FH Hispania Plaza

McCain, Obama Address Major Hispanic Conferences

In what continues to be a year of firsts in election history, both presidential candidates yesterday addressed attendees at the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) annual conference taking place in DC this week.  Hillary Clinton, along with other influential government officials, also will address the crowd later this week.  McCain spoke during a diversity luncheon, while Obama led an open dialogue session: and each touched on immigration as they seek to solidify the support from the Latino vote. The importance of the Latino vote has been well documented and reported since this election cycle began. This link to NPR provides a library of recent stories that document how the battle for the Hispanic vote is continuing to heat up.  With voters preoccupied about the economy and how it is personally affecting them, candidates are amping up their campaigns and seeking opportunities to be closer to potential poll goers.

On Castro's Resignation Day

Fidel Castro has made some major headlines in his lifetime, some by his own design and many others by the impact of his actions. During the last couple of years, those headlines have turned to documenting his demise, including some proclaiming his impending death, his transfer of power to brother Raul Castro and his outings after his closely-watched and long road to recovery from the illness that has spun change in Cuba.  Today, the world is abuzz with the anti-climatic news that he has resigned as president.  To many Cubans, that only means the succession plan of positioning Raul is now complete.

Hispanic and general market media have prominently covered the news today, with lead stories in the online sites of La Opinion, El Nuevo Herald, El Diario La Prensa, and on portals Terra.com, Univision.com, MSN Latino, in addition to coverage on leading general market media.  In this era of multimedia, galleries documenting Castro's life are prominently featured alongside extensive coverage of what the news means for Cuba, expert commentary and forums, and media have flocked to the microcosms that is Little Havana to get the reaction of the Miami Cuban community. 

A Tejano Kind of Primary

If California serves as example, Hispanic voters will play a crucial role in Texas when the state holds its primary next month.

On the Republican side, McCain has set out to win back the many Texan Latinos who voted for Bush in ’04 but have since turned away because of the party’s immigration stand. 

On the Democratic side, it seems Obama is gaining ground and Hillary’s so called Hispanic “firewall” is looking more like a “fire-fence,” as documented by the Houston Chronicle based on IVR polls.

Super Martes

Everyone caught Super Tuesday fever. The high stakes race, the unprecedented turnout and the issues on the table have voters engaged, passionate and tuned in to the news. In the closely contested Democratic race, Hispanics appear to have played a determining role in swinging the California vote in Hillary Clinton’s favor, although about half of Hispanic voters in Illinois supported Obama. With Texas as the largest state still up for grabs, don’t be surprised to see an all out battle for its sizable Latino voting bloc. On the Republican side, John McCain’s more moderate stance on immigration reform may have also helped him gain the plurality of the Hispanic Republican vote yesterday (33% in California and 62% in Arizona according to CNN polling).  How did Hispanic media cover the news?  Read on:

 

Rumbo a las elecciones

While the importance of Latino voters to the elections has been widely reported, one group you don’t seem to hear much about is young Latino voters, many of whom are voting for the first time.

A few organizations, including youth-oriented TV networks, are embarking on efforts to change that by getting young Latinos registered and engaged in the decision process.  For example, last year Telemundo and mun2 jointly launched the “Vota por tu futuro” or Vote 4 UR Future initiative.

Another organization looking to attract the attention of this segment is Voto Latino, co-founded by the actress Rosario Dawson and Maria Teresa Petersen, who see Latino voters between the ages of 18 and 34 as “the ones that will make the difference [in this election].” 

In 2006, Voto Latino released a series of bilingual PSAs, in partnership with Telemundo and mun2, featuring such celebrities as Cameron Diaz, Nina Sky, Chingo Bling, Don Dinero and Jeremias.

This week they followed up on their creative celebrity-driven spots with the release of the “La pasión de la decisión,” a four-part telenovela broadcasting on Voto Latino and YouTube and aimed at encouraging young Latinos to register and vote.

Using celebrities is a powerful way to reach teens and young adults, so it makes sense that “La pasión de la decisión,” features major Latino stars in front of and behind the camera, including Wilmer Valderrama, Tony Plana, Mayte Garcia, and of course, Rosario Dawson. 

The first episode is absolutely hilarious and a smart play on the beloved telenovela genre, featuring a wedding proposal, a love triangle, a medical tragedy and sibling rivalry – all in under four minutes.  Of course, there’s also a register to vote message woven into the plotline, but I won’t reveal how that happens.  You’ll have to see it for yourself, and watch for the final three episodes.

Hispanic Media Election Coverage from the Frontlines

Marketing y Medios's newsletter had a very interesting item on Hispanic media coverage of the electoral campaign.  Impremedia, the nation's largest Hispanic print group, is sending reporters to cover election results real-time, live and from the center of the action.  And earlier this year, Impremedia's La Opinion also launched Voto Latino 2008. Never before has Hispanic media been so invested in an election.  With immigration issues still unresolved, a growing universe of Latino voters and the rise in population numbers, it is no surprise that media are covering the news in Spanish to report back to voters and to those impacted by the outcomes of the race.  The move to have reporters from La Opinion, Hoy and El Diario in the sidelines of the campaign is further proof also of the sophistication and professionalism of Hispanic media in the United States and a very vivid example of how Hispanic media deserves, expects and is equipped to manage news with the same level of depth as the general market.  Let's not forget how Piolin took on a movement to inform and rally people to let their voice be heard on immigration, how Univision brought candidates of both parties to debate specially for a Hispanic audience, and how candidates have directed efforts at communicating with Hispanic voters.  In an election that can define the future of millions, all information and efforts to educate the public are of utmost importance.

In related news, CandidatoUSA has a very interesting posting on the different coverage perspectives between general market and Hispanic media.  You can read it here.

Rumbo a las Elecciones

Today a number of cable companies announced a voter registration campaign. Click here for more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/13/america/Cable-Voters.php. Voter participation will be one of the most important issues for Hispanic and other minority-serving groups in 2008. It will be interesting to see how the different campaigns collaborate and find synergies since many of the same groups are involved in different campaigns.

Rumbo a las elecciones

Today the Pew Hispanic Center released a new report on Hispanics and the 2008 elections. Click here for the report: http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/83.pdf. 

From their advisory: "The gains that the Republican Party had been making this decade in partisan affiliation among Latinos have dissipated in the past year, according to a new Pew Hispanic Center survey of Latino registered voters. The Democratic-over-Republican partisan affiliation edge (identifiers and leaners included), which had been 33 percentage points in 1999, then fell to 21 percentage points by 2006, is now back up to 34 percentage points. The report also examines the potential of Hispanics to be a swing voting block in the 2008 election. Though they make up only a relatively small share of the nationwide electorate, Hispanics comprise a larger share of voters in four of the six 'swing states' that President Bush carried by margins of five percentage points or fewer in 2004 - New Mexico, Florida, Nevada and Colorado. The report presents state-by-state data on the most recent eligibility and turnout trends of the Latino electorate."

I know many of us will be reading the report carefully as we get ready to watch the Republican presidential debate this Sunday on Univision.

"¿Por qué no te callas?"

As communicators, we know the impact that one sentence, phrase or scream can have in defining an election or an issue. Examples include Howard Dean in the U.S. – “the scream heard around the world”; López Obrador in Mexico, when he told President Fox to shut up in a very derogatory matter: "callate chachalaca," which some believe cost him many votes; former Virgina Senator's infamous use of the word "macaca"; and now, the King of Spain. This past Sunday, Al Punto on Univision dedicated a significant amount of time to the incident that led the President of Spain to tell Venezuela's Chavez to shut up.  There are YouTube videos dedicated to this exchange, and a new ring tone that is a hit in Spain. Rissig Licha has a number of postings about this incident in his Spanish-language blog if you want to see more of a political analysis.

My point here is how in today's world, more than ever, you have to be very careful in what and how you say it, especially as you look at campaigns and politicians. Keep in mind YouTube wasn't around in 2004. At the end of the day, the question is:  will this incident help Chavez on the December 2nd referendum that would make a number of changes to the constitution, including eliminating presidential term limits? We’ll have to wait and see. I do know, thanks to new media, we’ll continue to hear the King's words for some time.

Rumbo a las elecciones

As we mentioned in an earlier post, we won't talk about politics but will cover how parties, candidates and get out to vote efforts are trying to engage and inform Latinos. We'll call these posts "Rumbo a las elecciones." Here's the first post for this new series:

I attended an interesting session yesterday regarding using social networking tools in politics, sponsored by the New Politics Institute. I mention this because in the intro,  Peter Leyden talked about the new tools needed to succeed in politics and speaking Spanish is one of those tools. This is not surprising but what is, but maybe it should not be, is the level of activity we’ve seen on candidates’ efforts to reach Hispanics and on voter registration efforts. 

A few examples:
• Yesterday a coalition "of the nation’s largest and most established Latino organizations and the country’s largest Spanish-language media companies launched Ya es Hora, ¡Ve y Vota! (It’s Time, Go Vote!), a non-partisan national voter mobilization effort targeting U.S. Hispanics." According to the announcement, "the campaign seeks to significantly increase Latino voter registration and turnout in the 2008 presidential elections through an unprecedented multi-media campaign that encompasses grassroots, print and broadcast outreach. In particular, the campaign will use aggressive non-partisan field efforts to ensure that Latinos are an important vote in the new Southwestern battleground states. The coalition partners include Entravision Communications, ImpreMedia, Mi Familia Vota Educational Fund, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, the National Council of La Raza and Univision Communications Inc."
• In September Univision hosted a debate with the Democratic candidates and as we mentioned earlier this week, has one planned with Republican candidates on Sunday, December 9th. Univision launched the weekly Sunday morning show, Al Punto with Jorge Ramos.
• On Wednesday a national Hispanic coalition called Viva Rudy, in support of Rudy Giuliani’s candidacy, was launched.
• Vote Hope, a San Francisco-based group has three mini-novelas on YouTube to support Senator Barack Obama. Senator Obama also has a page on MyBatanga.com announced recently.
• Leslie Sanchez has had significant publicity tied to her book, including a mention in a great piece by Ruben Navarrete called “Latino voters pigeonholed by politicians.” 
• Yahoo! Telemundo has created a section called Decisión 2008.
•  There is Voto Latino, focused on Hispanic youth, and supported by Rosario Dawson and many young Latino Hollywood stars. 

As you might recall, earlier this month we had a guest blog from Luis Clemens as he launched La Politica. I strongly recommend this site if you are interested in politics and Hispanics. The site has exceeded my expectations and is my primary source for information on what the candidates are doing to reach this important voting block. One of the best pieces to date is how well candidates are doing on their Hispanic outreach efforts, including how Senator Clinton is ahead on this front. Link here for this piece: http://www.lapolitica.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=13ACB6E9CE744B9AB7FDE6E9E292A534&nm=Newsletter+Articles&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=E38C306C78DA4577ADB870ED38DE52D4.