Presidential candidates address immigration, only with Spanish audiences

One of the most unusual aspects of the 2008 presidential campaign is that John McCain and Barack Obama continue to fight over the issue of immigration, but only before Hispanic audiences and in only their Spanish language ads. The issue is very rarely discussed in their English-language political debate. Spanish-speaking television viewers continue to see the issue mentioned frequently in campaign ads.

A new message, 'Otra Vez Con Lo Mismo,' comes from the Obama campaign and attacks McCain for a message he started airing last week.

'McCain is up to the same distortions and lies on the immigration issue,' the new ad states in Spanish. 'He wants to hide the fact that he's the one who turned his back on us.' The ‘us’ apparently means Obama and the Hispanics.

The Obama ad continues: 'McCain caved to the anti-immigrant crowd. If John McCain is not willing to stand up against his own Republican Party, how will he stand up for our community in the White House?'

Obama’s ad will air for an undetermined amount of time in Colorado, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico. Both the Obama and McCain campaigns have focused virtually all of their Spanish-language ad efforts in the 'Latin quartet' of states, where Hispanic voter turnout could significantly tip the scales in favor of either candidate.