Best of 2012: Hispanic vote shaping a new America

One of last year’s biggest game-changers was the impact the Hispanic vote had on the November presidential elections in the United States that ended with the reelection of President Barack Obama. Through the Special Coverage: The Best of 2012 compiled by PRODU Hispanic Publicidad, we note how powerfully the Latino community now weighs in on national decisions.At that time, Cynthia Hudson, senior executive VP and general manager of CNN en Español and head of CNN/U.S. strategy for the U.S. Hispanic market, told PRODU that the Hispanic vote would strengthen the Latin position worldwide. “I firmly believe that this is the Latin century. Our time has come,” she said.As part of the process, leading Hispanic artists made a concerted appeal to the community to go to the polls and vote.Through the Voto Latino organization, which aimed to motivate Hispanic millennials to register so they would be eligible to cast their ballots, U.S. Latino celebs like Rosario Dawson, America Ferrera, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Alba, Pitbull, Demi Lovato and Wilmer Valderrama got together in a drive to turn out the Hispanic vote.Jose Luis Valderrama, president and founder of Hispanic Group, said at the time that the decisive factor for winning the Latino vote in the elections would not be based on language, but on the political campaign platform most in line with the position of the community on issues that mean the most to them.