Who Could Be The First Latino President Of The United States?

With all the attention being placed on the Latino vote, possible Hispanic vice-president candidates, and the support of influential Latino leaders in the 2012 election cycle, we have to ask, is 2012 paving the way towards the first Latino president? If so, who could it be?

As much as he says no, the talk of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) ending up as a vice presidential pick just doesn't seem to go away. And then there's Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, named Tuesday as chairman for the Democratic National Convention.

"This is really a testament to the degree to which both parties recognize that the Latino vote could determine the outcome of the national election," Stanford University political scientist Gary Segura told The Huffington Post.

"I think the Democrats want the stagecraft of having not only a Latino officeholder but, in fact, the mayor of the second-largest city in the United States, and the second largest Spanish-speaking city on Earth, to be the person who stands at the podium on each night to call the convention to order on national television. The stagecraft clearly is intended to help build support in that community."

Beyond Rubio and Villaraigosa, Democrats and Republicans alike are seeing the Latino handwriting on the wall.

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