This should offend you whether you are Latino or not. As reported by Jeremy W. Peters in yesterday's New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/...), Republicans are running ads for the Senate in states with low percentages of eligible Latino voters that are fear mongering, pandering to racists, and focused on illegal immigration and border "lawlessness". In contrast, when Senate races are taking place in states with high percentages of eligible Latino voters, they are running ads trying to suck up to the Latino community. So do they really care about any issues related to immigration? Of course not. They care about the Latino vote in states where the numbers are high, and they don't care at all about losing the Latino vote in states where the numbers are low.
Which is the real Republican? Who cares? If someone pretends to be your friend while telling their racist buddies how they really feel, are they your friend? If someone pretends to be racist "just for the votes" but claims to really be your friend, are they your friend? No. And no. I don't want anything to do with someone who will go behind my back instead of having my back. Ever. They will not receive my vote.
So let's look at the evidence. Judge for yourself. I've watched all these sickening ads and transcribed them so that you don't have to watch. But as always, the links are here if you wish to follow my trail. The numbers in parentheses after each state are the percentage of Latino voters among all eligible voters, per http://www.pewhispanic.org/.... In the country as a whole, this number is 10.7%. But what a difference a state makes.
More after the orange symbol of perversely twisted language.
Beginning with the Senate races deemed to be competitive (living in Kentucky, I believe that race is competitive, but the McConnell supporters don't seem to think so, so I have seen no Latino-biased ads here).
First, New Hampshire (2.0% eligible Latinos): Scott Brown (R) versus Jeanne Shaheen (D):
The name of this 15-second ad is "Roll Call" (https://www.youtube.com/...):
Brown does his own voiceover. Per the screen at the end, this ad was "paid for by the New Hampshire for Scott Brown Committee, approved by Scott Brown":
Want to know why there is lawlessness on our border? Ask Senator Shaheen. She voted against border security, twice, and for amnesty. It's time for us to secure the border and enforce the law. I'm Scott Brown and I approve this message.
Now Kansas (6.0% eligible Latinos): Pat Roberts (R) versus Greg Orman (I): You may remember that this is the state where the Democratic candidate dropped out in order not to split the anti-Republican vote.
The name of this 32-second ad is "Wrong for Kansas" (https://www.youtube.com/...):
Other than the "approve this message" part, the voiceover is done by a slightly-strained-sounding woman. Per the screen at the end, this ad was "approved by Pat Roberts, paid for by Pat Roberts for U.S. Senate, Inc.":
I'm Pat Roberts and I approve this message. America is facing a border crisis. Illegal immigration is threatening our communities and taking jobs away from Kansans who need them. Politician Greg Orman would make things worse. Orman gave thousands of dollars to elect Barack Obama, even Harry Reid. Now Orman says he'd support giving amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. Greg Orman's not independent. In Washington, Orman would vote with Obama for amnesty.
Now contrast this with Colorado (14.2% eligible Latinos), where Cory Gardner (R) is running for U.S. Senate versus Mark Udall (D). Suddenly, everything is sweetness and light (
http://www.youtube.com/...).
These ads are narrated by Jeb Bush. For some reason, only Jeb Bush can make ads in Spanish in Republican political races this year. He is not, of course, Latino. He is W's brother. But he is married to a Latina. Sort of an honorary Latino. And hey, he speaks Spanish really good (yes, that's poor English on purpose).
At any rate, according to the short announcement by the woman at the end of each ad, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is responsible for the content of these messages. No fancy titles here; each is just called "elect so and so". Again, I could not find a transcript, so I transcribed the commercials and then translated them into English, for those of you who don't speak the language but would like to follow along, because I believe these ads insult the intelligence of everyone. Now here's Jeb:
Like you, I also want solutions for our biggest problems. And this is why it is vital to elect leaders like Cory Gardner. Cory is a good man..., dedicated to creating jobs and growing the economy for all. Cory supports the spirit of the worker and the entrepreneur in the Latino community. Please, elect Cory Gardner to the Senate.
Doesn't that just make you feel all melty inside?
And finally, part of the message to you from Jeb Bush in support of Republican David Valadao (http://www.youtube.com/...). He is running for Congress in the 21st district of California (California having 26.9% Latino voters). I mostly decided to stick with Senate races, but could they try to suck up any more than this? Or be more deceptive?
As a son of immigrants, David Valadao knows that our immigration system does not work. And he is working to fix it.... keep families united, grow our economy, and create good jobs....
Dramatic differences, no?
Valadao's parents, by the way, immigrated from Portugal, according to Wikipedia. From the same source I discovered that the father of his Democratic opponent, Amanda Renteria, immigrated from Mexico. So he is not the only candidate who is the child of an immigrant, as implied.
Good old Jeb also goes to bat for the U.S. Chamber of Congress for the benefit of Martha McSally, running for Congress from the 2nd district in Arizona (20.3% Latino voters), but it's just more of the same. If you really want to watch this drivel, it's available at https://www.youtube.com/....
So apparently, Republicans think that Latinos have no access to computers, YouTube, etc., could not possibly have any method to watch TV ads from a different state; never communicate with each other across state lines and discuss politics; or that reporters would not catch on or that their reports would not be read by Latinos. Bilingual? What's that? Sorry, guys. Surprise! Yes, we can watch ads in English and in Spanish. You're caught.
This should offend everyone. Completely different messages depending on which voters they want to appeal to the most. Please, vote Democratic on November 4, 2014. Don't let them think for one second that they fooled anybody.