/ Modified may 1, 2010 2:24 a.m.

LATINOS ’08

With the presidential election a month away, supporters of Barack Obama and John McCain are trying to mobilize Latinos, who do not fit the black/white racial binary that has long shaped American politics. Wednesday, Oct. 8th 10pm KUAT6 & HD

2008 Los Angeles Citizenship Ceremony

Latinos '08 examines the2008 presidential election through prism of ethnic politics.

A new documentary from Phillip Rodriguez explores the increasing presence of Latinos on the American political scene through the wider lens of ethnic politics across U.S. history, says Rodriguez, the award-winning Los Angeles filmmaker. “This is just the latest chapter of the American immigrant assimilation story,” Henry Cisneros points out in the film. Cisneros, the former mayor of San Antonio and Clinton Administration cabinet member, is joined in the documentary by a lineup of astute political commentators and scholars, complemented with animation and graphics.

John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1960 was the first to make a concerted effort to reach Latino voters, and the documentary features a TV ad, delivered gingerly in Spanish, by Jacqueline Kennedy. In 1980, Ronald Reagan broke through the traditional Democratic-voting pattern of Latinos by appealing to their conservative family values.

McCain was seen favorably by many Latinos for his support of a comprehensive immigration reform, but he has retreated from that position amid hostile attacks against illegal immigrants. Those attacks, to some, appeared to demonize Latinos in general. “Some of that rhetoric sounded anti-Hispanic specifically,” says TV commentator Leslie Sanchez, a Republican.

Meanwhile, Obama was beaten soundly by Hillary Clinton in the primaries, and her support was especially strong among Latinas. This political landscape sets up some key questions in Campaign 2008: Will McCain manage to win significant Latino voters despite the Republican Party's harsh immigration rhetoric? Will Democrat Barack Obama succeed in securing the Latino votes of Hillary Clinton supporters?

Watch it Wednesday, October 8th at 10pm on KUAT6 & HD

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