Opinion: The Ricky Martin endorsement

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Top of the Ticket notes that Hillary Clinton has won the endorsement of U.N. Goodwill Ambassador and Menudo alum Ricky Martin, just days before the Puerto Rico primary. Martin is a Puerto Rico native who has evidently changed his political preferences since he shimmied with George W. Bush in 2001. (He said Bush’s going to war made him switch; guess he didn’t mind Clinton’s vote on that matter.)

Meanwhile, Barack Obama has launched a campaign ad that’s winning him praise (some of it faint) for his Spanish-speaking skills. It’s not the first Spanish-language ad by either of the Democratic candidates (who also have Spanish-language pages), but it is the first time we’ve heard Obama speak the language at length. Clinton has attempted snippets of Spanish in the past, without much success. That puts her in line with many candidates past, but it probably won’t hurt her -- it’s usually (mis)translations that raise controversy, not simple statements, however flubbed.

So a shout-out from a native son might be what Clinton needs, as long as Obama doesn’t convince Daddy Yankee to end mounting speculation on his political preferences.