Kochs Launch Group to Win Over Hispanics

The Koch Brothers money machine is throwing itself at one of the party's long-standing goals: winning over Hispanic voters. The brothers have launched a group known as the Libre Initiative, Reuters reports, and it marks a bit of a departure from the duo's usual attack-ad-chucking tactics. While the group still does air such ads against Democrats, it also takes a page from the liberal activist playbook by sponsoring outreach programs such as English classes and driver's license workshops.

"If they trust us, they may seek our opinion on something else," one Libre employee says. Still, the group faces an uphill battle. Congressional Republicans are blocking immigration reform, and a study released last week found that young immigrants overwhelmingly prefer Democrats regardless of local Republicans' immigration stance. ObamaCare is more popular among Hispanics as well; a recent Libre event opposing it was sparsely attended, and some attendees told Reuters they were there only for the chance to win an iPad. (More Libre Initiative stories.)