Democratic opposition researchers were searching databases Wednesday in hopes of uncovering a position that could hurt Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) efforts to cut into Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) lead among Hispanic voters, who make up 10 percent of the electorate and a higher percentage in a few key swing states in the West.

But Palin’s record on immigration, as recorded by Nexis and Google, is practically nonexistent, and everyone from bloggers to members of Palin’s own party seemed unsure of her views.

“She’s never made any statements. I don’t recall really any positions that she’s taken,” said Mara Kimmel, a political science professor at the University of Alaska at Anchorage who specializes in immigration issues.

Kimmel, whose husband is the Democratic candidate for Alaska’s lone seat in the House, said immigration hasn’t been a dominant issue in the state, even though she suspects there were proportionally as many undocumented workers in Alaska as in other states.

Even when the issue has surfaced in Alaska, Kimmel couldn’t recall Palin weighing in on it.

A spokesman for McCain’s campaign did not respond to a request to describe Palin’s views on immigration.

Arturo Vargas, the executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, said there are more Hispanic voters in swing states like Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada than there were votes separating President Bush and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) last election.

The association held a press conference on Wednesday to discuss issues important to Hispanic voters. Vargas said the same issues that motivate the public at large also motivate Hispanics: the economy, healthcare, the war in Iraq. But as a voting bloc, Hispanics are also sensitive to where candidates stand on the issue of undocumented workers and immigration reform.

Hispanic voters favored Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) over Obama, the victor in the Democratic primary. That left some Republican strategists hoping that McCain could cut into the traditional Democratic advantage with Hispanics this cycle.

President Bush is thought to have won support from about 40 percent of Latino-Americans who voted in 2004. But McCain would fall short of that mark if the election were held today, according to polls.

Those poll numbers have been a disappointment to the campaign, which hoped McCain’s past support of immigration reform would win Hispanic votes. He backed away from his support for a path to citizenship for the country’s estimated 12 million illegal aliens in the Republican primary, although his campaign is continuing an aggressive outreach to Hispanic voters.

Vargas said his group was also trying to discern Palin’s views on immigration.

“I do not know. That’s one of the issues we are trying to figure out,” he said.

Even Republicans had a hard time answering the question. When asked to describe Palin’s views on immigration during a news conference here, Rosario Marin, a former U.S. treasurer, focused on the top of the ticket instead.

“I think that one of the things we will see [is] that … we know exactly where John McCain is,” Marin said.

Marin, who along with Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño (R-Puerto Rico) gave a press conference in part in Spanish on Wednesday, said she believed Palin would “wholeheartedly” support McCain’s policies. But while Marin praised Palin as a reformer and expressed empathy with her as a mom who also has a child with Down syndrome, Marin couldn’t describe her views on immigration.

“I think the most important thing for Gov. Palin is coming in as part of a ticket looking for the right solutions for America,” Marin said.

Democratic opposition researchers, meanwhile, were working to define Palin’s views on immigration. But according to one Democratic lobbyist, they too were having a tough time coming up with anything.

Mickey Ibarra, a former official in the Clinton administration who founded the Latino Leaders Network, could only venture a guess as to Palin’s view: “I doubt it’s very far away from the very conservative orthodoxy,” he said.

“The Latino community is very unsure about Gov. Palin,” Ibarra said.