Washington (CNN) -- In the days immediately following the presidential election, Martin Mendez was in a blue funk. A Latino Republican, he watched with dismay as poll after poll revealed that not only did President Barack Obama win a second term in office, but he did so with a sizable portion of the Hispanic vote. The loss was especially painful for Mendez, who spent hours knocking on the doors of Hispanics around Denver in an effort to convince them to give the GOP a try. "Out in the field in Denver, the comments I got ... the feedback was Mitt Romney's for the millionaires. We're these poor Hispanics, so we're going to vote for Obama because he's for the little guy," Mendez said, his voice full of exasperation.
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The demographic sea change in political power is here, experts say
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Political gains among women, youth, and minorities will help shape the political conversation
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Republicans say they will have to figure out how to work with, attract these newly powerful Americans
"So we can capture women's votes, we're having a much harder time with @placeholder voters," he told a gathering of conservative donors.