Attack Mode: Joe Garcia v. Diaz-Balart double standard

There’s a power of research going on over at the Joe Garcia campaign against Mario Diaz-Balart in FL-25. Who’s doing business with Cuba and giving money to the Diaz-Balarts, who revile and decry doing business with Cuba? Turns out there are such animals, and they have given a power of money to the congressional brothers: $80,000.

Here’s a YouTube ad that the Joe Garcia campaign is putting out, along with a statement reminding voters that Joe supports sanctions on Cuba but opposes the 2004 restrictions on family aid and travel. As do Raul Martinez, challenging Lincoln Diaz-Balart in FL-21, and Annette Taddeo, challenging Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in District 18.

This has been in El Nuevo Herald and on Spanish-language television. Anyone seen it in English media?

The language aspect of this reminds me of the recent story in the Miami Herald about how Raul Martinez has rounded on Radio Mambi for letting callers rave on with unsubstantiated allegations. Martinez mentioned this last week in an appearance at Democracy for America Miami-Dade and made it clear he's not going to let any slight get by without a comment or a fight.

I like to see this, and I like that it's possible to break into local media with our combative positions. It has been clear for months now that -- unlike in past years when Democratic challengers to the Republican incumbents in Congress were ignored -- that today's strong candidates should offer fights wherever appropriate, and the media will lap it up.

But I don't like the fact that a lot of this is taking place only in Spanish media. Where are all the bilingual reporters of the Miami Herald and broadcast media whose job should be to tell us non-Spanish speakers what's going on across the language divide?