USA (By Arian Campo-Flores, Newsweek) November 8, 2004 - While the Anglo airwaves buzzed with a final blitz of ads from the Bush and Kerry campaigns, a parallel war was raging on Spanish-language TV and radio. In a Bush TV spot released last week, the narrator poses a choice for Latinos: "strong leadership" and "lower taxes" under the president, or "abortion pills in our schools" and "less national security" under Kerry. "When you are about to vote," the voice-over concludes, "why take so many risks?" Not to be outdone on the fear mongering front, a recent radio spot by the Kerry campaign featured "Susana" lamenting to "Marcela" that Bush and the GOP "have not done a thing to assure me that the terrorists can't get to us again." Marcela's reply: "Instead of focusing on our security here, they are more worried about the mess they have made in Iraq."

As the electoral battlefield narrowed to Latino-rich states like Florida and New Mexico, the campaigns intensified their courtship of Hispanics. In 2000, Al Gore beat Bush among Latinos, 62-35. This time around, a recent nationwide poll showed Kerry leading Bush, 59-30. Spending on Latino ads surged in the last few weeks, bringing total expenditures this year to more than $12 million—triple the total in 2000—according to Adam Segal of Johns Hopkins University. The Democrats cut 27 ads—12 for TV, 15 for radio—while the Republicans cut 28, evenly split between both media. A flock of outside groups jammed the airwaves as well. Among the Republican allies: the Progress for America Voter Fund and Focus on the Family, which urges Latinos to "vote your values." In the Democratic corner: the Environmental Accountability Fund and the New Democrat Network, which spent $6 million targeting foreign-born Latinos. NDN's Maria Cardona says: "We are leaving no Hispanic behind."

With the heightened competition, Latino political advertising has grown more sophisticated. For the first time, ad makers—particularly Democratic ones—are targeting specific subgroups rather than Hispanics generally. They're wooing Puerto Ricans in Orlando with talk of health care on their native island and riling up Cuban-Americans in Miami with arguments about foreign policy toward Fidel Castro. An NDN ad featuring Cuban-American honcho Joe Garcia ends with the tag line: "Republicans, stop the demagoguery about Cuba." In another novelty, the Kerry campaign just released a bilingual ad on mainstream TV that targets English-dominant Hispanics in New Mexico. "It's not about language," says the ad's creator, Lorena Chambers. "It's about culture."

Both sides have also unleashed far more attack ads—a rarity for politicians who usually prefer to win Latino sympathies by eulogizing their contributions to America. Democrats have bashed Bush for neglecting Hispanics who lack health insurance and live in poverty, while Republicans have pummeled Kerry for voting to raise taxes and failing to share Hispanic values. "There's a very clear distinction" between the two candidates, says Bush adman Lionel Sosa, "and we've really hammered on it." But Sosa insists he welcomes the competition from Democrats, whose ad efforts in 2000 were meager. "With both parties reaching out," he says, "the Latino will be the winner."