Longoria Parker Urges For Hispanics To Vote

Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria Parker said Thursday that Hispanics could play a crucial role in the presidential election, particularly in swing states, but that many eligible voters remain unregistered.

To urge increased Hispanic participation in the Nov. 4 election, Longoria says, “Go out and tell your families, go out and tell your friends, go out and tell your communities to try to get everyone registered to vote.”

Both campaigns are wooing the increasingly important Hispanic vote, and nonpartisan Hispanic groups have launched unprecedented registration drives.

Sen. John McCain has hired San Antonio marketing guru Lionel Sosa to develop Hispanic outreach efforts for his campaign, which recently began airing a Spanish-language TV ad in Florida that casts Obama as inexperienced and willing to sit down with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez despite his anti-American stance.

A recent poll for the Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times shows McCain leading Obama with Hispanic voters in Florida by a margin of 51 percent to 41 percent.

Nonpartisan groups such as the National Council of La Raza, Mi Familia Vota Educational Fund and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials are working to bring a record number of Hispanics to the polls.