Críticas Magazine

On the eve of the Texas primary, the southern part of the state is blanketed in Spanish-language ads for Señora Clinton and Señor Obama. Both candidates’ multiple appearances here in the Rio Grande Valley have been enthusiastically received. The assumption that she has the coveted voto latino all sewn up has become much less certain. His campaign has been quickly gaining support from eager Hispanic voters around here. George Lopez showed up a few days ago at the college where I work and told more than a thousand people why he’s backing Obama.

I wouldn’t be bringing any of this up—hey, any cable news channel will generously give you more campaign analysis than you can stomach, and yesterday’s New York Times Magazine examined Obama’s “Hispanic problem”--if not for the things the swings in this campaign might teach booksellers and libraries.

The video for Clinton’s Spanish-language campaign song (a sweet cumbia by the Houston band Mango Punch) relies on oh-so-familiar memes to appeal to Latinos. There’s the candidate posing with a group of ballet folklórico dancers, and even a Hillary sign on a donkey piñata. You half expect to see footage of her preparing a quinceañera party for Chelsea. 

On the other side you can find this high-energy reggaeton number that uses everyone’s sketchy memories of high-school Spanish to build an irresistable rhyme (¿Cómo se llama? / ¡Obama!) 

And there’s the inevitable “La Bamba” reworking by Austin, Texas’s Cerronato, with drummer Clemencia Zapata singing "Vota Obama." Both of these were put together by Miguel Orozco, a supporter of the candidate and a viral marketing expert in LA.  

(We don’t know if he had anything to do with Sen. Edward Kennedy’s rendition of “¡Ay Jalisco, no te rajes!” at an Obama rally up the river in Laredo. I won’t even link you to that. If you’re a Jorge Negrete fan, you might want to proceed at your own risk.)

All this, together with the now well-known “Viva Obama” song, and another music video by will i. am of Black Eyed Peas that features folks like Lopez speaking Spanish, points to a swell of interest that seems to make the campaign feel like a party. The Lalo Alcaraz cartoon that contrasts popular perceptions of the two candidates—one stern and crabby, the other optimistic and hopeful—was echoed by the photos chosen for the cover of the major Texas Spanish-language newspaper RUMBO last week. The editors would’ve been hard pressed to find a less flattering image of Clinton or a more messianic one of Obama.

The Clinton campaign has been banking on the two-to-one support from Hispanics that it has had in other states. But keep an eye on how the vote goes tomorrow here in Texas. If exit polling of Latinos brings some surprises, that might be a cue for you to do some more thinking about your own marketing efforts—especially what you’re doing to reach different generations.