In an appeal to historically conservative Cuban Americans, Barack Obama today urged a thaw in the US embargo on the island nation and released an ambitious plan for Latin America.
Obama threw a confident jab at Republican rival John McCain, who visited south Florida last week to accuse the likely Democratic presidential nominee of being too cosy with the Cuban government.
"Now let me be clear: John McCain's been going around the country talking about how much I want to meet with Raul Castro, as if I'm looking for a social gathering," Obama told members of the Cuban-American national foundation in Miami.
"That's never what I've said, and John McCain knows it."
What Obama has suggested is engagement with Castro, who took over for brother Fidel earlier this year and has allowed a few democratic reforms to Cuba's oppressive social framework.
Obama vowed today to allow Cuban-Americans unlimited rights to travel and send money to the island as president, loosening Bush administration restrictions that are increasingly unpopular.
While Cubans in the US have largely voted Republican in the past, a Florida International University poll taken last year found that 65% support Obama's call for dialogue with Castro, 64% support allowing money transfers and 55% support allowing travel.
"It's time for more than tough talk that never yields results. It's time for a new strategy," Obama said today, according to a transcript released by his camp.
"There are no better ambassadors for freedom than Cuban-Americans."
The state of Florida - particularly the southern region - is a major battleground in the likely autumn contest between Obama and McCain. Although the dispute over counting Florida's Democratic primary has left Obama at a disadvantage, today's speech could help him make up for lost time by winning over younger Cuban-Americans with a less virulent dislike of the Castro government.
Obama buttressed his Cuba policy proposals with a wide-ranging Latin America plan that would reinstate the regional envoy position that George Bush has not filled since 2004 and create an anti-crime partnership to cut down on the US drug trade with Mexico.
Obama proposed complete debt relief for poor Latin American nations and opening a dialogue with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who has compared Bush to Satan.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton manoeuvred to keep her fading candidacy on life support by stoking talk of a vice presidential offer from Obama.
Bill Clinton and other confidantes of the former first lady have begun reaching out to Obama in the US media, telling CNN, Time magazine and others that an "exit strategy" to end the Democratic race should involve an offer for an Obama-Clinton ticket.
But Obama advisers today downplayed the prospect of formal talks between the Democratic rivals.
The New York Post played on the new tensions with a cover graphic showing Obama and Clinton as bride and groom on a wedding cake. The caption read: "Man and Vice".
The Obama camp also released new polling that shows him ahead of McCain in the swing states of Ohio, Virginia and Pennsylvania. He is slated next week to visit three western states that Democrats are in position to win in the autumn: Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada.