News Analysis: New Mexico Gov. introduces VP candidate in GOP outreach to Hispanic voters

By Matthew Rusling (Xinhua)

17:10, August 30, 2012

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez on Wednesday introduced U.S. Republican Party's vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, underscoring Republicans' push to reach out to more Hispanic voters.

Telling her personal story, she spoke of an upbringing in which her parents worked hard from paycheck to paycheck and took a risk to start a business that would one day become successful.

"Growing up I never imagined a little girl from a border town could be a governor," she said, breaking into her native Spanish and saying "everything is possible in America."

Analysts said the GOP is seeking to highlight figures like Martinez, whose personal narrative could trump policy for some potential Latino voters.

Her address took a prime-time spot typically reserved for the party's stars, introducing the vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan.

The choice of Martinez underscores a concerted GOP effort to re-vamp its image from the rich, white guys' party to one more inclusive of Hispanics, blacks and women.

This comes amid an exploding Hispanic population and as minority births this year for the first time surpassed those of whites. In order to survive and thrive, the GOP knows it must do more to reach out to groups not typically associated with it.

Besides rallying around presidential challenger Mitt Romney, the convention aims to "show that the GOP is not just a party of old, white men. It is a party of diversity," said the Republican strategist Ford O'Connell.

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