As the Republican Party continues its post-election self-examination, its leaders are struggling to define the issues that did them in at the ballot box.

My hunch? Immigration is one of the key issues. And here is where the GOP needs to take a page from a couple of Texans: George W. Bush and Rick Perry. Bush was Texas governor before he became president; Perry has been governor since December 2000 … although it seems like it’s forever.

Whereas the Republicans rallied largely behind presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s desire for illegal immigrants to “self-deport,” Bush and Perry have been the voices of reason on this issue. Both Texans have favored comprehensive immigration reform, seeking to “fast-track” illegal immigrants’ status toward legal residency and eventually citizenship if they so choose.

It’s no secret now that nearly three-quarters of Latinos favored President Obama’s re-election. Compare that with the nearly 40 percent of Latinos who voted for Bush’s re-election in 2004 and you get an idea of one key area where the GOP did its election-night face plant.

What’s more, Bush and Perry also have been strong on an issue that simply angers the dickens out of conservatives. They favor allowing illegal immigrants who were brought to Texas as children by their parents to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. A lot of conservatives dislike that notion, contending that such a policy encourages more illegal immigrants to come into Texas. Perry in particular – and I don’t usually speak well of Gov. Goodhair – has been strong on this issue. He says quite correctly that these incoming college students who were brought to Texas by parents seeking a better life consider themselves to be Texans. The U.S. is the only country they know. Why not grant them opportunity for a higher education at a rate they can afford?

Indeed, Perry’s view on in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants sounds a great deal like the Dream Act that Obama favors, enabling all such individuals a chance to improve their lives in the only country they’ve ever known.

Don’t bet on Perry saying he agrees with the president on anything, let alone immigration.

But the Republican Party needs to study the demographic trend now underway in many states, including Texas. The nation isn’t all-native-born-Anglo, folks. Deal with it.