By most accounts, RNC chairman Jim Nicholson has been almost as important as Bush in redefining the GOP's message.

"Years from now we're going to look back and know it was Nicholson that changed the face of this party," said RNC spokeswoman Leslie Sanchez. "He changed the dynamic and really made it the two-party system within the Latino community. It will be Jim Nicholson's legacy that he is changing the face of the Republican Party."

It was Nicholson who commissioned pollster Lance Tarrance to do a comprehensive demographic and political study of American Latinos. Tarrance, one of the chief architects of the GOP's Southern strategy of the 1960s and '70s -- an effort to convert conservative Dixiecrats into Republicans -- has urged Republicans to embrace the browning of the Republican Party, and pursue "a Hispanic strategy for the next three decades."

RNC sources say that the committee is dedicating $7 million to $10 million to its Latino outreach effort. It's "money that has never been spent to capture the minority vote," Sanchez said. "And it's not just in dollars, it's in manpower. Republicans are serious about capturing this vote."

Certainly, the number of Latinos voting is what has sparked the GOP's new focus on Latino outreach. "There's a recognition that it's absolutely essential," said California GOP political consultant Kevin Spillane. "There's going to be a long-term commitment to Latino outreach because there's no other choice."

Spillane said that Bush is one of the only Republican politicians he has seen who is genuinely passionate about issues of race. "There's only one other guy who has talked about racial issues and inclusion within the party, and that's Jack Kemp," Spillane said. "He's often been seen as more of an oddity within the party than anything else, but I think racial inclusiveness and diversifying the party is going to be a huge thing for the party in the future."

Spillane compared Bush to President Clinton in his ability to change the focus of his political party. "Clinton single-handedly redefined the Democratic Party's image as more moderate," he said. "If Bush is elected president, I think you'd see the RNC under Karl Rove and the Bush White House make a major effort to elect Latino Republicans."

The consultant conceded that a greater cultural shift must take place among Republicans in California and elsewhere. In 1998, the state Republican Party sent out a mailer with four Latino legislators under the heading "Their agenda is ruining your future." These type of thinly veiled racist appeals long marked California GOP mailers. When San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown was Assembly speaker, his visage often found its way into Republican mailings.

But Spillane expressed optimism that a fundamental attitude shift was beginning among the state GOP, spurned by the soul-searching after the last two overwhelming election defeats.

"Bottoming out sure helps," Spillane said. He cited a recent meeting with all of the state's GOP consultants, Bush California Chairman Gerry Parsky and members of the state Republican Party. "We had a very frank discussion, and I think there's been a lot of positive movement, but I think there's a ways to go," he said. "But it's pretty remarkable now. You go into a meeting with people who are supposed to be very conservative, white male donors or political activists, and everyone's talking about women and Latinos."

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