Consultants in S.A. key for McCain Hernán Rozemberg A cadre of influential San Antonio political operatives is shaping John McCain’s advertising campaign to woo Hispanic voters, whose swelling ranks could be a decisive factor in the presidential election. Though McCain’s outreach to the Hispanic community is a vast operation involving organizers from coast to coast, the creation and production of TV spots targeting an estimated 9 million Hispanic voters is being led by a close-knit group of veteran Republican consultants here. Their first spot rolled out this month in swing states such as Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, lauding Hispanic immigrants serving in the military as “God’s children” who greatly contribute to American society. The consultants hope that such messages will help change Barack Obama’s current lead in polls over McCain among Hispanic voters. A survey by the Pew Hispanic Center released Thursday showed a 66 percent to 23 percent advantage for Obama, even higher than a Gallup poll earlier this month giving Obama a 59 percent to 29 percent lead. Obama, for his part, has tapped former mayor Henry Cisneros to be part of his national outreach to Hillary Clinton’s massive Hispanic support base, to ensure it transfers to his campaign. Obama also unveiled a new radio ad this week targeting Hispanics in Florida, another swing state. “Latinos are the next middle class, and the population is both young and critical to the ’08 vote,” Cisneros told the San Antonio Express-News this month. The McCain-San Antonio connection starts with Lionel Sosa, founder of the nation’s largest Hispanic advertising agency, whose political consulting for Republicans dates to Ronald Reagan’s campaign in 1980. Sosa said Bob Dole was the only Republican presidential nominee who didn’t hire him. He noted that all the others since Reagan have used his services — and won. “I’ve got five out of six, and I’m hoping to make it six out of seven,” Sosa said. He recently stepped down from his post as executive director of Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together, or MATT, a nonpartisan think tank he founded in 2006, to become a full-time consultant — unpaid so far — to McCain. Sosa’s doing most of the writing on the ads. He said “God’s Children” is the first of 10 planned ads, including two more on immigration and others tackling education, values, military and pushing Latinos into public office. César Martínez, another veteran San Antonio consultant who worked on President Bush’s 2000 and 2004 campaigns, as well Gov. Rick Perry’s 2002 election, is handling production duties for the McCain ads. “San Antonio has a lot of power,” said Martínez, who works on visual projects with MATT. “The city has always been a good place for Hispanic communications.” Joining him in the ranks of paid McCain consultants are Leonard Rodríguez and Noé García, who met as students at Central Catholic High School and today make up Corporate Political Strategies, with offices in Washington and San Antonio. They both cited the influence of Hispanics as role models in San Antonio in explaining their lack of surprise that the McCain marketing effort toward Latinos has a large Alamo City representation. “San Antonio is the heartbeat and pulse of the Mexican-American community,” said Rodríguez, who directed President Bush’s national Hispanic outreach in the 2000 election and stayed on as an adviser when Bush took office. “There’s something to be said about the values we were inculcated, growing up with a Hispanic (Cisneros) as mayor and others as our lawyers, doctors and accountants,” García said. A spokeswoman for the McCain campaign’s Latino outreach said the work of these consultants is crucial for McCain, noting he won more than 70 percent of the Hispanic vote in his last Senate re-election bid in Arizona. Hessy Fernández said the San Antonio participation is just a coincidence within the larger national picture, but one McCain is glad to have. |
