One of Romney’s more remarkable turnarounds in the Florida primary between 2008 and 2012 was among the state’s many Hispanic voters. While he increased his vote share overall by 12 points, from 31 percent to 43 percent, he increased his performance among Hispanics by 40, from 14 percent in 2008 to 54 percent on Tuesday, according to exit polls.

That’s a pretty huge improvement, but how much does it mean going forward?

In reality, Romney’s tiny share of the Hispanic vote in 2008 seemed to be at least partially about who he was running against, versus any issues Hispanics had with him.

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Well, we haven’t had a race riot in a while — does that mean race isn’t relevant anymore?

A black president just gave the State of the Union Address. How about that? Does that mean America’s OK with the race thing?

Our nation is a more ethnically diverse nation than it’s ever been. Does that count for anything?

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President Obama took 67 percent of the Latino vote in 2008, compared with 31 percent for John McCain. However, in 2004 George W. Bush won reelection with a record 44 percent of the Latino vote.

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This morning, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), the highest-ranking African American in the House, told CNN’s Candy Crowley this morning that he would not call Newt Gingrich a racist, but said the presidential candidate has been using language that appeals to those in the GOP who “will see President Obama as different from all other presidents that we’ve had.” Crowley asked if the term “food stamps president” was a racial comment. Clyburn replied that it’s similar to other racially-coded comments that are not explicitly racist.

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But immigrant-rights groups and some political watchers say the damage may be irreversible. They argue that the GOP has severely hampered itself as it looks to woo the critical Latino voting bloc that could decide who wins key states like New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Florida next fall.

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Ms. Muñoz, the highest-ranking Hispanic in the White House, had served as director of intergovernmental affairs. She replaces Melody Barnes, who left this month. Her promotion is notable because it comes at the start of an election year in which Hispanic voters are expected to play a major role.

“Over the past three years, Cecilia has been a trusted adviser who has demonstrated sound judgment day in and day out,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “Cecilia has done an extraordinary job working on behalf of middle-class families, and I’m confident she’ll bring the same unwavering dedication to her new position.”

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In head-to-head matchups with the top three GOP presidential candidates, Obama holds substantial leads that exceed a two-to-one margin in every case. Latino voters prefer Obama 67 percent to 24 percent over Mitt Romney, 65 percent to 22 percent over Herman Cain, and 68 percent to 21 percent over Rick Perry.

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The taping of the BET Honors, hosted by Black Entertainment Television was held at the historic Warner Theatre in downtown Washington.

It brought out stars including singers Patti LaBelle and queen of soul Aretha Franklin, as well as Washington political figures such as former Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

The politics-meets-glamour event fits in with the recently ramped up efforts by Obama to help her husband, President Barack Obama, win a challenging re-election bid in November.

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As a result of this supposedly “racist” comment, some political pundits at MSNBC are convinced that, whether he meant to or not, Rick Santorum is engaged in a covert Republican operation to “lure…white working class“ voters by using racist ”dog-whistle” politics.

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That was evident Wednesday, when the CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee arrived in Durham to drop off $2 million in deposits each with the Mechanics and Farmers Bank and the Latino Community Credit Union.

The money is part of $17 million in public funding the Democrats have received – the Republicans have received a like amount – to help pay for their convention. The Democrats have made it a practice to deposit some of the money in minority-owned financial institutions.

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