Obama appeals directly to Dreamers in swing state ad
Obama’s campaign is launching a new Spanish language ad in swing states with the president exemplifying the qualities of Dreamers. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Obama’s campaign is launching a new Spanish language ad dubbed “Un Buen Ejemplo” on television and radio in swing states with the president exemplifying the qualities of Dreamers.
Obama appeals to Dreamers
The president looks directly at the audience and for the first time speaks in Spanish. He notes the values Dreamers have are the same he and his wife, Michelle, have tried to teach their two girls.
“(They) respect their parents, study to be successful, and they want to help the only country they know and love,” said Obama in Spanish. “As a father, they inspire me and as president their courage has reminded me that no obstacle is too grand, no path is too long.”
The ad will run in the states of Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia.
The America’s Voice/Latino Decisions June 2012 Battleground Survey sampled 400 Latinos who are registered to vote in five states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Virginia. The margin of error for the Nevada sample is 4.9 percent.
The president is also being criticized for his performance in last week’s first presidential debate as being too passive. Analysts indicate that to galvanize the Latino base he needs to show more enthusiasm and be more aggressive against Romney’s stances.
Sen. Harry Reid, who faced dim prospects during his reelection bid in 2010 against Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle, went through a similar experience. Angle made several anti-immigration attacks and Reid made it the prime strategy during his appeal to Latinos at the time. Reid won by 50 percent against Angle’s 45 percent, according to an NBC exit poll.
During a press conference call with reporters, the Senator mentioned the president should enforce a similar tactic.
“We believe that the way the turnout is going to be magnified is by explaining to the American people what Mitt Romney doesn’t stand for,” he said. “It’s obvious he can’t make up his mind on immigration.”
“Republicans have been totally uninterested in doing anything other than attack someone like me—they ran ads against me saying I was the best friend ‘illegal’ immigrants had and all it did is infuriate the Hispanic community,” he said.
Latino voter enthusiasm is still low since 2008 according to several surveys. An NBC/Univision poll conducted in August indicated at the time that only 61 percent of Latinos say they are highly interested in the election. That was 20 percentage points below the general population and nearly 20 points below where it was during the 2008 campaign, NBC reports. Still, Latino Decision has shown more uptick on engagement level since the Democratic convention.
Reid added they’ve been waging an aggressive campaign in Nevada to register Hispanics.
Benita Velez, the first dreamer to tell her story at the Democratic Convention, also told reporters during the conference call that they’re walking through in local communities and motivating everyone. Going house to house, they’re energized and trying to make the message clear that as dreamers they have a voice.
While appealing to the general electorate, she said, “We know that you guys can be our voice through your vote.”
