both mostly white, heavily protestant states (Catholics are less than 15% of the population in each, whereas Protestants over 50%), and the largest share of protestants in those states are Evangelical. Looking at the voting records of those states and who they send to Congress, it tells us that Evangelical Protestant voters in America love liberal Democrats. Does it?
No, of course not, it reflects the voting patterns of some liberals who live on the west coast in cities like Portland or Seattle, not Evangelical Protestants as a whole. Yet you look at the voting pattern of some small liberal New England states on the east coast and try to make it represent Catholic voters nationally. Very few Catholics nationally have much in common with elite New England families like the Kennedy's. On the flip side, the most recent election we had in this nation was for Anthony Weiner's seat in Congress, in a Brooklyn based district that was mostly Catholic. Exit polls showed over 70% of Catholics voted for conservative Republican (Bob Turner), but barely 50% of protestants did. Does this mean Catholics nationwide are overwhelmingly Republican? No. The numbers don't lie. I've repeated it here but people seem to want to ignore the facts. Nationally, a MAJORITY of non-hispanic Catholic voters OPPOSED Obama. However, a MAJORITY of hispanic Catholics SUPPORTED Obama. If you want to know why there are so many Catholics voting Democrat, there's your answer.
>> The GOP should not have to appeal to “socially conservative” Catholics — it should be second nature for them NOT to vote for those who promote abortion and same sex marriage. <<
It should, but I can think of three reasons why they're not:
1) The American Catholic church does a poor job communicating its stance on social issues, and the liberal media distorts the church's positions and gives ignorant voters the impression that the church is adamantly against the death penalty but "divided" on abortion, when in reality the opposite is true.
2) Many voters are "socially conservative but fiscally liberal" and want handouts, and the Catholic Church again does not educate its members that social issue triumph other issues. Thus people get the impression that it's OKAY to vote Democrat if you're morally opposed to their position on abortion, as long as you agree with their position on free education for everyone.
3) The media insists voters feel the OPPOSITE way and want candidates that are "fiscally conservative" and socially "moderate" (the media will NEVER refer to a candidate as 'socially liberal' no matter how far left they are on social issues... being for partial birth abortion and gay marriages makes you 'moderate'), and the GOP leadership happily buys this kool-aid (don't wanna scare away the "moderate suburban moms") and runs RINOs that promise "less spending" and "lower taxes" but that they can't interfere with "a woman's right to choose". Thus, socially conservative Catholics have no interest in supporting these candidates.
>> Hispanic immigrants are poor, dependent on government, and alienated from the American mainstream. They are definitional Democrats as a whole. Are many socially conservative, yes. What of it? Have you noticed how pro-life anti-gay blacks vote? <<<
Actually, I would argue that Hispanic voters (as a whole) are not nearly as "socially conservative" as the GOP leadership claims and wishes they are. In addition to the above three factors, many are just plain socially liberal... moreso than black voters I think (though they don't vote Democrat by as big a margin). During the last "gay pride" parade in Chicago (yes I know it's liberal Chicago but they come from all over the midwest, and there were certainly more hispanics than blacks promoting the gay agenda), I saw a huge outpouring of support for the gay agenda and attendance from those "socially conservative" Hispanics. I personally know alot more Hispanics that support abortion and gay marriage than blacks. And remember the Prop. 8 proposal in California and how black Obama voters crossed over to vote "YES", giving it enough margin to pass? Did you hear about big crossover support from the "Hispanic community" in California to vote YES on 8? Me either.
There are certainly some "socially conservative" hispanics, but the idea that they are "overwhemingly" supportive of the GOP positions on social issues seems to be a fairy tale.