Romney's Spanish-language FL ad
Posted: Monday, January 21, 2008 1:31 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
2008, Romney
From NBC/NJ’s Erin McPike
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- As Romney makes his way down the I-4 corridor in Florida today, with stops in Daytona, Orlando and Cape Canaveral among the few along the way, his campaign is releasing a Spanish-language ad in South Florida.
The ad, entitled “Mi Padre,” features Craig Romney’s fluency in Spanish. It shows some home video footage of the Romney family in addition to a few photos of the candidate from his time leading the Salt Lake Olympics.
Craig begins the ad by ticking through his father’s resume and then says, "But above all, Mitt Romney is a family man, a great father, husband and grandfather.”
Romney’s run only radio ads in Spanish before, but it may be that he’s one of the only Republican candidates with the cash on hand to run ads narrowly targeted to the Spanish-speaking population. Giuliani, however, has aired Spanish-language TV and radio spots in the state.
Despite Giuliani’s Florida strategy and one-time large lead here, Romney seems to consider McCain one of his biggest targets again here. The campaign is also running its “Chairs” ad here, which asserts that Washington needs an outsider for president, not someone who’s come from a different perch already in the federal government, a dig at the senator from Arizona.
Also today in his big debut in Florida (he arrived Saturday night with a single event in Jacksonville), Romney made two stops in Jacksonville and recognized Martin Luther King Day. At an event at Gate Petroleum, he spoke about the day for a moment honoring King, but his transition out of the comments was this: “My areas of accomplishment are not like his, not at that level, and yet I took a very different course in my life than most people who were in office. My life was like your mayor’s [who was at the event]. I spent my life in the private sector.”
He later stopped at a parade marking the day in Jacksonville offering hugs and handshakes to a number of attendees who were very enthusiastic about his arrival. His campaign issued a statement about Martin Luther King Day around 7:30 this morning, again honoring King and using the opportunity to discuss challenges still facing certain sectors of the population.
“While we have made great strides,” the statement reads, “there is still much work to be done to ensure all Americans prosper economically, have access to affordable health care, and receive a quality education. The failure of our inner city schools is the great civil rights issue of our time.”
