As the U.S. presidential elections get closer, the competition for the Latino vote intensifies. The latest move came from President Joe Biden, who has been bleeding support with this demographic in the polls, with a new ad comparing his likely opponent, Donald Trump, with authoritarian Venezuelan leaders Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro.
"We start before the Sun, stop after it's gone down. We build the country. But to some we are invisible. Not to Joe Biden. He sees us, he invests in us, our community, businesses. Republicans don´t, and like dictators want to take things away: health insurance, rights, freedoms and safety," says the 30-second ad, which shows pictures of Trump, Maduro and Chavez in succession. "The difference is clear. Build with Biden," finishes the ad.
It's a new approach from the party, especially considering that Republicans have long sought to link Democrats with these Latin American figures, claiming that politicians with liberal stances actually seek to impose socialist dictatorships.
The ad aired a few days after Conexión, a communications and content production firm, was recruited by the Biden campaign's operatives to bolster its efforts with the demographic. Conexión has already produced some ads for the Biden campaign as is the case of "Nosotros | Biden-Harris 2024."
As per Wispolitics, this ad is an "effort to establish a cultural connection" with Hispanic voters. "The strategy, creative, and media planning is led by Adrian Saenz and his firm, Conexión. Adrian is an alum of Biden for President and an alum of the Obama and Biden White Houses," reported Wispolitics.
The move comes as polls and political analysts indicate a growing number of Hispanic voters are distancing themselves from the Democratic Party. Trump has been steadily gaining support with the Latino electorate during the past decade, increasing from 28% in 2016 to 36% in 2020, according to the Pew Research Center. In 2022, Republicans got 39 percent of the Latino vote, the highest percentage since 2004.
A recent New York Times poll indicates potential challenges for Democrats, with Biden's lead among Hispanics in single digits in six swing states. Additionally, a CBS News/YouGov poll suggests that Hispanic voters are more optimistic about their finances under Trump than Biden.
Trump, on his end, is also seeking to use some Latin American leaders for political leverage. According to a recent Axios report, the former president's team seeks to portray him as a victim of perceived socialist overreach, linking his legal challenges and clashes with Democrats to the struggles faced by many Latin Americans under authoritarian rulers.
In a recent rally to counter-program the latest Republican debate in Florida, Trump strategically chose Hialeah, a location with over 95% Hispanic residents, primarily Cuban Americans who constitute a conservative electorate aligned with the Republican party. During the rally, Trump drew parallels between his legal challenges and resistance to communism, and the experiences of Cuban Americans under Fidel Castro's regime.
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