The Corzine campaign put out this bilingual television ad today featuring the President. Here's what the campaign has to say about this ad:
President Obama asks New Jersey Latino voters to support Governor Corzine in his upcoming bout for re-election. The half-Spanish, half-English (with Spanish subtitles) ad features President Obama telling voters that the future of New Jersey is "in your hands," or "en tus manos." This is the first direct to camera political ad that President Obama has recorded since taking office.
Citing the similarities between his fight on a national level and Governor Corzine's fight here in New Jersey, President Obama praises Corzine as "the leader New Jersey needs in these tough times," for his focus on improving health insurance, getting the economy back on track and ensuring everyone gets a quality education.
The Immigration Policy Center is out with a new study talking about the political and economic power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in New Jersey:
Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians account for large and growing shares of the economy and electorate in New Jersey. Immigrants make up roughly 20% of the state's population, and more than half of them are naturalized U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote. "New Americans"-immigrants and the children of immigrants-account for 15.1% of all registered voters in the state. Moreover, Latinos and Asians wield roughly $67.3 billion in consumer purchasing power, and the businesses they own had sales and receipts of $25.7 billion and employed 125,593 people at last count. Immigrant workers contributed at least $47 billion to the state economy in 2006, representing almost one-quarter (or 23%) of all earnings statewide. At a time of economic recession, New Jersey can ill-afford to alienate such a critical component of its labor force, tax base, and business community.
I'll put the full findings below the fold. Bottom line, almost 1 in 5 residents are immigrants. Over half of them are naturalized meaning they are eligible to vote. In fact, they say that 15% of the total registered voters are naturalized citizens or US born children of immigrants.
In the :30 second ad U. S. Senator Robert Menendez speaks to the Latino community on Governor Corzine's education initiatives and his support for Governor Corzine's re-election in November.
The ad will be on broadcast television across the major New Jersey/NewYork metropolitan area and Philadelphia region.
And here's the ad:It's interesting, the only words Corzine speaks in the whole ad are, "Senator, come here!" The rest of the ad has Menendez talking in the foreground about education and his support for Corzine, while you see the Governor speaking with a group of people in the background. What do you think? I'll put the script in english below the fold.
U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) is playing a key role in a statewide effort to increase voter turnout among Latino voters for Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election campaign. This weekend, Menendez presided over a meeting in New Brunswick that was attended by over 200 statewide Latino leaders, including U.S. Rep. Albio Sires (D-West New York), State Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Newark), Assemblywomen Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden) and Annette Quijano (D-Elizabeth), Assemblyman Albert Coutinho (D-Newark) and Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus), Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz, Paterson Mayor Joey Torres, and Passaic Mayor Alex Blanco.
At full strength, Latinos form 14% of the electorate, according to Patricia Cabrera, Corzine's outreach director. Regardless of Christie's aggressive efforts, the Corzine ally is confident of the governor's ability to pull Latinos come Election Day.
"Latinos composed seven percent of the electorate when McGreevey ran," said Cabrera. "In 2005, that was up to nine percent. Last year, Latinos came out to make up 11 percent of the electorate in New Jersey. We don't anticipate having numbers like that this year, but they will be high, and we anticipate the majority of them voting for Gov. Corzine."
Along with the importance of the healthcare issue, another topic was the 1st Latina Supreme Court Justice and Christie's critique of her:
Everyone from Menendez to Trenton Councilman Manny Segura plugged away, too, at Christie's comments about Sonia Sotomayor, a Supreme Court Justice nominee when Christie pronounced, "She's not my kind of judge."
"If Sotomayor was not good enough for that individual, none of us would be good enough for him," Segura said.
It will be essential for the Governor to see Latino voters turn out in number to help him win on Election day. It's good to see all these leaders across the state aggressively planning their work and working their plan. They'll need that work to show up in the form of results at the ballot box for the Governor.
Republican NJ-Gov candidate Chris Christie doesn't seem too interested in letting Spanish-speaking voters know he's a Republican. Compare the English and Spanish versions of his new "Bringing Back Our Cities" web ad. The Spanish one omits the word "Republican" in a couple places where the English one identifies Christie with his party.
Here's the first ad in english. In the opening 30 seconds, he mentions the fact that he is a Republican twice:And here is the ad in spanish. While I'm no expert, I don't hear the word Republican at all:A viewer of the Spanish version was insulted by the omission and left this comment:
Hablamos diferente idioma, no somos estupidos.
That's exactly right, they may speak a different language, but they're not stupid. So what gives with the Christie campaign and what is their explanation for only being a Republican in English? Maybe it's just like he was only a conservative for the primary too.
Of the states with the largest Latino populations, New Jersey ranked first in the percentage of Hispanic voters -- 78 -- that cast their ballots for Sen. Barack Obama, according to exit poll data by the Pew Hispanic Center.
Nationally, 66 percent of Latinos voted for the president-elect, said Mark Lopez, associate director of the Pew Hispanic Center.
GOP candidate Sen. John McCain got 21 percent of the Latino vote in New Jersey, and 32 percent nationwide.
Wow, that's some margin. And how does this compare with recent numbers?
In 2004, President Bush captured 40 percent of the Hispanic vote nationally, and 43 percent in New Jersey.
That's an impressive turnaround. A winning Obama got 35% more of the Hispanic vote in 2008 than a winning George Bush in 2004. Along with the fervor of the immigration issue over the last 4 years, there's this:
"Hispanics are largely working class," said Cid Wilson, a Leonia resident who was a member of the Obama campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council. "Many of them saw McCain, and the Republican Party, as favoring the wealthy, and having a reverse Robin Hood policy of robbing from the poor to give to the rich."
The Republicans are going to have to figure out a way to reverse this trend because nearly 10% of eligible NJ voters are Latino. You start yourself in a pretty deep hole if you lose three out of every four of those voters from the jump.
Having posted the invitation for LASO-NJ's inaugural meeting on January 24, I received a most unexpected email with questions regarding the organization. Our history, purpose and goals. I wrote frantically to cover as much as I possibly could. To this brief introduction I will be adding more detailed bits and pieces of my experience as a Latin American immigrant from Colombia and a citizen of the City of Englewood.
It is our pleasure and honor to invite you to join a new movement in progressive politics. The community of the Americas has transcended traditional borders and is redefining these United States. The Latin American Society of New Jersey will strive to be emblematic of this uniquely historical phenomenon.
LASO-NJ recognizes and honors our current leaders in public office and the many fine organizations throughout our community that have spoken and continue to speak on our behalf. LASO-NJ will look to build upon the strong foundation that these trailblazers have fought to establish. However, it is our belief that the Latin American community must reject the political conformity that is hindering our progress. Our demographics demand that we establish a unique identity outside the traditional political status quo.
LASO-NJ will work to identify and support leaders from within and outside our community that will advocate and engage in meaningful discussion of local issues, public policy and legislative initiatives.
We hope that you will give this request serious consideration. Your participation would help to ensure LASO-NJ's success and relevance. Our first meeting will take place at the following location:
Technology Resource Center in the City of Englewood (27 South Van Brunt Street) on January 24, 2007 from 6-7p.m.
Please RSVP by January 22 at LASONJ2007@gmail.com or (201) 673 - 0749.
We look forward to working with you on behalf of the community.
Sincerely,
Lucas Sánchez
Co-Chair
Bermarí Roig-Eichler
Co-Chair
