Efforts to get out the Latino vote begin
WASHINGTON – Several civic groups in the United States began their efforts Tuesday to get out the Latino vote, ahead of the Nov. 2 midterm elections, with an ad campaign in nine markets.
According to a document to which Efe had access, the campaign of radio commercials, which will focus on the stalled issue of legalizing undocumented students, will run for a week at a cost of $300,000.
Sponsoring the ad campaign are the Service Employees International Union, Mi Familia Vota, Civic Participation Campaign, and America’s Voice.
The campaign will air Spanish-language spots in Miami and Orlando, Florida; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; Houston and McAllen, Texas; Denver, Chicago and Las Vegas.
All are cities where the Latino vote will be key in next month’s elections and in the presidential election of 2012.
The Hispanic vote is increasingly seen as a key part of the electoral equation in the United States. Close to 10 million Latinos voted in the presidential elections of 2008 – in fact, they contributed to Barack Obama’s victory – which represents an increase of around 2.5 million compared with 2004.
According to official data, the registration of Hispanic voters increased by 54 percent between 2000 and 2008, and their participation at the polls jumped 64 percent in the same period.
Activists for immigration reform have said that Hispanic voters, eager for a solution to illegal immigration, will go to the polls to remind Democrats of their commitment to approve comprehensive immigration reform.
The advertising campaign to be launched Tuesday includes a spot that criticizes the Republican opposition for having blocked debate last week on a measure in which the Senate would have included the DREAM Act.
The DREAM Act, which has the support of several presidents of prestigious universities, along with civic and religious groups, would allow undocumented students to be legalized who, among other requirements, attend university or join the military.
The opposition blocked debate of the DREAM Act, considering that it had no place in a defense appropriations bill – and because Republicans oppose anything they view as amnesty for undocumented immigrants.
Specifically, the new campaign’s commercial is based on the testimony of undocumented students themselves, who have taken up the cause of the DREAM Act and call themselves “the dreamers.”
“Thousands of us have poured into the streets to fight for what is right: access to a university education and a way to gain citizenship. Without papers and without fear we fight so that our generation is not left behind,” says the spot in Spanish, which blames Republicans for preventing the Senate from even debating the measure.
The students urge Hispanic voters to cast their ballots next November for candidates that “support our families,” and will help make the DREAM Act come true.
Republicans presented last Thursday the new political platform they will put into practice if they succeed in regaining control of Congress in the elections, which will have on the ballot the entire House of Representatives, a third of the Senate and 34 state governors.
The 48-page platform omits any mention of immigration reform, though it does ask for the “establishment of operational control of the border,” greater police cooperation between state and local authorities for the enforcement of immigration laws, and a tougher system for issuing visas. EFE