Behind the Ad: Mitt Romney and the spirit of Joe McCarthy

By Richard K. Barry

(Another installment in our extensive " Behind the Ad" series.)  

Who: The Romney-Ryan campaign.

Where: Florida.

What's going on: This Spanish-language ad uses comments by Fidel Castro's niece and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that they would vote for Barack Obama. As The National Memo points out, so would most everyone else around the world. The ad also suggests Obama's policies resemble those of Chavez and Castro:

Romney is targeting the Cuban population of Florida who are the only Hispanics in America he is having much success attracting. President Obama garners nearly 70 percent of the Latino vote nationally, but in Florida his lead is a mere 4 points. The Cuban community makes up about 60 percent of Miami-Dade County’s Republican voters, where the ad is airing.

Separate Cubans out and the president leads with Hispanic voters in Florida 65-32. The connection with Castro is clearly designed to incite memories of the island regime that many Cuban-Americans or their relatives fled.

Romney is so pathetic. Red-baiting in 2012. Imagine. The stench of desperation is in the air.


(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)