All Blog Posts from Horserace

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said on Thursday that Barack Obama's campaign is capturing an "anti-American feeling," The Hill reports.

"Well this is why he is a popular candidate in Europe, because there is such an anti-American feeling and he is sort of capturing that," Giuliani said on MSNBC.

Giuliani's comments came in response to Obama's suggestion at a town hall meeting in Georgia that American children should learn how to speak Spanish. The former Republican presidential candidate said that while it is beneficial for English-speaking children to learn a second language, Obama wrongly assumed that immigrant families are learning English.

"The reality is that this is a country that should speak English…and if we can learn an extra language or two that would be terrific," Giuliani said.

It's Cinco de Mayo, and John McCain's campaign has chosen the Mexican holiday to launch a Spanish-language version of its Web site.

The site features a Spanish-language ad for McCain and trumpets the phrase "Estamos Unidos Con McCain" – which translates to "We Are United With McCain."

As USA Today notes, McCain was asked today if Republicans will be damaged in November by the hard line many in the party took on immigration. McCain himself took a more moderate position in line with President Bush.

"The tenor of the debate has harmed our image among Hispanics," McCain acknowledged. The McCain campaign also released a statement today commemorating Cinco de Mayo and stating that "we join together to remember the sacrifice that these Mexican patriots [at the the Battle of Puebla] endured."

In related news, McCain announced today that he will address La Raza, a liberal-leaning Latino group, in July. Politico's Jonathan Martin suggests that McCain is "trying to show that he's not George W. Bush by going into the lion's den and taking hostile, unscripted questions from adversarial groups." The McCain campaign says the candidate is scheduling the stop "as part of his commitment to talking with all Americans."

The Obama campaign has announced a new Spanish-language radio ad to air in Texas.

"Barack Obama is talking to me. He’s faced many of the same challenges that we’ve faced in my family," an announcer says in the spot. "His parents weren’t rich, but through hard work, he earned a scholarship and found his way — graduating from Harvard Law School. And instead of accepting job offers that paid a lot of money, Obama decided to work with churches, giving a helping hand to those less fortunate in his community."

The spot includes snippets of Obama speaking, but otherwise it's entirely in Spanish. It closes like this: "Obama is talking to me...That’s why I’m talking to others — my parents, my uncles, and my friends — because politics isn’t just for those who like to fight, it’s for those who want to build a better future. Obama is talking to me, and he’s talking to you too."

If your Spanish is up to snuff, you can listen to the ad here.

The Obama campaign is hoping to land a knockout blow on March 4th, when voters have their say in Texas, as well as Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont. Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, sees the day as a chance to recover after what is expected to be a tough February. Both campaigns began airing television ads today in Texas and Ohio.

Obama has struggled to attract Hispanic voters, though he has done increasingly well since the group broke for Clinton in large numbers in the Nevada caucuses. Some observers, among them Clinton pollster and Latino expert Sergio Bendixen, believe that Latino voters are not predisposed to support a black politician; Bendixen said "the Hispanic voter -- and I want to say this very carefully -- has not shown a lot of willingness or affinity to support black candidates." Critics counter by pointing to black politicians who have done well with Hispanic voters, among them Los Angles Mayor Tom Bradley and New York mayor David Dinkins.