Invitations for Partisan Identification: Attempts to Court Latino Voters Through Televised Latino-Oriented Political Advertisements, 1984–2000

Abstract

By the year 2050, Latinos will represent the dominant ethnic minority in the United States, and researchers are just beginning to examine the campaign messages targeted to this voting bloc. This article employs identification theory to understand the rhetorical approaches used in campaign advertisements designed for these voters. Through a content analysis of campaign spots targeted to Latinos over four presidential elections (1984, 1988, 1996, 2000), we find that the invitations for party identification sent to this group tend to be positive, focus on the Latino (not the candidate), and depict Latinos as an emergent force in American politics. In trying to foster identification from this desirable voting population, it appears that campaign forces encourage Latinos to view themselves, and politics, as valuable and consequential—a marked alternative to most advertising strategies at the close of the 20th century.