The Ad Campaign - Obama Attacks McCain in a Bid to Attract Hispanic Voters - NYTimes.com This Spanish-language television advertisement for Senator Barack Obama is intended for Latino voters in battleground and other states. Called "Two Faces," it is 30 seconds long. PRODUCER Obama media team THE SCRIPT Mr. Obama speaks first, in accented Spanish, saying he approves the message. Then an indignant male voice says: "They want us to forget the insults we've had to endure. Intolerance. They've made us feel marginalized in this country that we love so much. John McCain and his Republican friends have two faces. One tells lies to get our votes. The other, even worse, follows the failed policies of George Bush, putting the interests of powerful groups ahead of working families. John McCain: more of the same Republican deceit. THE SCREEN After Mr. Obama's introduction, the screen splits in two. At the top is a Hispanic mother and her young child; at the bottom is a picture of Rush Limbaugh and the phrase "stupid, unskilled Mexicans." The image of a middle-aged Hispanic woman in front of a store follows, with another phrase attributed to Mr. Limbaugh: "Shut your mouth or get out!" At the first mention of "two faces," the images of Mr. McCain and President Bush appear. A newspaper headline reads "they made immigration reform fail," attributing the phrase to a McCain campaign advertisement. As an image of an oil rig on the left gives way to a gasoline pump and then the accusation of deceit, Mr. McCain and Mr. Bush are shown together again on the right. ACCURACY This advertisement is misleading. Mr. McCain's history on the immigration issue, though complicated, is misrepresented here, as is his relationship with the nativist wing of his party and Mr. Limbaugh. With Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Mr. McCain sponsored overhaul legislation in 2006. He later backed away from his own bill for reasons still being debated, and though he now says the borders must be secured first, he has not repudiated his support for the principle. He has tried in his own advertisements to shift the blame for the bill's failure to Mr. Obama. On the campaign trail, Mr. McCain has also repeatedly praised the Hispanic contribution to American life. Not one of the anti-Hispanic slights in the advertisement came from Mr. McCain's mouth. And while Mr. McCain has mentioned the failure of the effort to overhaul immigration in one of his own Spanish-language advertisements, he has not celebrated it. SCORECARD A Spanish-language proverb says it best: "Tell me who you walk with, and I will tell you who you are." This is an exercise in guilt by association, meant to taint Mr. McCain with Latino voters. But in the Republican presidential debates, he took pains to separate himself from the anti-immigrant posture of candidates like Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado, and Mr. Limbaugh has often attacked Mr. McCain. So while Mr. McCain may need to explain why the Republican platform does not reflect his views on immigration, little in his record justifies this attack, which strongly implies that he holds anti-Hispanic views.