It’s a piece of vintage Miami politics: a new anti-Obama commercial airing on television and the web in which Hugo Chavez says he would vote for the president if he could.
The spot also features Raul Castro’s daughter, Mariela Castro, saying she too would vote for President Barack Obama – in an attempt to link him to two of the most hated people in the Cuban exile community.
The argument goes down easy with supporters of Republican nominee Mitt Romney such as Miguel Fullana, who has seen the commercial.
"I think that’s correct,” he said. “Hugo Chavez and Castro and the different Communist people in Latin America support Obama."
Freddy Balsera, a representative of the Obama campaign, says he has seen this all before.
"Whenever they think an election is tight, they bring out Fidel Castro, and now they bring out Hugo Chavez,” he said.
Dr. Jeff Kanov, who supports Romney, said the message is right on the money.
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“It really doesn’t surprise me that a lot of the socialist-oriented people tend to be together on this, and that’s how I see the president,” he said.
But why is this attack ad appearing now? Balsera has an idea.
"This is a classic 1980s-style, last-minute desperation tactics by the Republicans,” he said.
