Ever since John McCain’s campaign began to hit Barack Obama hard, and more often below the belt with slimy ads about lipstick and sex ed, Democrats have been calling for Obama to hit back- hard. The campaign seems to have gotten the memo, and has made very effective use of John McCain’s ties to lobbyists, zeroing in one seven lobbyists among his top advisors in a new ad. And on the stump, Obama quipped that rounding up the old boy network in Washington is akin to calling a staff meeting over at team McCain. And then there is this excellent ad which feels more like a trailer for the action thriller series 24 than another mind-numbingly predictable political ad.
But let’s hope this other ad, directed at Latino voters mainly in the Southwest, is the exception and not the norm. Trying to tie John McCain to Rush Limbaugh and his brand of anti-immigrant vitriol is unfair and untrue. While it may not make for such a punchy ad, the truth is that McCain initially fought for immigration reform. But then he hit a brick wall- the party that has given him its nomination to be president- on immigration reform, he backed off his well-intentioned path-to-citizenship agenda and embraced the base on this one. And it’s lucky for him he did, intoning a new agenda “secure the border first” to appease the anti-immigrant wing of his party and eventually win his long-shot race to the top of the Republican ticket. Securing the border is just a fancy way of saying, “Immigrants, go home!” Still, John McCain has never sought to inflame anti-immigrant sentiment, he just caved to it.
The Obama campaign would do far better to talk to Latinos about the same issues the rest of the nation wants to hear about: jobs, wages, healthcare and the wilting economy.
Inform Your Consent 