Dems plug Obama jobs plan with Spanish-language ads
By JORDAN FABIAN
Channel: Politics
Democrats announced Monday the start of a Spanish-language ad campaign in three crucial swing states in an effort to sell President Obama’s jobs plan to Latino voters.
The ads, paid for by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), will air on television and radio in the Tampa, Fla., Miami, Fla., and Denver, Colo. markets and will key in on elements of the proposal that the party claims would aid out-of work Latinos and small-business owners.
In particular, the 30-second spots mention funding for new construction jobs and and the payroll tax cut, which could assist 250,000 Latinos-owned small-businesses.
“In this great nation we have people ready to work and a president ready to fight. Obama has a new plan…” says the ad’s narrator, according to a translation provided by the DNC. “But in the face of Republicans, the president can’t do it alone.”
A central part of Obama’s push for his jobs plan has been to urge the public to pressure Congress to pass his plan, which has already taken criticism from Republicans and some Democrats.
The advertisements mirror English-language spots airing on national cable networks.
Obama won both Colorado and Florida — both of which have high Latino populations in 2008. But his support with Latinos, especially in Florida, appears to be sinking.
The timing of the ads comes after a string of recent public opinion polls sparked worry that Obama could be in trouble with Latino voters — a group that enthusiastically backed him in 2008 — heading into next year’s reelection campaign.
One of the chief factors driving down Latinos’ approval of the president appears to be the dismal economic environment. At 11.3 percent nationally, the unemployment for Latinos is higher than the general population’s and recent data from the Pew Hispanic Center show that the group lost 66 percent of its median household wealth between 2005 and 2009.
In addition to the paid ads, Obama has also spoken personally about how his plan would help Latinos when he addressed the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s annual gala last week.
“The idea behind this bill is simple: to put more people back to work and put more money into the pockets of those who are working,” said the president.
The ad’s release on Monday coincides with the day Obama will release his recommendations for congressional committee tasked with reducing the nation’s budget deficit. Obama has said that he wants his $447 billion jobs plan fully paid for.
The president’s plan would slash the deficit by $3 trillion over ten years through tax hikes, cuts to Medicaid and Medicare and savings from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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