Ads posted by Obama and Romney teams aimed at Hispanic voters have popped up through many media outlets in the last couple of months, but more so in the last couple of weeks; right before the November elections.
As many Latinos fall in the range of “undecided voters”, new advertisements aimed at this special group have grown and become an important part of this election process. According to Kantar media, political ads (written in Spanish) for the Romney team have increased quite a bit, from 2,169 ads in April-August, to 2,855 ads in September. Anyone who is familiar with this knows that these ads, whether they be newspaper or magazine publications, commercials, etc., are very expensive and thus one of the main reasons candidates require extensive funding for their teams. How expensive are these ads? Obama´s side, which has been using the catchphrase “Latinos por Obama” [Latinos for Obama], has spent roughly $7 million! Romney´s team on the other hand, has spent somewhere in the area of $3 million in states where there is a large Hispanic population (Florida, for instance, a well known swing state). It appears that this spending is working in favor for Obama as, among Hispanic registered voters, he is leading Romney 73 to 21 percent.
Lynnette Acosta, the national co-chair for Obama for America (via Orlando Sentinel) said “Things like family values, the emotional aspect of family togetherness, are really important. So when we talk about issues like jobs and health care, we talk about what are the president’s values, and how those relate to Latino values.”
When history shows that registered Hispanic voters tend to vote democratic, what does this mean for the Romney campaign? Is their money well spent or do they need to find new strategies, such as speaking out about issues important to Hispanics in the USA. Such issues as healthcare, employment, education, and probably most importantly, immigration rights. Are Latinos then more inclined to vote democratic for said side’s more “open-mindedness”?
Have you seen any interested Spanish-language ads in the papers or T.V.? Are they aimed at the correct demographic or did they feel fake and forced? Let us know!
