The McCain campaign has a new Internet-only spot out today hitting Barack Obama on his connections to the Latino community. The spot consists of man-on-the-street interviews in the Latino section of Chicago, talking with various residents about Obama’s record of engagement in their community and on their issues. Most of those shown can’t come up with any examples of leadership on Latino issues — with the exception of repopularizing Cesar Chavez’Si Se Puede:
Conservatives will find a few points to enjoy, but overall perhaps give this a failing grade. On taxes, for instance, the documentary shows that Obama’s reputation as a taxer doesn’t make many allies. Most of these are small-business owners who will get hammered by Obama tax increases on capital gains and payroll taxes.
Other than that, though, it takes a turn towards the pandering that unfortunately has become a part of retail politics. The main complaint voiced throughout this is that Obama didn’t pay enough attention to their economic issues, and I doubt they mean that their unhappiness comes from a lack of effort at cutting funding for pork projects. That’s more or less confirmed when the documentary notes how many of these people supported Hillary Clinton in the primaries and have switched to McCain after Obama won the nomination.
Of course, conservatives aren’t the target audience here, and this intends to push back on Obama’s claim to truly represent Latino interests. Clearly, the rhetoric replaces any action here, just as it does on reform. If viewers can stick out the six-minute length and the strange camera work (which keeps rolling left and right), it will remind Latinos that Barack Obama is nothing but talk.
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