As the battle between John McCain and Barack Obama for Hispanic votes heats up, it raises the question of what relates better, an immigrant father or an absentee father? For Obama, the answer is an absentee father.

This morning Obama's campaign e-mailed reporters the script for his first Spanish-language radio ad of the general election, designed to portray him as sharing the same experiences as many Latino voters, and it included these lines:

"His father was an immigrant. His mother from a humble, middle class family. Through student loans and hard work, he graduated from college.
 
Obama never pulled people down as he made his way up…"
 
But about an hour later the campaign sent out what it said was the final script, which changed those lines to read:

"He grew up without a father — raised by his mother with the support of his grandparents.
 
Through student loans and hard work, he graduated from college.
 
Obama never forgot his roots…"
 
On a conference call with reporters, the Obama campaign said the first version was a draft.

Rep. Xavier Becerra, a campaign surrogate, told reporters the ad was designed to show Obama was "one of us" because "his experience is our experience."

The full scripts follow below:

First draft:

“Bootstraps”
 
[VO:] Some people have power and connections.
 
But most of us have to make our own way through life.
 
This is true even for the man who could become the next President … Barack Obama.
 
His father was an immigrant. His mother from a humble, middle class family. Through student loans and hard work, he graduated from college.
 
Obama never pulled people down as he made his way up…
 
He worked with churches to help families get job training and after-school care for their children.
 
In the State Senate, he passed a law that helped reduce the welfare roles by over 80% by helping families to secure jobs.
 
And despite the political pressure, Obama has stood with us for immigration reform and spoke out for our veterans.
 
It’s time we had a President who understands we all deserve a chance to make our own way.
 
 
Final script:

 
[VO:]   Some people have power and connections.
 
But most of us have to make our own way through life.
 
This is true even for the man who could become the next President … Barack Obama.
 
He grew up without a father — raised by his mother with the support of his grandparents.
 
Through student loans and hard work, he graduated from college.
 
Obama never forgot his roots…
 
He worked with churches to help families get job training and after-school care for their children.
 
In the State Senate, he passed a law that helped reduce the welfare roles by over 80% by helping families to secure jobs.
 
And despite the political pressure, Obama has stood with us for immigration reform and spoke out for our veterans.
 
It’s time we had a President who understands we all deserve a chance to make our own way.

— Stephen Dinan, national political correspondent, The Washington Times

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