Sen. Marco Rubio Calls for GOP Focus on Minorities, Immigrants

With exit polls showing Mitt Romney losing overwhelmingly among minorities and immigrants, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in a statement posted on his Facebook page that the Republican Party needs to "work harder than ever” to communicate with those groups.

“The conservative movement should have particular appeal to people in minority and immigrant communities who are trying to make it, and Republicans need to work harder than ever to communicate our beliefs to them,” Rubio wrote in the statement.

Romney won a mere 27 percent of the Latino vote, while President Obama won 71 percent, an improvement over his 2008 numbers, when he held a 67 percent to 31 percent advantage over Sen. John McCain.

Added Rubio: “I look forward to working on these goals with my new and returning colleagues in Congress and hope the President will get behind our efforts.”

In the immediate aftermath of the election, conservative thinkers pointed to Rubio, among other young hopefuls, such as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, as the future of the party.