Obama, Clinton wooing Hispanic voters with Spanish ads

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5583406.html

Houston & Texas News

Feb. 29, 2008, 10:37PM

Obama, Clinton wooing Hispanic voters with Spanish ads

Candidates focus on themes that appeal to Latinos

By JAMES PINKERTON

Email= james.pinkerton@chron.com

It's not just a battle of speeches and campaign stops, but of mariachi bands, heartfelt corridos and slogans set to a rousing Reggaeton beat.

Hispanic voters are critical to a Texas Democratic primary victory for Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and both campaigns have launched an unprecedented series of TV and radio ads that speak to Latinos in their own language.

The Spanish ads are part of a Texas primary media blitz that one national campaign finance expert estimates will end up dumping $20 million in Texas for the March 4 contest.

Hispanic voters were key in the California primary, where 67 percent supported Clinton and helped her win big. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, they could play an even bigger role in Texas, where they comprise an estimated 25 percent of eligible voters.

In the ads, the two candidates are courting Texas Hispanics by invoking themes important to Latinos.

Both campaigns employ Spanish ads that emphasize family and call for funding for higher education and wider access to health care.

Hispanics are known for maintaining close-knit relationships among their large family groups, but they also face daunting challenges. Hispanics have a dramatically lower educational rate than white residents — only 11 percent earn college degrees — and their high school dropout rate is triple that of whites. Nationally, 34 percent of Hispanics lack health insurance, greater than the combined percentage of whites and blacks who are uninsured.

However, both campaigns' ads infrequently mention immigration reform, a core issue for Hispanics.

Professor Lorenzo Cano, associate director of the Center for Mexican-American Studies at the University of Houston, said the Spanish ad campaign by Obama — and his local appearances — are cutting into Clinton's strong connection with Hispanic voters.

''They both seem to be putting some significant resources in Houston now, and I get the impression that Obama is catching up," Cano said. Recent polls show Obama ahead of Clinton in the Texas primary race.

Evan Tracey, chief operating officer at TNS/Campaign Media Analysis Group, a nonpartisan media research firm in Arlington, Va., said Obama's campaign has a significant lead in the number of advertising spots being aired in Texas. For example, he noted that Obama ran 1,100 ads while Clinton aired 750 last Tuesday, and a greater number of Obama's ads ran in expensive prime-time slots.

Increased enthusiasm

Obama is appealing to Hispanics with ads featuring ''strengthen the family" themes, along with his message of change and hope, Tracey said. He estimates that Obama will spend $10 million in Texas, Clinton $7 million or $8 million, and other groups will boost the state's take to $20 million.

Longtime Hispanic activists say the Spanish ads have increased enthusiasm and participation by Latinos in both presidential campaigns.

''Both candidates are doing an extraordinary job of trying to reach the Hispanic electorate through their ads and on the ground with phone banks," said Lydia Camarillo, vice president of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project in San Antonio. ''It's getting so tight people you wouldn't think about are getting involved."

Clinton campaign spokesman Angel Urena said their strategy is to remind Hispanics about the senator's Texas connections. One TV ad talks about Clinton's work in 1972 to register Hispanics to vote in the Rio Grande Valley.

Clinton is running four Spanish radio spots statewide. On Thursday, the campaign began a television ad exhorting supporters to go to the polls twice — once to vote and later to attend caucuses to elect convention delegates.

Clinton's Texas roots and her experience are stressed in a corrido, a Mexican ballad played at campaign events. The song's introduction is made by renowned South Texas music promoter Johnny Canales.

Meanwhile, Obama has a dueling corrido, called Viva Obama, or Long Live Obama, and evokes the senator's birth into humble circumstances and his community work in Chicago.

An introduction to Obama

Obama campaign spokesman Mark Shapiro said the Spanish ad blitz is designed to introduce Obama to Texas Hispanics unfamiliar with the one-term Illinois senator. Currently, six radio and TV ads are running in Houston, including one each in Spanish.

In one Obama ad, a black-and-white photo of Obama and his family appears on the screen. A woman's voice, speaking Spanish, discusses how Obama will work to provide health insurance, financial assistance for a university education and pass laws to prevent families from losing their homes.

While campaign officials would not discuss the amount of money being spent in advertising, observers say Obama is also pouring money into Clinton strongholds along the Texas border, which is predominantly Hispanic.

"I mean, they are beating the bushes," said Bill Jorn, general manager of NBC television affiliate KVEO (Channel 23) in Brownsville.

Jorn said Obama is outspending Clinton 8-to-1 at his station and says the ratio is the same at other news outlets in the Rio Grande Valley.

''What it looks like to me is clearly he has more money. He's trying not so much to win the Hispanic vote, but neutralize it some," Jorn said. ''Everyone is drawing lines and taking sides."

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Peter S. Lopez ~aka:Peta
Sacramento, California, Aztlan
Email: sacranative@yahoo.com

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C/S

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