nv1962

Here’s an ad that’s being aired in California and Arizona by the Obama campaign:

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Transcript and translation:

Soy Barack Obama, y yo apruebo este mensaje. Nosotros sabemos qué se siente ser usados como chivo expiatorio, por nuestro origen y apellido. Y nadie entiende esto mejor que Barack Obama. Pero ni él ni nosotros nos hemos dejado vencer. Su lucha comenzó hace muchos años, como líder comunitario, y ahora en el Senado Obama se ha convertido en un líder de la reforma inmigratoria. La lucha continúa, y nadie nos va a regalar nada. Unidos con Obama construiremos un mejor futuro. I am Barack Obama, and I approve this message. We know what it feels like to be used as a scapegoat, because of our origins and last name. And nobody understands this better than Barack Obama. But neither he nor ourselves have surrendered the fight*. His struggle started many years ago as a community leader, and now, in the Senate, Obama has become a leader for immigration reform. The fight goes on, and nobody is going to give us anything for free. United with Obama, we’ll build a better future. *Lit.: “have allowed us to lose” [i.e., without a fight]

Bah - identity politics as usual.

A sad, if not pathetic attempt to make up for lost ground. And the ground was lost due to the Obama campaign’s own utter indifference to seriously campaigning for the Latino/Hispanic votes. Well, that is: barring an obnoxiously misleading and openly offensive radio ad - a strategy which was proven clearly untenable, not to mention a painful losing proposition as shown by the results of the Nevada caucuses. Now that they have recognized the gaping hole, it’s a full-tilt backpeddling scramble for Latino/Hispanic votes, of course. However, since he doesn’t really have a compelling edge over Clinton in this key demographic, he’s opted for a surrogate with a convenient origin and last name to match the racially profiled message. What a ridiculous and underwhelming cheap shot, that.

Identity politics as usual, served by the junior senator from Illinois, seemingly hoping to sell a guise of “change”.

In a word: sad.