Both parties launch Spanish-language ads in Southwest states

The Republican and Democratic national committees both announced new Spanish-language ads this week targeting Hispanic voters in New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada.

The early ads focusing on the presidential election in battleground states with a high Latino population indicate the importance the Hispanic vote will have in 2012.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Friday announced a new Spanish-language ad that will run on TV in several metropolitan areas in the Southwestern states, as well as in Florida and Washington, D.C.

The DNC ad, titled "En quien confiar," emphasizes "the president’s commitment to the Hispanic community" through healthcare and education initiatives, as well as the Recovery Act.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) announced on Wednesday the release of a Spanish-language radio ad running in the Southwestern states. The ad aims to highlight “failed economic leadership” by President Obama.

“The RNC is ready to take the fight to the states where President Obama’s economic policies are stifling job creation and putting recovery on hold,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement.

Priebus's Democratic counterpart, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), fired back in a press release announcing the DNC's ad buy. "The administration’s record is clear," she said. "The Republican Party is offering no new solutions to the American people — they simply want to double down on the failed policies that brought our economy to the brink of a depression and hurt millions of American families, including far too many Latinos."

Obama and the Democrats have traditionally taken a large percentage of the Hispanic vote, Obama sweeping the Latino vote by a 2-1 margin in 2008. GOP strategists have warned that with the rising number of Hispanics in the U.S., unless Republicans shift their appeal, Democrats will carry their support at the polls.