How Not To Court Hispanics

Nate Silver notes:

In some formulations [...] a higher Hispanic population actually turns up as a statistically predictor of a vote against Sotomayor. I suspect that is probably a fluke; among the five Republicans in the states with 20%+ Hispanic populations planning to vote against Sotomayor, Kyl and Ensign are very conservative, Cornyn is in a leadership position in his caucus, and Hutchison may have to bolster her conservative credentials in anticipation of her primary against Rick Perry. John McCain's nay vote is more surprising, and he seems to being a thorn in Obama's side.