Romney campaign readies post-convention outreach to Florida Latinos

The effort will include a dramatic increase in Spanish-language ad spending, an aggressive bilingual mail program geared toward early voter turnout, and an ambitious ground game led by 13 full-time field staffers dedicated solely to courting Hispanics — more, the aide claimed, than “any other Republican presidential campaign in history.” The stakes are high: Swings of a few percentage points among Hispanic voters in Florida, as in other crucial states, could easily swing the election.

Though the campaign declined to provide specific numbers, an aide said they plan to spend “substantial money” on Spanish-language ads, many of them featuring the candidate’s son, Craig Romney, who speaks fluent Spanish. They will also run negative commercials attacking President Obama for breaking his promise to take on immigration reform during his first year in office — a counter to Latino communities’ distrust with the Republican Party over some leaders anti-immigrant rhetoric in general and over Romney’s hard primary opposition to the “Dream Act” and other measures to legalize illegal immigrants.

Romney surrogates and aides will hold a series of “Hispanic dialogues” throughout the state, where Latino voters will be encouraged to come discuss the issues they find most important.