Republican candidates are down in Texas this week to woo another important potential voting bloc. No, there isn’t a billionaires convention in town — it’s a meeting of the evangelical National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference . Jeb Bush was there, of course, speaking his fluent Spanish and touting adorable latin nicknames, as the Bush brothers are wont to do. (Recall that for reasons which remain obscure, W used to call NY Times reporter Frank Bruni “Panchito,” and Jeb shared that he calls his son George P. Bush “Chicharito,” which means “little pea.”) Jeb also made the pitch that immigrants should be able to come out of the shadows and talked up ISIS as a major threat to Christians everywhere. By all accounts, he was much more relaxed and comfortable than usual and the crowd received him well.

The Republican Party is desperately in need of Hispanic votes — and it’s showing.