Ken Mehlman spouts more of the usual hogwash in Politico today about Hispanics being natural conservatives and budding Republicans. I dispute the whole “immigrant family values” baloney on today’s home page. Also, if you’re going to describe Hispanics as America’s “most conservative voting bloc,” as Mehlman does, you need to explain away survey results like those of the Pew Hispanic Center from a few years back (pdf here), which found that “Registered Latinos who identify as Republicans take a much more liberal stand on taxes and the size of government than their white counterparts. … About half (52%) of registered Latinos who identified themselves as Republicans said they would rather pay higher taxes to support a larger government, while only 17% of white Republicans stated that view.” In fact, Hispanic Republicans are more likely to favor higher laxes and larger government than white Democrats (52 vs. 49 percent).

And the most chilling line in Mehlman’s op-ed: “While I don’t yet speak Spanish, …”