Courting the Latino vote in a swing state: with a hard-line stance on immigration, Romney will have to work hard to woo Hispanics away from Obama in Colorado.

• Author: Cote, Mike
• Position: COURTING THE LATINO VOTE

No one thinks Mitt Romney is going to win the majority of the Hispanic vote in Colorado, but capturing one of the country's swing states in November could rest on the presumptive Republican nominee shaving a few percentage points from President Obatna's commanding lead among Latino voters, which polls indicate is running close to his national 67 percent showing in 2008.

For that to happen, Romney is going to have to do a better job convincing Latinos he cares about them and that he has a more palatable stance on illegal immigration than the hard line he's been espousing during the campaign, say Republican Latinos and a leading pollster.

In short, that means making people like Bob Martinez not cringe when he hears Romney talk about immigration. The Castle Rock businessman and former state Republican Party chairman says he'll vote (Or Romney, but he hardly sounds enthusiastic about it. Its been a tough election cycle, he says.

"Having been involved with the Republican Party for so many years, it's hard to see us taunt the Hispanic vote," says Martinez, who used to own a construction company and now works in real estate. "Our presidential candidates have taken too far to the right positions on immigration and haven't come up with any reasonable solutions. I think it harms us in that community."

Romney has stood to the right of his right Republican rivals on immigration. Last year, he said he would veto the DREAM Act--which would create a path for young illegal immigrants to secure citizenship if they attended college or served in the military--were Congress to pass it. He has since softened that stance, saying he would support it if it only covered military service.

During a debate in Tampa in January, Romney said he favored "self-deportation" as a means to control illegal immigrants, suggesting that undocumented immigrants would return home if the government made it too difficult for them to find work here. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, who has been named a possible Republican pick for vice president, criticized Romney's immigration stance. "Self-deport? What the heck does that mean?" she told Newsweek in June. Romney has thus far not taken a position on a bill pitched by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, another potential VP running mate for Romney, that would legalize the children of some illegal immigrants.

Most businesspeople understand there's a practical sohilion far addressing illegal immigration. says Bob Martinez. who wim among a small group of high-profile Republican busincsspeople who voiced support this year for a failed stale bill that would have allowed undocumented students to secure state tuition at lower than...