Carlos Leon Booed at El Paso County Democratic Convention

Just when I thought I understood who was supporting who in this race I find myself even more confused. It appears that the power structure of the Democratic Party establishment is behind Leon. But I was really surprised at the amount of support Wiles appeared to have among rank and file Democrats in El Paso County Democratic Convention.

 

Each candidate that was involved in the upcoming run-off was given a chance to address the convention. Wiles spoke first and here’s a look at his speech.

 

The Leon had his chance to address the crowd. He was booed near the end for drawing attention to the fact that Wiles in his speech just stated that he took over a distressed department but when Wiles was first appointed EPPD Chief, he was inheriting one of the best departments around. I have no idea what made the crowd upset with that point, but Leon was right, he did get Wiles in one of those classic GOT’CHA moments. Here is the video of a portion of Leon’s speech.

 

I was surprised that he said it (you can hear me say “oh” on the clip), but I didn’t think it was out of line at all. Leon made a good point and the crowd just didn’t appreciate it.

 

Bet a lot of them probably still went out to Leon’s RV and enjoyed a free hotdog and soda though. Gotta love El Paso politics.

Carlos Leon & Family Talk About “Family Values”

I went to the El Paso County Democratic Convention on Saturday at the Don Haskins Center. I was spending a few minutes talking with a good friend of mine, who knows very well that I write my blog and do my best to maintain my anonymity so that I can write freely without having to worry about retribution.

 

My buddy introduced me to someone he was talking with that was wearing a Leon shirt. It turns out it was Bonnie Leon, wife of candidate Carlos Leon. We made some small talk and mentioned that I was still undecided. Then my buddy (who now owes me big time!!!!) mentioned my Cesar Chavez piece in my blog. I could’ve killed him for that, because it brought up the discussion of my blog.

 

As many of you have read, I have written about the sheriff’s race recently and in particular, Carlos Leon and his stand on a couple of issues. Specifically, I’ve written about the fact that the language in his campaign has shifted gears since the beginning of the run-off cycle. If you missed it, read further down the page and you’ll catch a couple of entries about Leon and the sheriff’s race.

 

I was a little uncomfortable because I write the way I truly feel about things and I call it like I see it. That means I see things differently than some people would like me to see things, especially if they are the subject of one of my entries. But I wouldn’t be me if I changed how I write, so don’t expect to see me write any differently than before.

 

But since the topic of blog came up, Mrs. Leon and I started a discussion about the content of the pieces I’ve written on Leon. I must say, I found Mrs. Leon to be a gracious and interesting person who seemed genuinely interested in my views and line of thinking. I found her to be intelligent and very open-minded. Outside of her husband’s résumé, she’s easily the campaign’s best asset. I must admit, she started to win me over because she listened to my perspective, asked questions, and gave me her feedback and viewpoint. She disagreed with me without being disagreeable. I felt like I understood things a little better because I talked with her. Maybe still didn’t agree, but certainly understood the intentions of the campaign much better.

 

Having said that, let me share a few highlights of the discussion. We primarily discussed my views about Leon’s message of “family values”. I told her that I felt at best it was an implication that their family structure was somehow superior to that of Wiles and that at worst, it appears as an under-handed way of bringing up Wiles’ sexuality.

 

She explained to me that they were advised, she didn’t say by whom, that their original campaign message of Stronger, Safer, Better wasn’t resonating well with voters and that they should focus on what makes Leon different. I explained some of my political experience and shared some suggestions with her and I found it to be an extremely productive conversation. She told me that they felt it was sound advice that they had received and that was the reason for the change in the message of the campaign. I explained that whenever you are trying to sell something to a voter, the sale would be based on the most marketable asset. I explained being bilingual and having family values are important things, but on the grand scale of the election are pretty much peripheral issues.

 

I further explained that the family values thing has gotten out of their control. When their surrogates, like JJ Armes go around trying to send the family values message but pepper the message with their own bigoted views, it ends up reflecting on the campaign. The predominant discussion ends up being based on the trivial and controversial, instead of the candidate’s qualifications. From a strategy standpoint, it just doesn’t make sense to push a message that you will end up having to defend. The idea is to make the other guy go on defense. Controlling your message is key. Mrs. Leon was extremely gracious and seemed to appreciate our discussion. I genuinely like Mrs. Leon and she reminds me a bit of one of my tias. In the beginning of our conversation I mentioned that I felt like both campaigns were fighting to lose my vote instead of win it, but after talking with her, I could envision supporting Leon.

 

Just about the time our conversation was wrapping up, Carlos Leon came over. There’s a video of the last time I talked to Leon in one of the entries on this blog and he came across pretty defensive with me. In fairness to him, I asked a tough question so I can understand the defensive posture. So I was a little apprehensive about how the conversation would go. Mrs. Leon introduced me and told him we were discussing my blog and my views about the family values and bilingual message. Mr. Leon was anxious to discuss it with me and he engaged the issues right away. We had a fruitful discussion and I came away from the conversation convinced by Mr. Leon of one thing. He convinced me 100% that their motives were not negative on the family values message. He was moved by the fact that he explained to that I was sitting with most of his campaign staff which consisted of Leon, his wife, and his daughter Lori who had just joined the discussion. I still think it’s a pointless strategy, but I am convinced that he meant nothing negative by the message.

 

We talked about his experience and accomplishments. It says a lot about Mr. Leon and his campaign that they spent so much time with me and talked candidly with an undecided voter. When I go and cast my ballot in the run-off election, I will try to remember the way I was treated by Carlos and Bonnie Leon (and the fact that they provided free hotdogs and sodas to the delegates).

 

I will also try to forget how I was treated by their daughter Lori.

Carlos Leon’s Daughter Roars at the LionStar!!!!

(Note to Reader: Originally this posting was part of the posting above titled Carlos Leon & Family Talk About “Family Values” but I decided to make them separate pieces because I want to illustrate how different my interactions with the adult Leons was from my discussion (I uses that term very loosely!) with their daughter. I am also making an appeal to any reader who hasn’t made up their mind about a sheriff candidate to not take into consideration my discussion with Lori. Please make your decision about who to support based on the candidate’s qualifications and your own values.) 

Lori, who mentioned she was her father’s campaign manager, was very gracious when we were first introduced. Her demeanor changed drastically when she found out I was the author of the LionStar Blog and she knew my screen name on the Strelz forum (www.TheStrelz.com). I expressed my surprise that she new my screen name on the Strelz and she told me that she keeps up with what people post about her father. I don’t know if she was trying to intimidate me by telling me that, but it did seem like it was meant to be a shot across the bow.

 

She came at me with all the tact of a ten year old who’d just found her daddy’s shotgun. Where her mother was mature, gracious and engaging, Lori was immature, confrontational, and emotional. I know she’s probably blowing steam out of her ears reading this entry, but she really should observe the way her mother comports herself with people that express a different opinion from hers.

 

Perhaps when she becomes a little more seasoned and politically savvy, she’ll learn not to take things personal, unless they are meant to be personal. Everything I’ve written in my blog about her father and his opponent is fair. There’s nothing written that’s personal but she somehow took it as a personal attack.

 

I tried to have a discussion with her and explain in more detail my take on things and she seemed only interested in talking at me, not talking to me. But I am a glutton for punishment and assume that people want to have productive conversations so I continued to try to explain things to Lori and reminded her that I had written criticisms about Wiles as well and remained undecided. To which she said that she’d read what I’ve written and that it was pretty clear that I was not undecided and was supporting Wiles.

 

So since she either hadn’t really read my blog or didn’t see what I’d written about Wiles and her father, I thought I’d help her out and I’ve copied what I wrote previously for her. Here’s what I wrote the day of the forum with the East Side Civic Association about being undecided:

 “I haven’t made my decision on which I am going to support for the sheriff because the candidate I was originally supporting didn’t make the runoff. I am interested on learning more about each candidate so I can make an informed decision based on their qualifications and stands on the issues. There is a forum tonight and I can’t wait to hear from both so I can finally make up my mind about my choice for sheriff.”And, here’s where I criticized Wiles for not showing up at the forum and gave her father credit for being there:“Also noticeably absent were Richard Wiles and Luis Sarinana. I’ve only seen Wiles attend one or two of the forums I’ve attended and he wasn’t there because of some family emergency that took him out of the city. It looks bad when a candidate doesn’t show up to one of these forums and a surrogate is left to explain where he’s at.”I go on to say: “I was asked if I was a plant for someone’s campaign after everything was all said and done. But since I asked several tough questions, I think they had a hard time figuring out who I was with. The answer is, no one! I’m just not afraid to ask hard questions. But I have to give Leon credit, at least he was there. Haven’t seen Wiles at too many events.” 

I seem to have a knack for making daughters / campaign managers of sheriff candidates mad at me for what I write about their daddies. Lori Leon (she might be married and have a different last name now that I think about it), certainly wasn’t the first daughter/campaign manager that didn’t agree with pieces I have written that mention their fathers.

 

Another candidate’s daughter/campaign manager actually reached out to me on this blog (you can see the exchange on one of the comments of a previous posting) and was MUCH more mature about her disagreement with my views. She had a specific issue with the fact that I wrote that her father changed his position on a particular issue from one forum to the next and she invited me to discuss with her further her father’s qualifications and track-record.

 

I didn’t back down from the fact that I did, and still feel, that he changed his position on an issue. But she and I engaged in a serious, issues-based discussion. We came to the conclusion that we didn’t agree about that particular issue but we became friends and I am glad we got the chance to know one another. I respect her intellect and passion for her father’s candidacy. But the key was this, it was a discussion based on issues and intellect, not passion and emotion.

 

I understand Lori’s passion for the campaign and think it’s an admirable trait, but she has to learn tact a little better. I pray to God that my own daughters will defend their father so vehemently if I am ever attacked on a personal level. But I also pray that they understand the difference between a personal attack and a tough question or understand the difference between a discussion and an argument.

 

I had just been won over by her parents before she started on me. I tried to explain how I felt about things and pointed out that Newspaper Tree had written something similar to my viewpoint and she started on a rant about David Crower and her father having “a history”. I never mentioned Crowder!

 

The question that I asked her father was a fair one. My assertion that his campaign message was code for another message was fair. It’s fine that she disagreed with my conclusion, but she took it personal.

 

I hope Bonnie Leon talks with her daughter and explains that acting the way she did is how you lose votes, not how you win them.

The Case of the Missing County Commissioner Precinct 1 Candidate

Have You Seen Me?

 

With all this talk of the upcoming run-off for the sheriffs race here in El Paso, we seem to have over-looked a very important story. Someone has apparently forgotten to file a missing persons report with the police department for Precinct 1 Candidate for Commissioners Court, Luis Sariñana.

 

This is a big story folks. Here is a candidate running for office who has apparently disappeared! I do have a lead on the story though. I did actually see him at the County Convention. He was guarding one of the doors that thousands of people had to wait in front of before they got to enter the Haskins Center.

 

But when it came time for him to address the crowd as a candidate, he was no where to be found. Maybe he isn’t actually missing. Maybe he’s actually trying to win the race by being conspicuously absent. He’s been a no-show at most of the candidate forums. He holds press conferences but doesn’t allow questions.

 

Apparently the only person he gives an audience to these days is his lawyer who’s defending him in the FBI public corruption case.

 

Contrast that to his opponent, Anna Perez. She has no problem talking with people and I think when compared side-by-side, it says a lot about their respective candidacies. Perez is accessible and answers any question that’s asked of her.

 

 

Personally I can’t believe how Sariñana is trying to ask for my vote with a straight face at the same time that he’s saying that he won’t answer questions about the FBI investigation.

 

There’s no way he’s going to win if he doesn’t engage the public. And that, is “elementary Dear Watson”.

I Marched with Cesar Chavez

“When your children and grandchildren take their place in America, going to high school and college, and taking good jobs at good pay-when you look at them you will say, ‘I did this, I was there…at the point of difficulty and danger’. 

And though you may be old and bent from many years of hard labor, no man will stand taller than you when you say, ‘I marched with Cesar Chavez!’” Robert F. Kennedy

 

Cesar Chavez Day is coming up and I thought I’d write a few lines about the man that I have come to regard as a personal hero.

THE LINEAGE

I grew up in the United Farmworker’s Union, as you can see in this photo. I was about 3 or 4 years old in this picture. It’s a picket line in Arizona, around 1978 or 1979.

My family’s name is well-known in “La Causa” and am the third generation of my family to be heavily involved with the Union and the movement. My grandfather Pedro, and great-uncles Hector and Ernesto were close advisors to Cesar and were with Cesar since the birth of the Union. Tio Hector was with Cesar since the days of CSO and Fred Ross.

My father, as I’ve previously mentioned, was an organizer for Cesar and my Tia Barbara (Dad’s sister) was a contract negotiator (one tough lady!) for the Union. Her ex-husband, I still call him Uncle Mark, was his long-time Press Secretary.

I tell you this because I want you all to understand the fact that I have a different perspective of the man than some other people because of the fact that my family was so intimately involved with the Union. I’ve had the great privilege of seeing things happen in real time that others only learn about in books.

My children only know of Cesar Chavez through pictures and video clips. But that’s more than I can say for a lot of people, even people from my generation. I can stress enough how important it is for our people to remember him and his legacy.

My father made a very bad mistake when he was a young man. That mistake led to a short prison sentence in the 60’s. After he got out of prison, my abuelito and my father had a falling out. My father went to live in California with my tia who was working with Cesar Chavez. This was right before the grape boycott. At the time, the Union was in its infancy. Chavez mentored the young misguided man and gave him direction. The man my dad was died on that day, and my Father was born.

Dad stopped thinking about himself and starting thinking about others. Cesar put the energy and angst of my father to good use and unleashed him as a fervent field organizer. As I have previously written about in my blog entry about the Hillary Clinton ad, my parents met one another in the fields when my father was trying to organize the fields that my Tata Remigio worked.

So it was not a strange thing that we were different from the other kids when we grew up. We were raised to be causistas since we were little. We were politically aware years before our peers. Though we didn’t always enjoy it, we spent a lot of time on picket lines, marches, and demonstrations. To this day, my sisters and I are world-class hell raisers. If you are a regular reader of this blog, I am not telling you anything you don’t already know.

THE MEMORIES

One of my earliest memories was of my father taking my brother and sister (eventually there were 8 of us and we were all born about 9 to 13 months apart) out to the fields to work the cebolla. My dad wanted us to know what it was like to have to work with our hands so that we’d study hard and not end up working with our hands. I remember the smell of the soil and onions. I remember how the dirt felt between my toes when it made its way through a hole in my shoe. At first I enjoyed the dirt in my hands, but it got old real quick and my finger nails looked green because of the dirt under my nails.

But what I will never forget is the heat. They call El Paso the Sun City, but it’s nothing compared to the way the sun beats down on you in Arizona. It’s dry (for some reason people think it’s humid, but it’s not) and it almost feels like the heat from a fire. The heat and sun make you squint when you are out doors and you almost don’t sweat because it quickly evaporates in the parched air.

It was that kind of heat that day. My brother and I were beat by the end of the third row that we worked. We didn’t even work that hard, I mean we were really little so we couldn’t have gotten all the much done, but it was certainly exhausting. My little brother started crying out of frustration, so I started crying too. Normally my Mom would’ve bailed us out when we started crying, but having worked in the fields much longer than even my father, I think my Mom was a little embarrassed that we cried so soon.

My father made us finish a couple more rows, but it was an experience I will never forget. We worked in the fields much more than that, but you never forget your first time. It is humbling work, but there is a quite dignity to it. The dignity that only comes through enduring the worst conditions possible and producing something with your own dusty, calloused hands. Vegetables and produce taste a lot better when you work in the fields. Onion has a better zip, chilé is more vibrant and colorful, oranges are heavier and sweeter, strawberries are meatier, and a good piece of cold, refreshing watermelon waiting for you at the end of your last row can’t be beat. Especially when you know that the adults didn’t get permission from the farmer to pick it for themselves or divide it amongst their many children.

The food that we enjoy on our tables passes through the humblest of hands before we enjoy it. If the meek shall inherit the Earth, then our planet will be in good, hard-working hands in the next life.

Dad played Santa Clause every year around Christmas time and would take toys from the Union, churches, and local nice people out to the farmworker children in the campos. Campos were small little make-shift communities that had their own unique culture and structure. I remember the older kids and men working out in the fields and the older girls and women all working together to make meals. Everyone ate together and I think that must be where I developed my life-long addiction for home-made (field-made) tortillas. I can still hear the sound of older señoras slapping and clapping white masa back and forth between their hands before they would lay them on a giant fire-warmed comal.

Naturally since my Dad was Santa, guess who got to be the little tights-wearing elves? We felt ridiculous, but my Mom and Nana worked really hard at making the costumes for me and my brother. One year we didn’t have enough toys so my Mom drove us to the house and we wrapped some of our toys for them. It really didn’t bother us because we all played together anyway, so the toys weren’t going far. It always amazed me though that no matter how poor we were, there were always kids poorer than us.

These are memories that I will carry with me forever. But perhaps the memory that is the strongest is of one particular march that we went on with Cesar Chavez. We marched from El Mirage, Arizona to the state capitol in downtown Phoenix. It’s about a 20 mile trek down Grande Avenue. It was a beautiful morning when we left the UFW office my father ran in El Mirage. We started with a few dozen people but the crowd grew steadily as we made our way through Sun City into Peoria, Glendale, and then west Phoenix. My brother and I took turns pulling my little sister Margarita in our little red wagon. We carried the tattered red, black, and white Huelga flags on rested them on our little shoulders as we marched.

It was a little breezy that day so we could hear the flags ruffle in the wind. I looked up to see my father walking next to Cesar and a group of older men and women. There were priests and nuns fingering their rosaries as we proceeded. My father and Cesar would often close their eyes and pray along the way, a trick my father taught me to take my mind off of being hungry, thirsty, or tired. They made small talk and laughed at the occasional joke. I remember that my father and another man often served as body guards for Cesar, so my dad was always rotating his head back and forth, scanning the area and crowd. To this day I wonder how a man with my father’s notorious temper managed to keep to the union creed of non-violence. Especially when people would be in his face, saying nasty things about him or trying to grope my mother just to provoke a reaction.

In the front of the march, even in front of Cesar, where three people. One carried the American flag, another carried a large union flag, and yet another carried a large banner of the Virgen de Guadalupe. The image of “mama virgen” was always around the marches and campos. Right behind us were the mariachis. Strumming their guitars and blaring their trumpets. My heart is still moved and a tear comes to my eye whenever I hear Nosotros Venceremos or De Colores. The music always took our mind off the heat and fatigue. During my Nana’s funeral, Don Manuel and his Mariachi Campesino played. I remember looking at him and thinking how he’d changed over the years, but his voice was still strong as I remember as I child on that march.

Cesar eventually pulled my sister along himself, giving my brother and me a much-needed rest. He winked at us when the news reporters and cameras came around. He told us to “stand up straight and make your parents proud”. He tried to comb my hair to the side with his hands and patted my head as he made his way over to the microphones set-up for the press conference at the end of the march.

As I grew up, Cesar always reminded me about how we pulled my little sister on a march that was so long. He used to laugh with my Dad about the time I tried to stop a cop in Yuma from arresting my Dad at a demonstration, talk about how much we’d grown and tell us how important it was to La Causa that we continue our education.

The remarkable thing about Cesar was how unremarkable of a man he was. He was so normal and down-to-earth that if you didn’t know who he was, you’d never know that he was a founder of a movement. He started a movement and had the courage to speak truth to power. He was not a dynamic, fire-and-brimstone speaker. He was small in stature but big in courage. It’s natural that such a humble and dignified man led such a humble people. His parents knew what they were doing when he was given such a powerful name. He was able to do things that could only have been done by a Cesar!

Cesar was a visionary. He was an environmentalist and pacifist before his time. He even fought for the improvement of the treatment of animals. No matter how much he tried to reassure me, I was terrified by his two dogs, Huelga and Boycott, when we went to visit him in La Paz. He never stayed in fancy hotels when he visited a town to organize or speak. He stayed at the homes of supporters, often insisting to sleep on the couch or on the floor.

When he died, my father got to carry the simple wooden box he was buried in for a short while. My father was already in declining health, but he was determined to help carry the body of his friend and mentor. Cesar’s wishes were to have his coffin carried by as many campesinos as possible, so it was a memorable experience to see famous people and farmworkers carry Cesar’s body through the streets of Delano.

We’ve come a long way during his time. Streets that Cesar once led marches on now bear his name. He fought legislatures for the simplest of rights for farmworkers, and now legislatures have passed holidays marking his birth. Cesar Chavez Park in Phoenix used to be the same fields where farmworker’s toiled. Ironic and fitting.

He once led a move to recall the governor of Arizona and now politicians all over the southwest trip over one another to speak to Latinos on Cesar Chavez Day. He used to tell young people about the importance of an education though he only had an eight grade education himself, and now he has schools that bear his name. My tio, who worked in the fields next to my mother, now teaches at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in south Phoenix! How’s that for improving the lives of farmworkers!

“

THE LESSON

If I’ve learned anything from Cesar it was to never be afraid to speak truth to power. We all have a responsibility to make sure that our children understand who he was and what he did.

From now until the day that I draw my last breath, I will be proud to say, I MARCHED WITH CESAR CHAVEZ!

¡Viva La Causa Y Viva Cesar Chavez!

Leon Makes Allegation Against Wiles on Barbara Perez Show

During the Barbara Perez show on 1650am yesterday, former El Paso Police Chief and current candidate for Sheriff of El Paso County alleged that his opponent, also a former Chief of EPPD, changed assignments of Internal Affairs to help out his friends just before he left his office.

Mr. Leon was asked by a caller about his education and he stated that he had nothing bad to say about Mr. Wiles and that he just didn’t have the time to complete the degree yet, though he did site his many hours of training and classroom education.

When asked by another caller as to why he said he had nothing bad to say about Wiles, but just finished making a strong allegation, Mr. Leon attempted to clarify and say that he didn’t know the exact reason for the reassignments but that there would be “no other reason than a personal agenda”.

Leon, Chavez, Others Questioned at Forum

The East Side Civic Association held a candidate forum for the upcoming run-off election for four of the races yet to have determined a Democratic nominee for the general election. The four races that participated in the forum were the two judgeships, County Commissioner’s Court Precinct 1, and the sheriffs.

Not all of the candidates were in attendance for the forum but the candidates in attendance were Anna Perez, Regina Arditti, Edward Hernandez, Alfredo Chavez, Yahara Gutierrez, and Carlos Leon. A couple of other candidates who were not scheduled to participate also attended including Emma Acosta, Candidate for City Representative in District 3, and Ben Mendoza, Independent candidate for Congress and El Paso’s answer to Yosemite Sam.

I’ve heard most of the candidates in several of the previous forums but there were some questions in this particular forum that weren’t previously discussed in the other forums. I thought I’d post the answers here because I thought you all would like to see some of the questions as they are answered. Plus they are questions that haven’t been directly asked by the media.

A couple of the highlights include a question to Carlos Leon about his new message of family values and whether it was a way of saying his opponent is homosexual without saying he’s homosexual.

If Leon is elected, I really hope I never get pulled over in El Paso County! I was asked if I was a plant for someone’s campaign after everything was all said and done. But since I asked several tough questions, I think they had a hard time figuring out who I was with. The answer is, no one! I’m just not afraid to ask hard questions. But I have to give Leon credit, at least he was there. Haven’t seen Wiles at too many events.

 

Another question was asked to Judge Alfredo Chavez relating to the investigation conducted by the county human resources department regarding sexual harassment allegations. Though he was cleared, there was an indication that Judge Chavez used alcohol on the job. He was questioned as to whether he’d ever driven home intoxicated.

 

Another question and follow-up arose about a practice called the “Attorney Wheel” and posed to his challenger Yahara Luisa Gutierrez.

Anna Perez was asked about the bidding process for Commissioner’s Court and whether she supported changing the meeting times from the morning to the evening in order to allow more participation by the general public.

As I attend more and more of these forums, I become increasingly frustrated at my demographic…young Latino voters. As usual, I was the youngest person in the room (not affiliated with a candidate) by about two decades. Noticeably absent were the young people who will some day have to lead this community.

Also noticeably absent were Richard Wiles and Luis Sarinana. I’ve only seen Wiles attend one or two of the forums I’ve attended and he wasn’t there because of some family emergency that took him out of the city. It looks bad when a candidate doesn’t show up to one of these forums and a surrogate is left to explain where he’s at.

Mr. Sarinana was absent as well and the folks in charge said he wasn’t there because he wasn’t feeling well. Funny thing is, he was at another forum earlier in the day and he felt well enough to attend a press conference this morning. Upon the announcement that he wasn’t going to be there, an older gentleman in the crowd asked , “Why, did he finally get arrested?”

Funny, but a sad indicator of the scandal this county finds itself in.

Carlos Leon Touts Endorsements & “Family Values”

Carlos Leon is touting the new “shot in the arm” his campaign received yesterday from an endorsement by several local associations / unions including the firefighters, sheriffs, and police associations. (http://newspapertree.com/elections/2207-leon-announces-endorsements-candidates-tangle-tonight)

He was also endorsed by several former candidates for sheriff, Maria Guadalupe Dempsey, Jose Ramirez, Mary Lou Carrillo, and Marvin Ryals. Ryals justified his endorsement by saying…”I think his family values and ethics are what’s important…”

 

This morning on the El Paso on the Move Show with Paul Strelzin, Leon also received the endorsement of prominent gum shoe, JJ Armes. The discussion was mostly about how great a guy Armes is, his menagerie, the movie being made about him, his millions of dollars, his time on city council, the movie being made about him, his action figure, the movie being made about him, and his appearance on Hawaii 5-0 (a personal favorite of mine by the way).

But host Paul Strelzin asked Mr. Armes who he was supporting in the sheriff’s race and Mr. Armes began to explain why he was supporting Carlos Leon. He made an argument that Leon was the better candidate and explained issues dealing with five homicide cases that he was investigating that happened under Chief Wiles’ watch. I must admit, he made a very strong and well-articulated argument on that issue.

Then things turned into a personal attack by Mr. Armes on Richard Wiles’ sexuality. Mr. Armes wondered why so many people supported Wiles “when this guy hasn’t even come out of the closet”. He then chose a biblical reference in Corinthians to homosexuality. Ironically, I know a little something about the bible myself and there are no references to homosexuality by Jesus in the bible. Of all the things Jesus preached and taught, noticeably absent is homosexuality.

In defense of Paul Strelzin, he did move the discussion back to qualifications and away from Wiles’ sexuality. The Strelz later made another statement lauding Mr. Armes and the fact that he never said anything bad about his opponents, even in defeat, but not five minutes before that compliment Mr. Armes made negative comments about homosexuality and Chief Wiles.

Right on queue, Carlos Leon called in to the show and thanked the folks publically for their endorsement. He also commented on his family values as well. The strange thing to me is the fact that Leon nor any of the other candidates ever talked about family values during the campaign. It’s not until now, that there are only two candidates and one of them is gay, that the family values language made it’s way into Leon’s campaign message.

There is talk that another former candidate that endorsed Leon is also homosexual. Does that mean he won’t accept that endorsement? I wonder if his “family values” were factored in when accepting that endorsement?

A caller to the show also mentioned that the endorsement. Leon stated he was proud of the endorsement from the sheriff’s association because it came from a vote by the membership. The caller stated that it wasn’t voted by all or even a majority of the membership. He stated that it was a vote made by only 102 of the total members. With membership well over 1000, this represents less than 10% of the membership. One has to wonder whether it was deliberately set-up for Leon or if the rest of the membership just chose not to vote and now have sour grapes.

Sounds to me like “family values” is code for “Wiles is gay, don’t vote for him”. That kind of bigotry is wrong and should not be tolerated. If you don’t want to vote for Wiles because you think he’s a lousy candidate, that’s fine. If you don’t want to vote for Leon because you think he’s a lousy candidate, that’s fine too. But voting for or against someone because of their sexuality is like voting for or against someone because of their skin color.

I’m sure that J.J. Armes’ reputation is well-deserved and I know that he’s had great service to the community of El Paso. But I also know a bigot when I hear one. I’ll bet that at some point in his career and life, Armes has faced bigotry because of his physical challenges and I am surprised he’s not more sensitive to bigotry. I am disappointed in the amount of ignorance and bigotry I’ve witness in our community lately. It’s not everyone, and it’s not even most people. It’s a small minority of people in El Paso that are small-minded. But it is still too many people that think that way and we as El Pasoans can’t allow them to dictate the direction of this city.

I haven’t made my decision on which I am going to support for the sheriff because the candidate I was originally supporting didn’t make the runoff. I am interested on learning more about each candidate so I can make an informed decision based on their qualifications and stands on the issues. There is a forum tonight and I can’t wait to hear from both so I can finally make up my mind about my choice for sheriff.

But I don’t really give a damn about who they share their bed with.

St. Patrick’s Day Should Not be a County Holiday

I enjoy throwing back a few cold beers on March 17^th as much as anyone. Trust me when I tell you that I am know for being a very festive person. No one will every accuse me of being a party-pooper.

 

But just why in the hell do County offices have the day off for St. Patrick’s day? What is the rationale there? I know Commissioner Haggerty is of Irish decent but I can’t see the justification for taking the day off on St. Patrick’s day. I mean let’s face it, with the exception of New Year’s Day and Cinco de Mayo (not a paid holiday), there is not other holiday that is more devoted to one thing…the mass consumption of alcohol. Which I might add once again, I am not against! It’s also the one day of the year that you can play a really fun game anywhere you go today. The game is called, Spot the Slutty Lower-back Tatoo. Also refered to as Count the Tramp Stamps.

But isn’t Haggerty the Republican spend-thrift who’s supposed to be dedicated to smart spending and saving the tax payer some money?

I know, I know, he’s Irish and St. Patrick is supposed to be the patron saint of El Paso, but does that justify the County having the day off?

I mean it’s not like it’s MLK day or Cesar Chavez day, which are days honoring civil rights champions and days of reflection.

St. Patrick’s Day is about drinking…lot’s of drinking. Yes I know the historical and religious reasons behind the day, but let’s face it, how many people even know that St. Patrick wasn’t Irish?

Oh well, it’s already passed noon so I guess I can start celebrating St. Patrick’s day now too. Here’s to you commissioner Haggerty! Cheers!

Barbara Perez Takes Pole Dancing Classes

I know, I couldn’t believe it either when I heard her call in to Paul Strelzin’s show last week and declare that she’d just signed up for stripper pole dancing classes. She was kidding (I hope!) but nonetheless, I was eating breakfast at the time and vomited a little into my mouth and had to swallow it back when the thought of the sexy(?) senior sliding down a stripper pole flooded into my mind.

The discussion was about the now infamous Client #9 and his now famous hooker. I guess it was a joke that arose from a discussion from the previous afternoon during her show, but I think I will be scarred for life now.

Recently it seems as though Barbara Perez has taken it upon herself to try to bad-mouth me every chance she gets, so being the mature and responsible individual that I am…I am getting even. Actually not so much getting even as exposing (probably a bad choice of words given her pole dancing joke) her for what she has become. A purveyor of half-truths. She’s starting to sound as shrill as her comadre Susie.

It started Wednesday of last week when I called in to her show and challenged her on something that she had said that I felt was a shot at young voters. She tried to insinuate that I didn’t know what I was talking about and that she was an expert in the field because she’s been recycled, oops I mean a candidate, for office so many times. I then tried to explain to her that I’ve been a political consultant for several years and she waited until I was off the air to take a shot at me say that she wouldn’t want anyone to hire me because I didn’t know what I was talking about.

Funny thing is, didn’t she lose her last election? In case you’re wondering, she did in fact lose her last election. Who doesn’t know what they are talking about now Barbara?

But it didn’t end there. The next day I called in to Mario Solis Marich’s show. For those of you who don’t know, he’s a radio show host of a syndicated show from Entrevision. I don’t exactly know where it’s syndicated though because I only hear callers from here in El Paso. He does his best to say he’s not a Hillary supporter but I don’t think he’s got too many people fooled. Almost every story that deals with the presidential race has his spin to make Hillary the superhero and Obama the bad guy.

The topic he was discussing was about people that have a problem with other people speaking Spanish around them. It eventually evolved into a discussion about the laws being proposed to make English the official language, etc.

I called in to make the point that even the presidential candidates had some form of this in their platforms. I further made the point that as a Latino, I was really disappointed to hear all the people that cheered at the Hillary Clinton rally here in El Paso when she made a remark that there would be a requirement under her plan for Immigration Reform to make English proficiency a condition for citizenship. Especially when the front page of the paper the next day showed her receiving flowers from a little charrito and the crowd was entertained by Mariachi Flores Mexicana before she arrived and they sang in…you guessed it…Spanish!

Now I know that was a point that put Marich in the position of having to be critical of Hillary, but it was a valid argument I made. Barbara Perez decided that she’s not on the radio enough already and called in right after me to say that I was wrong and that Hillary never said that at all and certainly never said it was mandatory. Well, neither did I. The word I used was “conditional”, but that’s just a matter of semantics.

Hillary’s exact words were, “If they meet certain conditions…like learning English, we’re going to give people a path to citizenship.”

So she told Mario that I was making it up, etc. and then Solis-Marich decided to quote from Obama’s website about a similar initiative. That shows the point I’ve been making for a long time now, why don’t Hillary supporters want to hear honest issues-based criticism? It’s a fair question if she’s carrying all the support from the Latino community. That’s why I mentioned her and not Obama. But rather than dealing with the issue, Solis-Marich and Perez immediately turned the argument to Obama.  

But since she went though the trouble of misrepresenting me on a syndicated show, I thought I’d post a video of Hillary saying what I said she said. Barbara is becoming so caught up in this race that its not enough that she tries to dog me out on her own show, she has to call in to others to try to do the same.

 

Just listen to 6:55 and forward of the recording and you can make up your own mind about what she said.

Now…anyone know of a good therapist so that I can get some counseling to get that image of Barbara Perez at Foxy’s out of my head???

Things About El Paso I Don’t Understand

I’ve been wondering this for a long time, but I thought I’d finally write about it.

Why do people pronounce the street named Chelsea like Chel-suh? It’s pronounced Chel-see, like Chelsea Clinton.

Why do people pronounce the street named Sioux like Sy-ooox? It’s pronounced Sue, like in the tribe.

Why do people call the street Airways when it’s actually Airway.

 And why is it called Chico’s Tacos if they are flautas?

Oh well, I still like going to Chico’s. Especially the one on Chel-suh.

Doing My Part to Promote Local Business With Out of Towners

During the days leading up the the election, several volunteers from out of state came in to help out. Actually, dozens.

It takes a lot of committment to believe in your candidate so much that you drop what you are doing and hustle your way to another state to volunteer for him or her. It was the most diverse group of people I’ve seen in El Paso.

Since there were very few of us local guys around in the main office, I was the ad hoc guy for all things local. That might be one of the reasons we got beat so bad, lol.

Anyway, I made sure they spent their money here in El Paso and patronized the local businesses. Especially when it came time to get some grub. I sent them to Kiki’s, Julio’s, La Malinche, etc.

But they eventually asked me for some place that is uniquely El Paso. So I did what any other proud slef-respecting El Pasoan would’ve done…I sent them to Chico’s.

I briefed them on the “Chico Rules” before I sent them so there wouldn’t be that much of a culture shock. The first thing I told them was that if they had a sensitive stomach, that Chico’s would be hard on them. Then I told them to have an open mind and they asked me why. I told them, “I have two words for you…liquid tacos. Just go with it.” I explained that no one goes to Chico’s for the customer service so don’t be surprised if you aren’t greeted warmly. I told them the person that takes your order will probably have artificially arched eyebrows, too much make up, and lip liner that is 5 shades (at least) darker than her lipstick, if she’s wearing lipstick with her lip liner, and that they probably will just nod at them when it’s time to order.

I then explained to them that seating is sort of a game or competition and to have someone prepared to save a seat for everybody else. I also explained that it’s not rude in Chico’s for people to hover around you when it looks like you are almost done. The last thing I told them was to leave their stuff on the table because there was usually a dude in a paper hat with his name tatooed on his neck that was responsible for cleaning the tables. Before you all get upset about the tatoo remark, I am a) sleeved out with cholo tatoos myself, and b) completely right about that.

They loved it! They asked me if they had Chico’s in other parts of Texas and I told them that it was only an El Paso thing, but that they could ask for the food to be packaged to be put on a plane.

This morning, I got an email from two people who are now volunteering in Pennsylvania that would like me to send them Chico’s.

How’s that for supporting a local institution?!?!?!

(Hmmm…maybe I can get Chico’s as a sponsor…)

Geraldine Ferraro’s Comments on Obama

Maybe God is testing me. I’ve been really bad about sticking to my Lenten sacrifice and I missed mass on Sunday (I’m still getting used to this whole early time change thing.)

But just when I write about changing my tone and not taking things so seriously, Geraldine Ferraro makes a remark that goes way over the line.

Ferraro stated, “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman of any color, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”

First of all, it’s an incredible insult to the voters of Illinios that have elected Senator Obama. But how does someone like Ferraro make that kind of statement. It bothers me quite a bit because she and Walter Mondale were the first Democratic ticket that I have a vivide memory of. My parents camapaigned for them.

But change that statement around a bit and direct it to Hillary. Can we even begin to fathom the controversy? Obama would be finished had something like that directed at Hillary come from one of his fundraisers!

And what exactly would Ferraro have to say if a similar comment had been leveled toward her?

Now Hillary of course does her best to distance herself from the statement but one has to wonder if she’ll really be able to distance herself from one of her top fundraisers. I also wonder if she feels strongly enought to distance herself from some of that money too!

Obama’s camp had another staffer leave the campaign this week because of yet another unnecessary negative comment aimed at Hillary.

 Both candidates are talking about change, but it all looks like more of the same stuff to me.

Well at least that’s my view from the cheap seats. I hope we civility in this race soon.

Point Well Taken

I had a discussion with a friend of mine that I admire greatly. He pointed out, in a very non-critical way, that he noticed my tone and discussion about Hillary has sharpened over the weeks. At first I thought he was talking about the inflection in my voice and I thought, well it’s because I lost my voice and I’m struggling to get words out.

 

But it made me think about myself a bit and I quickly realized…he’s was right, I am wrong for letting myself fall into that.

 

Election day was the turning point for me because of the contentious nature of the day and the million little fires I had to put out or mini-battles I had to fight. But I should be better than that and I haven’t been. I tell myself it’s just that I am responding in-kind to the actions of the other guys, but that’s only lying to myself. I’ve let myself get to caught up in this race and let it become personal. Yes it’s important, we are choosing the next leader of the free world. Yes, I think should be passionate about their selection, but I see the change in myself and I don’t like what I see.

 

I think the greater lesson is that we all need to step back a little and rethink our perspective on this race. It got me to thinking about my first job when I got out of the Army. I was a bartender and while I was in bartending school (yes, there is a school for that, and a very fun one I might add), my instructor told us that there are two things to should never be discussed in a bar: politics and religion. They said that it’s because people feel so strongly about those issues that eventually the discussion will become personal.

 

I can’t say that I won’t continue to discuss politics, because that’d be a huge lie. But I will try to detach myself a little more, be more analytical (and a little more objective), and take it a lot less seriously (or personally for that matter).

 

I’ve said it before and I mean it, if Hillary is the nominee I will support her and probably volunteer for the campaign.

 

But until then, there is a race to be run before the dust settles and a nominee is selected. So while I might sound impassioned about my support for Obama, understand that it is based on issues and is not personal. Pointing out why I think Obama is a better candidate isn’t being fanatical, it’s being a good Democrat.

Politics and Sexual Affairs

Governor Eliot Spitzer is the latest in the parade of politicians to get caught in an extra-marital affair while in office. It begs the question, why the hell do these guys risk what they have for something that is so fleeting?

 

More importantly, what is with the spouses that stick with these scum bags? What is the reason or benefit in sticking with these guys?

 

I’m not so naïve as to believe that it doesn’t happen in far too many relationships in this country, but what happened to having respect for yourself and leaving the pendejo?

 

It makes me wonder which is worse of all the affairs, getting caught in a homosexual affair, getting caught with a long-term mistress, or getting caught with a hooker.

 

I guess if you are gay and have a family, you owe it to them to tell them who you really are and everyone can go on with their lives and try to be happy. It may have been something that they’ve been struggling with for a long time, not that it makes it any better.

 

But having a long-term mistress or getting caught with a hooker is just stupid and selfish. Whether it’s a few minutes or a few hours, it’s not worth ruining a relationship, family, and or political career. Of course, a lot of people seem to survive the affairs pretty well. Some seemed to have survived multiple affairs.

The Real Winner in the Moreno / Marquez Race…Norma Chavez

Photo Courtesy of www.PaulMoreno.org

In honor of Former Representative Paul Moreno, I was trying to come up with a cool nickname for the 18 political figures in town who took a picture with him to support his candidacy against Marissa Marquez. You know, like the Dirty Thirty. But I couldn’t find anything that rhymes with 18. So I guess will just call it the 18 acolytes.

Anyway, it’s pretty clear to me that Shapleigh was the orchestrator of the whole effort and the only conclusion I could come up with is that he figured that Moreno would be more difficult to control. With the backing of only one of El Paso’s major political figures, Norma Chavez, it appears that Shapleigh didn’t want to give an ally to his nemesis (that really saddens me because they are both really talented people that have proven themselves able to do things for El Paso). 

I’m pretty sure these two are going to duke it out for Sylvestre Reyes’ seat in Congress whenever he moves on from that chair, so the political chess game is warming up between these two heavy-hitters. It’s an interesting dynamic when you sit and think about it because Reyes and Shapleigh had a public spat when he was running against Margo, and I’m sure Chavez isn’t too happy that Reyes relative ran against her last time, even if she did stomp a mud hole in her. 

At any rate, Chavez won this battle. She now has a like-minded ally in the legislature and Shapleigh now has two thorns in his side.  But El Paso wins because we now have someone new in office and hopefully it will be someone who will fight to get things done.

She’ll need all the mentoring Representative Chavez can give her and I’m sure that in no time, she’ll be on her own two feet. If not, I’m sure Shapleigh will try to dig up someone else to run against her in two years.  

Who knows, maybe Margo will carpetbag to that district next?

The Case Against Hillary

I’ve had this conversation with so many people now that I thought it would be beneficial to blog about it. I don’t understand where the hell some people are getting the idea that Hillary is more electable than Barack Obama. There is a whole population of people in this country that say they would never vote for Hillary Clinton under any circumstance. That population is high and will only get higher once the Republican lie machine gets revving up. Republicans are licking their chops at the chance to get at Hillary!

It really surprises me that she’d be so bold as to float the idea that Obama should be her Vice President, while she’s behind in the delegate count. I realize that Texas and Ohio were big wins for Clinton, but this move is extremely premature and…a little arrogant. But this so-called dream ticket as some people have dubbed it will not happen.

Here’s why:

Hillary benefits from Obama being on her ticket, but Obama doesn’t gain from having Hillary. Hillary has an appeal to a more traditional Democrat line of voter. The kind that will support the party no matter what. These are the “Yellow Dog” Democrats that voted for McGovern, Dukakis, and Mondale. Obama can win not only this core group but also appeals to young people, white men, independents, and even some moderate Republicans. These are all people that Hillary doesn’t appeal to, so she’d clearly benefit from having Obama on her ticket.

But with a lead in the delegates and popular vote, Obama has no reason to entertain an offer of the Vice Presidency to someone who was ready to be crowned Queen Hillary I about six months ago and he’s now beating.

I don’t think anyone reading this, including her most ardent supporters, can come up with a plausible scenario where Hillary accepts the #2 spot on the ticket.

This offer is also another example of more Clinton double-speak. On the one had, she’s making an offer for the #2 spot, at the same time she’s running attack ads against him (all that’s missing from the now-famous 3am Commercial is the mushroom cloud at the end!). This is a lot like the change message she’s trying to sell the public while she’s flanked by the old guard from her husband’s administration. Or better yet, it’s like the change message she’s trying to sell while she’s trying to sell a contradictory message of experience. So which is it Senator Clinton, more of the same (Experience Message) or a new direction (Change Message)?

Speaking of the 3am Ad, isn’t it ironic that she’s not even getting that little girls vote? She’s an Obama supporter!

Another argument against Hillary is that she’s not Latinos as much as she touts. She wants English to be a mandatory part of the path to citizenship. She first came out in support of driver’s licenses for the undocumented, and then backed off when she started to feel a little heat (Ooops, there goes the Ready message too). And she clearly tried to play cheap racial politics when she made the comment during a recent debate that Latinos and African-Americans are competing for the same jobs. Not only was she wrong about that, it was a calculated move to capitalize on years of tension between these two strongly Democratic voting blocks. We sure saw the personification of a lot of that tension here in El Paso on election/caucus day.

Now, more on the experience message. If she wants that to be her main selling point, I think it’s entirely fair to have a complete discussion about her experience. Yet she and her husband refuse to release information dealing with her experience as First Lady. It’s reasonable to talk about ALL of her time as First Lady, not just the parts she wants to take credit for. So we are now left with the experience of her tenure as First Lady that is public knowledge…healthcare. We all know how well she managed that one right?

She has more years in the United States Senate, but Obama has about the same amount of legislative experience. What major conflict has she managed during her career that would demonstrate that she’s ready on day one any more than Obama?

And finally, I think Hillary is right! There was a vast right-wing conspiracy against her and her husband. That’s all the more reason that she’d be a weaker candidate in the general election than Obama.

Omorossa & Caballero

Okay, I know I’ve spent a lot of ink railing on Caballero lately. But it’s like late night comedians and Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky affair, it’s just too easy to pass up. I promise this is my last one on her unless she makes the news again, so… 

Wow, the two meanest and nastiest women I know of were sent packing last week. The only thing I have to say about that is…what a great week! 

Theresa Caballero, who in my opinion epitomizes negative campaigning, was defeated last Tuesday in the Democratic primary by the incumbent, Jaime Esparza. Omorossa, another famously nice lady, was fired from the Celebrity Apprentice show Thursday night. Both of these ladies are no where near as popular as they seem to think they are, and both love controversy, confrontation, and attention. 

If TC looks like Mary Katherine Gallagher, she acts like Omorossa! El Paso had the chance to join Mr. Trump and say…”Your Fired!”

Time to Get Rid of the Caucus & Set the Democratic Party Officials Straight

You’re supposed to be unbiased when you are acting as a party official. When you aren’t acting as a party official, I don’t give a crap how you act, but you should at least do your job in an impartial manner.

Apparently the Democratic Party didn’t get that memo. It’s fine that they support the candidate of their choice, I have no problem with that, but I have a problem with it when their loyalties to their candidate taint the election process.

The party was at every Hillary event in town, but didn’t show up to any Obama events. This sends a signal to the community about who they are behind. One would think that just out of courtesy, they would attend an Obama event to at least give the appearance that they were being unbiased. But the party officials failed to do so and were even speakers at most of the Hillary events!

  I hated being pitted against my neighbors and friends in a confrontational setting like the caucus was. It was horrible. How can you unite as a community with this type of advesarial format? On group of supporters on one side of the room, the other on the other side of the room. Huge and uncomfortable stare down was all that resulted. 

I think the Democratic Party showed itself to be unable to operate the caucus in an unbiased manner. This is a problem and we cannot risk alienating the thousands of first-time voters who came out to support the party. We could stand to lose a generation of voters if they feel that the process was anything but fair. We have to take a stand and show them that this isn’t politics as usual and that either candidate, Hillary or Obama, will represent a fundamental change in the way business will be done in Washington.

 

But we gotta get it right here first!

Angry Hillary Supporters & Election Day Shenanigans

I know a lot of people aren’t going to like when I say this, but what the hell is with the Hillary supporters? I’ve never seem more vindictive and mean spirited candidate supporters in my life! Yeah, we had a couple of nuts on the Obama side, actually only one that I can think of, Lower Valley Dave, aka Raider Dave, aka The Man Who Ate a Cockroach at the Brass Asp. I’m scared to even drink out of a glass in that place, and I’m a pretty notorious beer drinker! He’s a local idiot that calls in to KHRO 1650am. He’s the genius that went to the Hillary rallies with his Obama sign.

 

I’m sure there were Obama supporters that got out of line. In fact I know there is because I told one of ours to leave because they were letting someone get the best of her and I didn’t want there to be an escalation to the incident. But one of the volunteers that I was in charge of in Socorro was assaulted at the polling place! He was standing near the polling place and someone drove by, stopped in front of him, yelled “Hillary!” and threw a bottle at him! Luckily it only grazed him on the shoulder, but it was a black-eye for El Paso. In several caucuses, that’s right…several, there were instances of Hillary supporters yelling or whispering under their breath, racial comments in Spanish about African-Americans.

 

You can almost hear the anger in the voices of people like Barbara Perez and another frequent caller to KHRO, Susie. These people seem to be one issue voters. That issue is the fact that Hillary’s a female. But gender, or race for that matter, are not anything that should be confused with qualifications. Shouldn’t we be picking a candidate based on their qualifications? I thought we had a civil rights movement in this country so that we could get passed stuff like race and gender.

 

Clinton has so much more to offer as a candidate than the fact that she’s a woman. Focusing on her gender trivializes her many endearing qualifications, her experience, and her abilities. Shame on people who think that way!

 

I always looked at women over 45 as people to be respected and honored. Señoras, like my mother and abuelitas. But on election day, this solid Hillary demographic seemed to be out for blood! I had an Obama shirt on and I still can’t get over the remarks I heard come from some of these people.

 

A lot of candidates tried to circumvent the campaign sign rule by having their signage closer to the poll than they were supposed to. At the precinct I was at, Wilkins, one of the 72 candidates for sheriff had two signs that were only about 15 feet from the actual voting booths! In his defense, he had them moved pretty quickly once someone called him on it. There were quite a few Hillary supporters wearing their Girls Night Out t-shirts that tried to go inside and vote with them on before they were stopped. They spent most of the day pulling stunts like that and even used some little girls to do the same!

 

But by far the worst I personally saw was the conduct of the Precinct Chair for Precinct 92. His name is Santiago Luis Rodriguez. This guy was supposed to be impartial, at least until he was elected Permanent Caucus Chair. While we were still in the sign-in process, and he was still in his official Precinct Chair role, he was given some early election results by his adult daughter who read them off of her Blackberry.

 

He then told the people in line that had not signed in to declare their support for a candidate that it was not too late to change their vote to Hillary and to “come over to the winning side”. I immediately called him on it and asked him, “Aren’t you supposed to be impartial?” He laughed! He told me, “C’mon, Hillary’s gonna win.”

 

That wasn’t, and isn’t, my point. He tainted the process and he was actively trying to influence the vote while acting in a capacity in which he’s supposed to be impartial. In fact, he was doing more than trying to influence; he was actively soliciting support for her. I know that democracy isn’t perfect and is sometimes messy. This isn’t a case of being messy, this was about ethics. He was right, Hillary was going to win. But when you compromise the process, no one wins. Democracy, and our community, loses.

 

I guarantee that I will not rest until there is some official action taken against Santiago Luis Rodriguez for this unfair and unethical behavior. This is the reason people hate party politics!

 

Racial slurs, physical assault, and bias from an elected official. No wonder people don’t like to talk politics!

 

The People Have Spoken – El Paso Local Elections

This primary election has seen El Pasoans go to the polls in record numbers. The Sun City has seen record voter turnout this election cycle primarily due to the presidential election. El Pasoans have definitely made their voice heard this year.

 

One of the things that they said at the polls was that negative campaigning is not appreciated here in El Paso. The Haggerty- Margo race was one of the races that seemed to get dirty near the end of the race. Personally, I found the Haggerty commercials very entertaining. But nonetheless, the voters of El Paso said that Haggerty will no longer go to Austin as their elected Representative. Moody, the Democratic candidate that will oppose Margo in the general election, needs to be able to retrieve the cross-over Democrats that supported Haggerty for so many years and needs a strong GOTV effort. If he does this right, he should be able to win the seat for the Democrats.

 

Moreno-Marquez was a race that got a lot of attention because it pitted a 38 year veteran of the Texas Legislature against a young upstart who was born a decade after Moreno first took office. Moreno served his community for a very long time and must’ve done something right because his district sent him back to office over and over again. But, let’s call it like it is. The man has only passed ONE bill in 38 years!?!?!? C’mon, you’ve got to be kidding me! How can you rightfully wear the crown of the “Conscience of the House” if you aren’t doing what you were elected to do? Things certainly got down and dirty in this race, and I know there are a lot of people pointing fingers at the opposing side as to who started it and who did it worse, but the point is clear. They both were probably guilty of it to some extent. The turnout was huge, so it is not a hallow victory for Marquez. It was historic and represents a transition in the district towards another direction. But make no mistake, a lot of folks will be watching her closely (probably everyone in that now famous photo) to see if she turns coat and supports Craddick. If she does, she’s toast.

 

But the Esparza-Caballero race is a race that started dirty and became dirtier and dirtier by the day. If there were a Hall of Fame for dirty politics, then Theresa Caballero should be fitted for her gold jacket and get ready to have her bust made. She spent a lot of time talking about what was wrong with Esparza, but I never heard what she was going to do different. I never heard anything about why she’d be a better candidate. She did a great job dragging Mr. Esparza through the mud, but she didn’t do a good enough job selling the public on why she should be the alternative.

 

In the process, she may have gotten herself into some legal trouble by releasing private information of someone that was accused of a crime and later absolved. The point for her was that it appeared to be favoritism on the part of the District Attorney’s office because the accused was related to Esparza’s secretary. To be honest, that’s probably a fair discussion to have as part of the debate. But the stunt of releasing the information is that part where she messed up. She’s an ivy-league educated attorney (a fact she loves to remind people of) and is therefore probably pretty smart. She’s been a practicing attorney for several years now. So it begs the question, why the hell would she do that? She should know better, right? Given her experience and education, one is left with only two possible reasons that she released the info in campaign material. Either she’s REALLY stupid (and therefore unqualified for the job), or she did it on purpose and is REALLY evil (and therefore unworthy of the job).

 

Esparza should’ve considered giving her a taste of her own medicine. I understand why he stayed above the fray for the most part, but what I don’t get is why he continually let her rail on him for months before he decided to put his gloves up and do some bobbing and weaving. He needed to do this because of the visceral nature of her attacks.

 

If you tell a lie long enough, it will become the truth. He should’ve engaged her with the truth a lot sooner that he did.

 

But what the hell do I know, he still won big.

 

*On a side note, candidates should really be careful about having a blog feature on their websites. Teresa Caballero’s website has the feature and allows comment. I figure that her idea was to post her rants about corruption on the website and then get her supporters to go on and massage her ego about how great she is and how she’s always right. I guess she hadn’t planned on people disagreeing with her. But when you have that feature on your website, and you allow people to comment, you give up a certain amount of control. People can go and disagree with the candidate and sometimes get them to say things they regret. TC’s way of dealing with that situation was to freeze the user’s account. That’s what happened to me when I commented on her site. If you agree with her, then she’ll leave your comments, but if it doesn’t meet the standards of conformity that TC wants in her users, then Big Brother, in this case Big Sister, will have you censored.

 

I did think it was pretty funny that she did that though. I took a print screen that shows my account was “Frozen by the Administrator” just in case.

 

FYI, TC. If you don’t want people to disagree with you, then don’t allow comments. You can still blog and get your message out without having to censor anyone who isn’t scared of you or has the audacity to disagree with you.

PS

I still say she looks like Mary Katherine Gallagher.

Some of the Other Races

There will be a few seats still up for grabs in next month’s run-off election. Some of the judges’ seats, the sheriff’s race, and a couple of the county commissioners races are still undecided.

 

Richard Wiles looks like he’ll take it in April, along with Regina Arditti for judge, and Anna Perez for Commissioner’s Court Precinct 1. I was surprised how well Mary Lou Carrillo did despite going against two former police chiefs in Wiles and Carlos Leon. I was really surprise that Robert Almonte didn’t win in a landslide, especially since he had the endorsement of George Jefferson, oops, I mean, Sherman Helmsley. He should’ve used that theme song for his campaign (“…Well we’re moving on up…”).

 

Speaking of Anna Perez, that reminds me, how the hell does the El Paso Times endorse Tomas Rey for that seat? I think I saw either on his website or in the Newspaper Tree website that the man owns a town! His website has a picture of him in camouflage, doing his best Rambo impression. It’s hard to take this guy seriously when you hear him talk. He’s represented a fundamental misunderstanding of issues affecting the east side. He’s got to have the all-time cheesiest signs and tag lines I’ve ever seen! “A REY of hope”, For Better Ideas (FBI in different colors, funny jab at Sarinana if you ask me), and several other gems. You’d think a guy with deeper pockets would have better advertisement.

 

The challenge for all of these candidates will be to get voters back to the polls in less than a month. I know I’ll be there…will you?

Obama’s Big Mistake!

I personally look forward to the time when the kind of voter turnout we saw in this election is the norm and not the exception. When we participate in the process, we increase our influence. This was demonstrated by the blow-out win in El Paso County for Hillary Clinton. El Paso is clearly Clinton Country and she was never in danger of losing this town, even if all three Clintons hadn’t visited.

 

However, Obama could’ve done himself and favor and made a better showing by visiting El Paso. All it took for Hillary to take El Paso was to have a couple of photo ops in the Sun City. She even managed to win after flubbing some names, calling El Paso south Texas, and calling for English to be part of the path to citizenship. And she did so overwhelmingly. The Clinton support was still like the crust of a pie near the final days before the March 4^th election. It may have seemed stiff, but it was relatively thin. Had Obama visited El Paso and the other border communities a little more, they would’ve had the chance to educate voters more thoroughly about what Obama is all about.

As an Obama volunteer we were told that there is a strategy in place and it’s a strategy that’s worked in other places with proven results. But it was based on a flawed premise, that being that his message would be able to sway El Paso voters without a personal appearance. The strategy was to penetrate the big cities with more delegates at stake and then rack up the delegate count. The strategy was moderately successful because Hillary only narrowly one the popular vote in state of Texas and it appears Obama will win the caucuses. So the difference in delegates has been largely unchanged.

So much for that strategy.