The War of the Ads..en Español..

Last week many media outlets brought into perspective the ads that the present presidential candidates had directed at Hispanic voters.

The first Ad "Dos Caras" was put out by the Obama campaign.



This is in my opinion a poor attempt at using scare tactics and polarization techniques to infuriate Hispanic voters into voting against John McCain. Anybody who has followed John McCain knows that throughout his career he has angered many Republicans on capital hill and residents of his home state of Arizona for supporting legal immigration, his approval of using other languages in government (during debates in the primaries he said he supported the use of Native American languages and Spanish in his home state of Arizona), and his opposition to the building of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. By using the words of of Rush Limbaugh, who has engaged in bigotry and xenophobia in various occasions, and showing pictures of President Bush and Senator McCain, the Obama Campaign is misleading voters. Both President Bush and John McCain have been on the cross-hairs of Mr. Limbaugh for their views on immigration reform. Also showing Oil Pumps next to President Bush and Sen. McCain has become a cliché. I believe the Obama Campaign could have done better just by following the points he made in his Latino Blueprint for Change. This document makes very good points in areas which not only affect citizens of Hispanic heritage but all Americans.

Next we will look at John McCain's "Which side are they on?" ad.



This again uses clichés. Immigration, secure borders, etc... My wife, who is Spanish, is still waiting for her Permanent Residency card is hoping to become a U.S. Citizen soon. Unfortunately DHS is back-logged and she can't proceed with her citizenship application without her Permanent Residency card. So yes, immigration reform is an issue in our lives. Nevertheless, the most important issues affecting us at this moment are: the weakening dollar, the economy, rising crime, and a good education for our children. The McCain-Palin website actually has an all-Spanish website. This website is well laid out, and has the bona-fides that attract college-educated Hispanics and Hispanic Veterans. This leads me into his next ad directed at Hispanics.

God's Children.



Here the McCain campaign seems to be reaching out to Hispanic and immigrant veterans. It clearly addresses the issues that many immigrant-soldiers have. I have been there in Iraq and Afghanistan with immigrants who are willing to put their life on the line to serve their country. I also read the story of Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Roy Benavidez which had to wait many years to receive the medal. Roy Benavidez and people in his Chain of Command believed his medal was held back because he was of Hispanic heritage. This ad also reaches towards people in his own party which call themselves religious, but are callously opposing immigration due to xenophobic tendencies. By calling immigrants "God's Children" he is clearly calling for sympathy among those in his party which oppose his views on immigration and language issues.

In the end I believe that Hispanics should vote according to their individual concerns. If I were to make suggestions to the campaigns it would be the following. Barack Obama should not waste time attacking McCain in Spanish or any other language. He is charismatic, and his "blueprint" does a good job of showing the issues and how he intends to solve them. If he wants to cater to a constituency which is 44 million strong or approximately 15% of the general population, he should reach out with ideas that go beyond those 44 million. Education, the economy, better health care for all Americans. For the McCain campaign I would say that it is wise to reach out to Hispanics while at the same time easing tensions against Hispanics and other immigrants among conservatives. Also McCain and Obama should not be afraid to support a fair immigration policy, and continue supporting Mexico, Central America, and South American countries which embrace democracy. It would be a real pity if the progress made towards stable democratic governments in Latin America were undone by Drug Lords, Belligerent Dictators, and the growing interest of Russia and Iran in our neighboring countries.