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Monday, Nov 9, 2009
New TV pitch to California Latinos is an "optimistic" soft sell.
Apr 7, 2000 | Political advertising is not known for being subtle, but that is the only way to describe a new ad released by the Republican National Committee Wednesday aimed at California Latino voters. The ad only uses the word "Republican" twice. It features a young, first generation Mexican-American woman named Christina Bustos, stressing the values of political independence. Even when the dreaded R-word is used, it is not in the context of an overt political pitch.
"I've always been independent, but lately, I've been hearing from the Republicans about education, opportunity and family," she says. "This year, I plan to keep an open mind and vote for the best person -- and that includes Republicans."
When someone drops a few hundred-thousand dollars on a political ad that urges voters to be thoughtful, open-minded and carefully consider their options, you know something strange is going on. This ad, the second in a series of soft money ads by the Republican National Committee, is "asking Latino voters to keep an open mind," says RNC spokesman Mike Collins. And, Collins says, it's "specifically oriented toward California."
That's because the ad, and another one aimed at Latinos airing in Texas, says much about how Republicans think they can win support. According to RNC media consultant Frank Guerra, who produced the ad, "In California, asking them to keep an open mind is really the most important thing we can do," he said. "This ad, in essence, is a handshake. It's there to tell folks that we're here, we want to communicate to you, we want you to keep an open mind about what it is we have to say over time. But for this population, it's important to get there first and just reintroduce ourselves and say hello. Republicans have more of a history in Texas."
"Reintroduce" is certainly the key word, because the history Republicans have in California with Latinos is not a good one. Guerra's euphemistic language understates what the new ad really is -- damage control. In 1994 there was a very different set of ads receiving the flood of media attention. Those ads, run by Gov. Pete Wilson during his bid for reelection, showed blurred images of immigrants crossing the Mexican-American border, with a deep voice-over warning ominously, "They keep coming."
It was those ads, and the issue of cracking down on illegal immigration -- and, many argued, demonizing Mexican immigrants along the way -- that led to a sharp spike in Latino registration in the state and placed California Republicans in the hole among the state's booming Latino population. Before the ads ran, Latinos comprised 7 percent of the California electorate. By 1998, that number had doubled and the vast majority were voting Democrat.
While the Republicans are urging contemplation and careful reconsideration, the Democrats, predictably, are using the proverbial baseball bat to whack the GOP over the head and remind the public of 1994. In January, at an RNC meeting in San Jose that screened these new ads, Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., showed up in order to vow not to "let our Latino children be used as props."
Wednesday, California Democratic Party political director Bob Mullholland was on hand to dismiss the GOP effort. "This is the party of Pete Wilson, Proposition 187 and Bush Junior's close, personal friend Bob Jones, who calls Catholicism a cult," said the ever-understated Mulholland.
While the Democratic Party preps for jihad in California the Republicans have released a product that is the result of tedious testing and focus groups. Up through the final days and hours before the ad's release, there was a careful parsing of language. Some phrases were eliminated for fear they were too strongly worded, while the Republican theme was soft-pedaled for fears of reminding voters of the Wilson years.
Whey they finally focus-group tested the spots, Republican sources say they were surprised, and thrilled, to find that memories of Wilson and Prop. 187 had faded, and that the anger against the party in particular has apparently ebbed. (When asked if he thought Latinos would remember the Wilson years, however, Mullholland responded, "they will when we go up on television to remind them.")
Still, it is more than Wilson that separates California Hispanics from Texas Hispanics. Latinos in Texas have generally been in the country longer, are more affluent and are historically more a part of the culture, according to Guerra.
As a result, the difference between the RNC spots airing in the two states could not be more striking, illuminating the difference between California and Texas Latinos, and the two very different climates for Republicans in the two states.
In the Texas ad, the message is explicitly Republican. It shows a third-generation Mexican-American man at an annual family Fourth of July celebration, stressing the virtues of family, patriotism and the Republican Party. During the ad, there are abrupt cutaways where the screen goes black and the word "Republican" appears in large, white capital letters.
