Republicans and Democrats Hit Each Other over Immigration on Spanish-Language Radio

The Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee are sparring over immigration on Spanish-language radio in southwestern states. The RNC took the first shot with an ad which fact checkers at UPenn's Annenberg Political Fact Check says mischaracterizes what really the Democratic votes and strategy.

Both parties seek to balance their interests in (a.) appearing to be tough on illegal immigration and the dangers of porous borders and (b.) demonstrating they connection with Hispanic voters and their recognition of the tremendous contributions Hispanic immigrants have and will continue to make to this country.

Both parties see the 2006 mid-term congressional elections as a referendum on Republican control of Congress and thus seek to influence not only Hispanic-voter impressions but the opinions of the broader electorate.

Both political parties also seek to tap into the power of Spanish-language radio which was demonstrated when Spanish-language radio DJ's were credited with helping turn out millions of Hispanics and immigrants into the streets during mass protests across the nation last month and this month. It is also clear that both parties are seeking to earn a lot of regional and national media attention from the ads; in other words they are likely hoping for much bigger bangs for their bucks.

Why was the initial RNC ad so negative (see links below to review transcripts)? Academic and internal Party research has shown that negative or contrasting political ads really do work and often have better "recall" than positive ads. The DNC is hoping the RNC's negative approach with backfire.

The RNC ad is [here].

The DNC response is [here].