Spanish alone won’t win Latino votes – Latina Lista in USA Today

Latinos in the USA are not a homogenous group. That fact, you would think, wouldn’t need repeating. Yet as the 2008 presidential candidates rev up their campaigns to target specific voters, it would seem that some need a reminder: Simply uttering a few words or running a campaign ad in Spanish or translating their English websites into Spanish are no longer enough to connect with Latinos.

Latino voters are as diverse as the rest of the country, with each subgroup having its own priorities and concerns. Spanish is just the vehicle, like English, to deliver the message. But the message needs substance. Latinos are waiting to hear that the candidates truly understand the overriding issues of their communities — no matter the language.”*

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