¡Primo! One columnist's take on the possible 'first Hispanic president'

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. and "could be distant cousins," cracks the latter in a piece for CNN today. "Romney's father, George, was born in Chihuahua, Mexico," Navarrette writes, "and so was my grandfather, Roman." Whatever possible familial love there could be stops there, as the sometimes conservative, sometimes not Navarrette (a former colleague, for sake of full disclosure) says he wouldn't vote for Romney based on what he's revealed to Latino voters so far.

But the piece, one of many this week involving Romney's family history, leaves one wondering if and when Romney will begin talking about his roots more openly, though there are signs he may be starting. Romney is a descendant of U.S. Mormons who fled in the 19th century to Mexico, where his father George Romney was born. Navarrette writes:

Source: Cnn

Don't laugh. Technically, Romney is just as "Mexican" as former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who was born of a Mexican mother and American father. When Richardson ran for the White House in 2008, he was often touted by the media as someone who would become the nation's first Hispanic president.

Yet, I would imagine that a lot of Americans aren't aware of this branch of the Romney family tree, and that's because it is not a detail that Romney usually talks about publicly -- and especially not on the campaign trail.