LOS ANGELES – Failing to appeal to Latino voters and suffering mightily because of it, the California Republican Party on Saturday invited Latinos to a town-hall style event to talk it over.

But with no sign of the party's base softening on immigration – a threshold issue for many Latinos – the conversation is an awkward one. Party leaders at their fall convention mostly suggested focusing on something else.

"The dynamic that exists today is that we have a single point of discussion in this country between Republicans and Latinos, which is immigration," party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro told reporters Friday night. "As important as that issue is, so are jobs, so are education and so are public safety, and the fact that we don't have ongoing discussions with them in these other categories, or these other issues, is our fault, and what needs to change."

The Republican Party's decline in California over the past 20 years is in large part due to shifting demographics and the party's failure to appeal to Latino voters. As Latinos grew to make up 22 percent of the electorate, Republicans' share of statewide voter registration fell to 31 percent.

The party "has been preaching to the converted for too long," Del Beccaro said, "and has not been speaking to the majority of California voters for too long."

Republicans were swept in last year's statewide elections, and no Republican presidential candidate since George H.W. Bush in 1988 has carried California.

The party staged its town hall-style event in a conference room at the JW Marriott in downtown Los Angeles, near where tea party darling Michele Bachmann addressed delegates the night before.

Luis Alvarado, chairman of the board of directors of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Greater Los Angeles, said Republicans should have started recruiting Latino candidates years ago.

"The problem is that we should have started this process a while back by finding somebody to run for the school board, finding somebody to run for the city council, somebody to run for the water board and supported them as a party, like the Democrats do in their municipalities," he said.

Earlier in the day, Asian American leaders urged party leaders to put greater emphasis on courting Asian voters and candidates, saying the growing demographic group could offer an influx of support for the state GOP.

"The Asian community, our values are exactly the same as the Republican values. We care about the economy, we care about family, we care about limited government, we care about fiscal conservatism," said Diamond Bar Mayor Ling-Ling Chang. "It's our time. It's the GOP's time right now to embrace Asian Americans."

But Asian American Republicans said the party must go beyond convention pep talks to win the trust and support of minority voters. Many pointed out that Board of Equalization member Michelle Steel is the only Asian American Republican serving in elected office at state level.

"I don't want to see any more lip service," said La Habra Planning Commissioner Charles Kim, who complained that the party's failure to recruit more diverse party delegates and hire Asian American staff to conduct outreach has "clearly shown that they don't know how we work."

"They want us to be part of it, but they don't know how to do it," said Kim, who also serves on the California Acupuncture Board.

The Latino and Asian American events fell on the second day of the California Republican Party's fall convention. In a straw poll of delegates – a measure of activist support – U.S. Rep Ron Paul of Texas won with 44.9 percent of the vote.

National front-runner Rick Perry, the Texas governor, drew 29.3 percent of the vote. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who leads Perry among Republican voters statewide, finished third with 8.8 percent.

A fervent, youthful crowd of Paul supporters hoisted banners and chanted Paul's name as the presidential hopeful arrived to speak at a party breakfast Saturday morning.

"I think the main purpose of our Constitution and political action should be the preservation of liberty," Paul told delegates on Constitution Day.

The Republican Party's standing among Latino voters is unlikely to improve significantly so long as immigration remains a salient issue, said Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College. But over time, he said, the party has "a reasonable chance to recover some of the lost ground."

If U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, for example, becomes the Republican vice presidential candidate, "going out, making speeches in Spanish, showing a sincere effort in outreach, that could be one effort that helps," Pitney said. "It could be one step forward for Republicans."

However, he said, "The history of Republican outreach to minorities is a long history of disappointment."

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Call David Siders, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 321-1215. Follow him on Twitter, @davidsiders.