Obama leads with Latinos as he launches Spanish-language spot
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Today saw the release of a Spanish-language advertising campaign by Barack Obama, called ‘Nuestra Propio Camino’ (Our Own Road) -- the first Spanish spot released by his campaign since he won his party’s presidential nomination.
The move signals Obama’s increasing efforts to win more votes from the growing Latino community in the U.S., and comes as a new poll shows that he has a strong lead over his Republican rival John McCain -- 66% of registered Hispanic voters support Obama (see this morning’s Associated Press report here).
Phil Willon takes a close look at Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s support for Obama.
‘Villaraigosa issued a public statement praising Obama as a ‘champion of the Latino community’ who was ‘fighting for our families’ and then delivered the same glowing message when he addressed two of the nation’s most prestigious Latino civil rights organizations.’
And on Friday, nine national Latino organizations announced a joint effort to register as many as 2 million new voters as presidential candidates from both parties vie for their community’s increasingly influential support.
John McCain is also wooing Spanish-speaking voters. He addressed Latinos in a recent ‘Hijos de Dios’ (Children of God) Spanish-language spot, in which he stressed their importance in the military.
Although Barack Obama has a lead over John McCain among Latino voters, the Democrat presidential nominee is still formulating his positions on a number of issues to do with Latin America, which he has yet to visit.
According to the Miami Herald, excitement over Obama outside the United States in parts of Latin America is high. The presidential candidate is generating support more for his ethnicity than for his policies, according to analysts, and residents of countries such as Mexico are more reticent about him than those in other places such as Venezuela, the Herald reports:
‘Although Obama’s persona sparks excitement, his criticism of free trade runs counter to Mexico’s interests, according to analysts.
‘’We were surprised at the meteoric rise of Obama’s career, his capacity to generate hope and his innovative use of new technologies,’’ Raúl Trejo, a professor at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, said. ‘But it must be recognized that Mexican governments have had more success with Republicans.’’
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City