A new get-out-the-vote video campaign uses Latinos with political, cultural and other differences to urge the community to unite and vote against “division.”
Although it never mentions him, the series of five online videos produced by Mi Familia Vota Educational Fund are a jab at GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Each video in the group’s “Estamos Unidos” (We Are United) campaign uses the phrase “politics of division” or “division” or “politics that divides us," words often used to describe the campaign that Trump has waged this election. They all urge Latinos to vote.
In the videos, the featured celebrity or personality, is either a Republican or a Democrat or an unaffiliated voter, an immigrant or born in the U.S., a man or a woman, a Latino with a name spelled with an accent or without an accent. All the videos are done in English and Spanish.
“The November election will determine what kind of America all of our nation’s Latinos will experience going forward, whether we are first generation, New Americans or whether our families have lived here for generations,” Ben Monterroso, executive director of Mi Familia Vota Education Fund said in a statement.
“Will we be accepted as contributing members of our communities and economy, or will we be judged by the color of our skin? We need to vote for a real United States of America so that our futures are not driven by the politics of division," he stated.
One of the videos pairs up Democrat Luis Gutiérrez of Illinois with former U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin, who served in the George W. Bush administration and has joined other Latino Republicans in pledging her vote for Clinton.
“Whether you are like me, an immigrant to the United States who became a citizen,” says Marin. “Or like me, an American citizen of Puerto Rican descent,” Gutiérrez continues. “You need to join us and unite to vote for unity, not division,” Marin says.
In an emailed statement, Gutiérrez told NBC Latino that he does not consider Latino voters apathetic or that they are not paying attention. But a little added encouragement and a reminder of how important our voices are in the political process will hopefully get more eligible citizens to the polls,” he said.
The messages are similar in the other videos that feature entertainment mogul Emilio Estefan and Republican political strategist Anna Navarro; actor and film producer Edward James Olmos and actor Diane Guerrero; Democratic political strategist Maria Cardona and Republican political strategist Gutiérrez and Democratic communications consultant Gebe Martinez and Republican media consultant César Martínez.
In her video, Guerrero warns: “If you don’t vote, you might regret what we get.”
Martínez, the Republican consultant who directed the videos, said after witnessing the early part of this year's election, he felt compelled to “alert 1st and 2nd generation Latino voters that we have to show the power of our vote, no matter our party affiliation, for our own sake, and the sake of our country.”
The videos, which will be released through social media each week until the Nov. 8 election, have been launched as time is running out for Americans to register to vote. State voter registration deadlines start coming up next month. For example, voter registration deadlines in Mississippi and South Carolina are Oct. 8. In the swing state of Nevada, voter registration by mail is the same date, but can be done in person or online through Oct. 18.
