pc bastfhigton post August 18, 2013 Republicans increasingly eager to get the word out en Espanol By Ed O'Keefe Website: htto://www.washinetonpost.com/posttv/video/inplay/eop-learns-to-sav-votar-por-nosotros/2013/08/16/d4ae8240-06ba-11e3- a07f-49ddc7417125 video.html Wadi Gaitan, a 24-year-old House Republican staffer who serves as a Spanish-speaking spokesman, TV booker and occasional tutor, was stumped. He was trying to teach a Republican lawmaker how to say "sequester" in Spanish, but the literal translation was proving to be problematic. "That one was tricky at first. I couldn't figure it out, because in Spanish, 'secuestrar' literally means to kidnap someone," Gaitan said. "I said, let's not use the literal translation, because we don't want to say that we're kidnapping people, or that President Obama is kidnapping people." Probably a good call. Now Republicans say "recortes automaticos" — literally, automatic cuts. The proper way to say "sequester" — and "debt ceiling," "border security" and other key phrases — has become a pressing concern for many Republicans, who worry that they are increasingly unable to make their case on the issues to the nation's fast-growing Latino bloc, simply because they are unable to speak their language. It's such a critical concern that House Republican leaders at the beginning of the year ordered an overhaul of their messaging operation, urging members to talk to liberal news outlets and, as often as possible, on Spanish television. "We've been absent from the conversation with Hispanic media for so long, anything can set back that progress we've made in the last eight months, so we are aggressive, just like we are in mainstream media," said Nate Hodson, spokesman for the House Republican Conference, the messaging arm of House GOP lawmakers. Hodson recalled holding a meeting recently with the conference chairman, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), and a longtime Spanish-language TV reporter. When i