Why does the GOP think Rubio would attract Latino votes?

In the aftermath of Mitt Romney's loss, some Republicans are lamenting that he would have won if he had chosen Marco Rubio as his running mate, and many are even tossing around the ridiculous assertion that Rubio would have attracted Latino votes (O'Reilley and Hannity have even supported this fallacy.)

Do you agree with my opinion on why Republicans avidly believe that a Rubio ticket would draw Latino voters?

Policies aside, some Republicans seem to think, for whatever moronic reason, that Latinos would vote for Rubio because of his "race." Latinos are not a race, but rather a broad cultural group. Marco Rubio is White; he is not a member of a minority any more than Italians, Russians, or Swedes are minorities.

Furthermore, many people seem to either forget or are unaware that "Latino" is essentially a synonym for "Mexican." The statement may seem politically incorrect or offensive, but it's true; two-thirds of Latinos are Mexican-Americans and most things, such as a food, music, etc. that's associated with Latinos is probably of Mexican origin. So, exactly why would many Latinos of Mexican heritage (who are predominately Democratic, anyway) feel compelled to vote for a conservative Cuban-American Republican?