Obama leads in battle for Latino vote

The latest polls show he has a surprising advantage over McCain and is favored by up to 62% of voters.
By Peter Wallsten
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

June 6, 2008

WASHINGTON — It was called "un mensaje personal a Puerto Rico," a television spot in which Barack Obama spoke to the camera in stilted but effective Spanish.

"I was born on an island," he said, "and I understand that food, gas, and everything costs more."

Obama got trounced in the Puerto Rico primary this week. But the advertisement, with the candidate's personalized appeal and willingness to try the language, is a sign of the unusual tactics that Obama's campaign is preparing to deploy on the mainland as it tries to win over a Latino electorate that voted overwhelmingly for his party rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, in Democratic primaries.

Some Democrats have worried that Latinos view Obama warily and will be drawn to Republican nominee John McCain, who has been popular in that community and has campaigned in it aggressively -- already airing Spanish-language radio ads in the heavily Latino battlegrounds of New Mexico and Nevada.

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