Hispanics turn cold shoulder to McCain

[MattusMaximus]

This article provides some explanation why Obama is giving McCain such trouble in many southwestern states as well as Florida, even before the big economic downturn hit in mid-Sept...

Hispanics turn cold shoulder to McCain

Despite championing immigration reform in 2007, John McCain is poised to lose the Hispanic vote by a landslide margin that is well below President George W. Bush's 2004 performance.

Polls show Obama winning the broadest support from Latino voters of any Democrat in a decade, while McCain is struggling to reach 30 percent, closer to Senator Bob Dole's dismal 1996 result than to Bush's historic 40% four years ago.

McCain seems to have wound up with the worst of both worlds: He appears to be getting no credit from Latino voters for his past support for immigration reform, while carrying the baggage of other Republicans' hostility to illegal immigration. ...

Seems like a LOT of chickens are coming home to roost with McCain and his party. Ouch.

 

[corplinx]

Well, Obama did run smear ads implying McCain thought mexicans were lazy and stupid in hispanic communities.

Oh wait, I forgot, only bill ayers ads are "dishonorable".

 

[MattusMaximus]

Evidence?

 

[corplinx]

Evidence?

It was a big story about 3-4 weeks ago?

 

[ImaginalDisc]

It was a big story about 3-4 weeks ago?

Then you should have no trouble finding corroborating evidence.

 

[bozothedeathmachine]

Evidence?

Here

 

[Whiplash]

This is one of those typical false "calls for evidence" which you know will then ultimately be ignored, or /handwaved. No change of mind will occur.

 

[Tricky]

Here

The video isn't working in that link, but here's what some of the text says:

The Obama campaign has released new radio and TV ads in Spanish that seek to tie Sen. John McCain to anti-immigrant comments made by radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. The ads also suggest the Republican has "dos caras" -- "two faces" -- when it comes to his relations with Latino voters. The new messages, airing in Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, come in response to recent Spanish-language ads by the McCain campaign that suggest Obama is responsible for the collapse of last year's bipartisan immigration reform efforts.

Sounds like if there is smearing, it is by both sides. And McCain smeared first.

Limbaugh appears onscreen with quotes of him saying, "Mexicans are stupid and unqualified" and "Shut your mouth or get out."

While Limbaugh is identified with favoring Republicans, it looks as if they've made no attempt to attribute the quotes to McCain.

Frankly, I don't think McCain is hostile to Hispanics, but that big chunks of the Republican party have been incredibly hostile over the last few years. It is primarily GOP politicians who are pushing for draconian immigration laws. That's a pity for McCain, who, from all appearances, is not highly polarized on this issue, but it is a case of chickens coming home to roost for conservatives. Really, what did they expect?

"The Latino community has been watching this issue very closely," says Cecilia Muñoz, a senior vice president with National Council of La Raza who notes that immigration legislation failed because a majority of Republican senators voted against the measures.

 

[corplinx]

While Limbaugh is identified with favoring Republicans, it looks as if they've made no attempt to attribute the quotes to McCain.

Likewise there's been no to attempt to attribute Ayer's bombings to Obama. Right?

And no, saying Obama voted for poison pill amendments that killed the immigration bill is not the same as implying that McCain is like Limbaugh (whose position was 180 of McCains), and then playing clips of Limbaugh out of context saying stupid and lazy Mexicans. Justifying the ad as a response is just pathetic.

 

[Tricky]

Likewise there's been no to attempt to attribute Ayer's bombings to Obama. Right?

No, of course not.

But there is a big difference here. Limbaugh is a highly influential political commentator (actually, an entertainer, since I don't really think he believes his own script) who, in spite of some policy differences, has been a big cheerleader for Republicans in general. In contrast, Ayers has been politically invisible for at least 20 years and his cheerleading has taken the innocuous form of hosting a fund-raiser.

That being said, Limbaugh has been a strident and vicious critic of McCain, particularly during the primary. While he may now be supporting McCain as the lesser of two goods evils, to paint him as a big McCain supporter is completely wrong and the Obama campaign should be ashamed of doing so.