"I see a Latino president in the United States in the near future"

Interview with César Martínez, President of MAS Consulting Group.

When he began studying film in Los Angeles, César Martínez knew that advertising and the world of production were part of his future, but the possibility of becoming one of the leading international political consultants never crossed his mind. Few consultants of Latino origin have in their curriculum the fact that they have participated in the last four U.S. presidential campaigns: Bush-Cheney 2000 and 2004, McCain-Pallin 2008 and Romney-Ryan 2012, in addition to having advised candidates from all over Latin America and Spain for the last 20 years, being a regular guest at classes and seminars at universities around the world and having received numerous international awards for their work in the world of advertising and political consulting.

By Inés Royo

President of MAS Consulting Group, a firm that this year celebrates its 10 years of work in Spain, César Martínez looks with optimism to the future of the profession and sees in the Hispanics living in the United States a key group in politics to which he will continue to dedicate his efforts during the campaign and from which many candidates will emerge for the present and for the future.

Four campaigns, three candidates, one party. What has changed since the first time you participated in a U.S. presidential campaign in 2000?

A lot of things. I remember that when we started working in 1999 with then-Governor Bush, it was not usual to carry out strategies to seek out the Latino vote. There were already some efforts to win over Hispanic audiences in the world of marketing and communication, but not in the political arena. When Lionel Sosa (from whom I continue to learn every day) and I started working, we were fortunate that the great effort we made in that campaign was not only in the advertising part, but it allowed us to do some "novel" things at that time, such as offering news to those media outlets that could not attend the calls or having a Hispanic spokesperson for the media that broadcast in Spanish. There were many "firsts" and innovative issues in that campaign from the communication point of view. Today those "firsts" are a very important, even decisive, part of the strategy for some candidates like President Obama.

Can it be said then that it was the Republican Party that was the driving force in working with the Latino vote?

Among colleagues we talked about how what was done with Bush 13 years ago is now being applied by Obama: taking seriously the now majority minority. The Latino electorate today is too important and representative to ignore. For example, the five most important states, or at least the ones most decisive in the presidential elections, are where most Latinos reside and have the right to vote. It is a very large segment of voters, which has changed a lot and will continue to change a lot more in the coming years, and thus will continue to increase its political power in the elections.

Estimates predict that by 2025, 25% of the U.S. population will be Hispanic. What will this mean for the country from a sociodemographic and cultural point of view?

As with all estimates, these data must be taken with caution, but the growth of the Latino population is a reality. Of the population growth recorded in recent years, 50% is Latino and has been spread across almost all states, and in some, such as North Carolina, it is a growth of 160%. From a cultural and sociodemographic point of view, I believe that the Latino population is becoming a new injection of energy for the United States. It is important to remember that the United States is a country of immigrants and has always been nourished by them. With the new generations, it reinvents itself, brings out the best in each culture and together they manage to move the country forward. A clear example is the economic issue, Latinos are a group of 50 million people and therefore consumers. Latinos are increasingly influential in the economic, social and cultural spheres.

Can we still talk about the American dream for immigrants coming to the United States?

The United States remains that great country of opportunity, no matter what the economy is like, even if it is not in its prime now. It will always be that great place that brings together people from all over the world in search of a second chance, the American dream, which of course still exists.

And what effect is this growth in the Latino population going to have on the way politics and election campaigns are conducted?

With these numbers, it is no longer just the responsibility of Latinos to register and go to the polls. Now they must also be representatives and be voted on. There are already many Latinos in political positions at all levels: Villarraigosa in Los Angeles, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, Brian Sandoval, Sonia Sotomayor on the Supreme Court. They are no longer just voters, but are potentially elected. About 50,000 young U.S.-born Latinos come of age every month and politics must include them in the system and adapt to it. Not just as idealistic thinking, but as a key part of the campaign.

Are you betting on a first Hispanic president in the White House in the next few years?

Yes, that's a fact, and it can come from both parties. By 2016, I dare say there will be at least one Hispanic in the formula, either as president or vice president. In fact, personally I think it would have been a good idea if Marco Rubio had accompanied Romney in 2012. It is more than likely that with Rubio, he would have won Florida and we would have moved the needle more in the Hispanic. Marco Rubio in Tampa moved everyone emotionally by telling over and over again his personal story of how his father worked as a waiter to pay for their education. Rubio would have brought to the Romney-Rubio formula a more passionate, emotional and interesting part. There are other possibilities like Susana Martinez or Brian Sandoval. Other names, like Ted Cruz, might be too conservative. I see that in 2016 there will be someone Hispanic on the ballot and I see in the near future a Latino president in the United States.

What is the best slogan or piece for you aimed at Latinos in recent campaigns?

There are some very good ones but I would stick with one that talked about "a new day" in the 2000 campaign. A new day where the Republican Party's relationship with Latinos was reinvented. Then there have been other more "sound" ones. For example, in 2008 we worked the "Estamos Unidos" with McCain and in 2012 Obama's people recycled it. We talked to them directly to see what had happened because they were using in the campaign something that had been criticized four years before us. I suppose that would be the best slogan since it has been used twice by both major parties. It didn't help us to win, but it did for them.

The power of campaign videos

One of the areas you've worked with the Republican candidates the most is the production of political spots. According to the trends of the last few years, are we facing the end of the reign of television in favor of the Internet?

It's an interesting situation. Television remains the mass medium but the Internet achieves enormous penetration and segmentation. In the face of this dilemma, what do you do? I think the ideal situation is to create a video for the Internet, move it and have it echoed by traditional media. If what you handle in social networks comes to move to the general media is ground up gold and if it stays only in the networks you run the risk of losing a certain group that can be very valuable. A spot only in networks must be for a very specific segment of the electorate. Depending on who your voter is, depending on who we are targeting we should work more on the network or not. For example, if we target the young voter, logically the Internet is key. But if the voter is older, especially in the primary, television will still be the great medium to reach them.

Do you remember your first political video?

I remember one of the first video messages I had to make during the 2004 campaign in the US and another one in 2005 in Mexico. At that time they were things that the media and the people did not yet understand, and press conferences had to be held to present and explain them. The video from the United States was with Senator Kerry related to the Latino world. In the video from Mexico we mentioned that Andrés López Obrador was someone "not good" for the 2006 candidacy; seven years have passed but he continues to move in networks because he was very impressive.

The long awaited Immigration Law in the United States

The immigration law has managed to bring the two parties together and has provoked a great deal of debate in the cameras. Could it be the key to President Obama making history?

I think the more Obama is involved in this bill, the further he is from making it happen. Because the key to making it happen will be to convince some of the Republicans who have already shown their opposition in his amendments, some of them lethal as those related to the border with Mexico and its security. The Gang of Eight (a group of four Democrats and four Republicans who have worked on the drafting and management of the bill on Capitol Hill) has done very well because it has shown that it is bipartisan on an issue as important as immigration. If it finally passes, Obama will hang himself a medal because it has been his during his administration but voters also do not forget that he promised in 2008 and it did not happen, then he promised again and it is taking longer than expected. It is such an important reform that everyone wants to earn it and put the stamp of having participated in it.

The future of the profession in Spain

In addition to the United States, this year MAS Consulting celebrates 10 years of work in Spain. After this time, what are the main differences between political consulting in Spain and other countries?

When Daniel Ureña and I sat down in 2003 and opened MAS Consulting globally, we were looking to create something that would bring together different countries to offer consulting services and also focus on training. Luckily, postgraduate courses are very successful and campaigns, even though they work differently, have also been a great experience. One of the main differences with Spain is the duration of the campaigns. Having two weeks to ask for the vote would be unthinkable in other countries. In consulting, 15 days is nothing; hence many Spanish consultants have decided to emigrate. However, it becomes a very interesting challenge in which you can do many things and innovate.

Does the difference in systems also influence the way we work?

No doubt about it. In addition to the short duration, which gives an essential role to the pre-campaign, the system of closed lists, limited media spaces, limited financing, the weight of the parties Each country has its own rules and the consultant must adapt to them. Each country contributes a grain of sand to the great mountain that is democracy, and ideally, it would be possible to create a system with the best of each. Churchill used to say that democracy is the worst system except for all the others.