Election 2008: What’s At Stake?

Republican presidential candidate John McCain is running a new ad that seems to pit Latino interests against the Democratic candidate. In Spanish text and voiceovers, the ad notes that Obama neglected to mention a single Latin American country during his “citizen of the world” speech in Berlin. (Read more on Huffington Post)

Will this ad work, or does McCain’s claim rest on shaky ground? Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, one of Obama’s biggest Latino supporters, called it “another low road attempt by John McCain to distract from his own record on Latino issues.” Latinos are a much-coveted voting bloc this year, and they are much more willing to vote Republican than blacks, the nation’s largest minority. Plus, blacks and Latinos have also had a tense relationship in the past.

But McCain’s latest targeted ad may well fall flat among some Latino immigrant voters. When News 21 reporters talked to immigrants around the country, we found that Latinos have warmed up to Obama. View our “Obama Factor” video montage, which features a dozen interviews with immigrants nationwide.