Record Spending Likely as Obama, Romney Ramp Up Courtship of Latinos

Latino voters are becoming more desirable with each election as their ranks swell, and the presidential candidates are hitting them early and often this campaign season and will likely break spending records.

The Obama campaign and allied advertisers are already spending heavily to woo them. And while observers say Mitt Romney is unlikely to win the Hispanic vote, the campaign can better its chances of overall victory simply by cutting into President Barack Obama's vote count within the population. The amounts being spent are unprecedented in light of the fact that just $5.7 million total was put down on Hispanic media in the 2008 general election, according to Kantar Media. Meanwhile, the Romney camp has spent a fraction of the total Obama sum for Spanish-language TV to date -- or roughly $200,000, according to a source who tracks media buys -- but nothing in Florida since the GOP primaries. However, he's dipped a toe into some markets with the heavy Latino populations, making buys in Raleigh (NC), and Cleveland.