New Tools: Speak in Spanish
October 23, 2006
Following the last election, the New Politics Institute and NDN, the Washington DC-based political organization that NPI is affiliated with, conducted research to begin to build this strategy. And we drew several broad lessons from nearly a decade of trying to communicate with Hispanic audiences.
First, the Hispanic community is diverse, starting with the backgrounds of Hispanic voters. Some are more Spanish-dominant, some more English-dominant. Some have more Mexicans, some more Puerto Ricans, some have Spanish families who arrived in the 16th century, some have South and Central Americans who arrived in the 1990s. Some come from the overwhelmingly conservative Cuban Americans, others from more liberal, younger groups.
No two states have a similar make up of Hispanics and that plays out in their political beliefs. In 2004, for instance, support for John Kerry ranged from 44% in Florida, 56% in Arizona and New Mexico, 60% in Nevada to 68% in Colorado. Different voters, different campaigns, different results. There is no single national strategy to speak to Hispanics, no silver bullet.
Second, if progressives are truly to convince Hispanics that we are on their side, we need to speak to them in ways with which they are comfortable, and on media with which they are familiar. The New Democrat Network, a previous incarnation of NPI’s affiliate NDN, spent around $6 million communicating to Hispanics during 2004. Their campaign was designed to improve understanding among Hispanics of the ideas and values of the progressive movement.
Finally, campaigns aimed at Hispanics work. There is clear evidence that those groups who chose to appeal to Hispanics do get results- Hispanics are influenced by good campaigns, and especially those run in their own language, and in media environments with which they are familiar.
First, the Hispanic community is diverse, starting with the backgrounds of Hispanic voters. Some are more Spanish-dominant, some more English-dominant. Some have more Mexicans, some more Puerto Ricans, some have Spanish families who arrived in the 16th century, some have South and Central Americans who arrived in the 1990s. Some come from the overwhelmingly conservative Cuban Americans, others from more liberal, younger groups.
No two states have a similar make up of Hispanics and that plays out in their political beliefs. In 2004, for instance, support for John Kerry ranged from 44% in Florida, 56% in Arizona and New Mexico, 60% in Nevada to 68% in Colorado. Different voters, different campaigns, different results. There is no single national strategy to speak to Hispanics, no silver bullet.
Second, if progressives are truly to convince Hispanics that we are on their side, we need to speak to them in ways with which they are comfortable, and on media with which they are familiar. The New Democrat Network, a previous incarnation of NPI’s affiliate NDN, spent around $6 million communicating to Hispanics during 2004. Their campaign was designed to improve understanding among Hispanics of the ideas and values of the progressive movement.
Finally, campaigns aimed at Hispanics work. There is clear evidence that those groups who chose to appeal to Hispanics do get results- Hispanics are influenced by good campaigns, and especially those run in their own language, and in media environments with which they are familiar.
