The ever-elusive Hispanic vote that Republicans are always supposedly on the verge of winning if only they’d stop being so hard on illegal immigration.

Fun fact: Despite his support for amnesty and soft approach to immigration, George W. Bush still overwhelmingly lost the Hispanic vote both times.

Another fun fact: Despite the fact Hispanics disapprove of his handling of immigration, Barack Obama will still carry their vote overwhelmingly both times.

Still, the survey showed Obama easily winning more support among Latinos in hypothetical match-ups against Republican presidential candidates. Sixty-eight percent said they would vote for Obama if he were up against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who would earn 23 percent of the Latino vote, the poll found. The numbers were similar when Obama was stacked up against Texas Gov. Rick Perry – 69 percent to 23 percent.

That would be the same Rick Perry who supports in-state tuition for illegal aliens. And who supported allowing certain illegal aliens to stay. And who has generally taken a soft stance towards immigration in general.

Meanwhile:

While 58 percent of Latinos approved of Obama’s performance as president in 2010, 49 percent of them now approve, according to the poll. Meanwhile, 59 percent of Latinos disapprove of how the Obama administration is managing the deportation of illegal immigrants, while only 27 percent approve.

We lost the Hispanic vote in 2008 despite running a guy who literally put his name on amnesty legislation. We lost the Hispanic vote in 2004 and 2000 despite running a guy from Texas who was notoriously soft on immigration and who supported amnesty. Hell, Reagan failed to capture the Hispanic vote either time and he literally enacted amnesty.

Each and every time the Hispanic vote went to the liberal Democrat instead.

Of course there are exceptions. Cuban-Americans tend to be great Republicans and even conservatives. And there are certainly regions of the country where Republicans have benefited greatly from Hispanic support.

But on the national level, when we look at the entire picture, Hispanic voters — regardless of the immigration stance of candidates — election after election back the Democrat. Even when they don’t approve of him or his handling of immigration, as is the case with Obama.

I don’t support writing off the demographic. That would be hasty and unnecessary. But it’s time to let go of this myth that if Republicans were only softer on immigration then the Hispanic vote would be there to propel them to success. It’s simply not the case. There’s more to it than that.