Beth Reinhard has a great look at Barack Obama and Mitt Romney's battle for the Hispanic vote -- one that's so far taking the shape of a route.
In the past five weeks, Obama has spent $1 million in Spanish-language media.
Romney?
$13,000. That's as in 1.3% as much as Obama.
Further, Romney's Spanish-language ads have just been identical versions of his English ads, while Obama's have been entirely new creations, specifically tailored to the Hispanic community.
Jennifer Korn, the head of a Republican-leaning Hispanic group is not impressed.
"Romney’s window of opportunity is still open, but I would advise them to ramp up their Spanish-language media as soon as possible and make it continuous.
....It would also be smart if they did a few tailor-made advertisements for the Hispanic community. That doesn’t mean he’s sending a different message, but he’s showing he understands the community."
Romney's approach toward Hispanics has been absolutely inscrutable this cycle.
During the primary, he tried to stay as general-election friendly as possible, except for on immigration issues where he veered sharply to the right.
And since the primary wrapped up, his campaign has been promising to catch up and start serious outreach, but it's been sluggish and, often, seems indifferent.
You wonder what they're seeing that no one else is, but the Romney campaign can't win this election with the 27% of the Hispanic vote it's currently getting.
