Jose Martinez

Major and Classification

Political Science

Faculty Mentor

  • Ricardo Ramirez, Ph.D.

Department

  • Political Science

McNair Project

“Cultural to Substantive: The Evolvement of Spanish-language Television Advertisements by the Republican and Democratic Presidential Campaigns of 2000 and 2004”

This study asked in what ways did the Spanish-language television advertisements by the Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns of 2004 differ from the Spanish-language television advertisements aired during the 2000 presidential election. The central purpose of this study was to determine if and why presidential campaigns outreach drives to Hispanic voters through Spanish-language TV ads evolved from cultural reference- based messages to substantive issue-based messages over a four year period. Textual analysis of various reports was done to determine how 2004 Spanish-language television ads changed or unchanged from 2000 Spanish TV ads. Translation and transcription of six 2000 Spanish TV ads (3 Republican and 3 Democratic) and six 2004 Spanish TV ads (3 Republican and 3 Democratic) was done to determine if there were changes in Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns’ Spanish-language television advertisements.