Felix Sanchez, a Democratic political strategist and co-founder of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, said Kaine’s speaking Spanish is simply unnecessary.

“It’s a political trope that has run its course,” he said. “I prefer to have candidates address issues, supply solutions and then see that they get it done, over scripted Spanish pablum.”

If Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, were serious about attracting Latino voters with a Spanish-speaking running mate, there were three Latinos being considered for vice president, Sanchez said: Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.); Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro; and Labor Secretary Thomas Perez.

“Becerra certainly is fluent and competent to hold the office. But if the argument is that Kaine was a better choice because he spoke better Spanish than Castro and Perez, well that certainly is a red-herring argument,” Sanchez said. “The truth is that Kaine is a strategic choice to win Virginia. Why not simply say that without making it seem like Latinos were also being thrown a penny because he speaks Spanish?”