While the interest in this year's presidential election has seen an amazing voter turnout and will likely have a good effect on the number of people involved in the process in future, all is not smooth sailing. Many first-timers are finding out the hard way what years of political inactivity do to the voice of the people. Those who are accustomed to playing the game and getting their way are usually allowed to do so without much argument or attention. So that now when the newbies who aren't even versed in parliamentary procedure try to raise a protest, they get bulldozed.

See the following case in my hometown, El Paso, Texas and its county convention as covered by Newspaper Tree, a relatively young and locally owned property of El Paso Media Group. (I posted a comment to the article--it's at the bottom of the following link and is also pasted below--that describes a little more of my own county convention experience.)

Delegate Decision Splits Democrats, and Could Threaten El Paso's Place at State Convention
by Sito Negron

The question is whether the Credentials Committee should have awarded the bulk of the 48 at-large delegates to Obama, to bring the overall El Paso state delegate number closer to the 3-1 ratio of delegates at the county convention.

Posted on April 1, 2008  •  read more »

My comment:

A native El Pasoan, I now live in Kyle, Texas just outside Austin and was a precinct 223 delegate for Clinton to the Hays County Convention. While I'm concerned for El Paso's place in the state convention, I certainly would support the party's decision to unseat delegates if process was indeed "hijacked" or otherwise circumvented.

In the case of Hays County, the majority of precincts went for Obama and therefore the delegates as well--approx 68%. However, the slate of at-large delegates that was presented by the nominating committee, and approved by the convention, was about 2/3 Clinton delegates. While this might seem disproportionate to the popular vote, the nominating committee took pains to ensure that the county delegation would mirror the make-up of the county population. This meant recommending a greater proportion of female and Hispanic delegates than other groups, hence the 2/3 of at-large delegates that were for Clinton. (This does not appear to have been the process followed in El Paso.)

When the nominating committee brought the slate of at-large delegates to the floor there was some dissent when the ratio of Clinton to Obama was announced. However, after the chairman explained the process, and it was also explained that the overall ratio of Clinton to Obama delegates was not drastically affected, the crowd quieted down and a few moments later called the question. We unanimously approved the at-large slate and completed seating our delegation.

I should mention that among the resolutions we passed, one in particular most accurately represented the overall spirit of the Hays County Democratic Convention and, I hope, the Democratic Party as well. We unanimously approved a resolution from the floor that in November we would support whichever candidate received the party nomination, regardless of who we were currently supporting.

I am sorry that El Paso was not able to work from a similar place of unity and instead appears to have allowed in-fighting and personal interpretations of process to mar the convention. As a Clinton supporter, I would consider losing the El Paso delegation a terrible blow, but perhaps--in the end--it will be an important lesson in the need for compromise at all levels of the political process and will spur El Pasoans to become ever more involved in future election cycles and to actively use, and protect, their political voice.

You should...check out this excellent article from Newspaper Tree El Paso.

Batallón de San Patricio: the Irish Heroes of Mexico

and have a Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

I won't bother with the obvious social commentary. It's just funny, ok?

I grabbed this link from newspapertree.com

So it's Super Tuesday and Texas' own primary is just under a month away. There's all manner of local political theorizing that perhaps, for once, Texas could "decide this whole thing." I'm hardly convinced.

This great big red state's hardly been a battleground. Sure there are traditional pockets of blue--Austin and El Paso, but with Bush's stamp on the state for the last four presidential elections (first as 'guberner', then as pres), Democrats hadn't even bothered to give more than a cursory "keep fighting the good fight" glance to its Texas supporters.

Yes, I know that the presidential election isn't everything, and that our lives are touched more often by local, county, and state politicians than the empty promises of the Executive Office. Still, it would be nice to experience an election season in one of those swing states that seem to get all the press and the pressing of the flesh by every possible candidate from day one. If Texas is going to decide this thing--either at the party level for nominations or in November for the big dance--we may have to do it mostly on our own.

I'm being asked often who I plan to vote for and my honest answer is still "I don't know." I have problems with Hillary. I have problems with Obama. And before you ask for confirmation, yes I lean to the left, but if Giuliani didn't have skeletons in his closet to make the devil himself blush and could have actually mounted a real run, I just might have voted for him. Instead, in the first election of my adult years where there were actually a number of viable Democrat candidates, I don't feel terribly good about anyone.

I want to be passionate about a candidate, dammit! I want to believe in someone, not just choose out of desperation. I'd vote for Hilary if she weren't the wife of a former President. I'd vote for Obama if he weren't so celebrity slick and so wet behind the ears. On the day of the primaries, it may come down to a coin toss for me. I only wish I were joking.

I think that if I could believe that either of the candidates hadn't twisted rules and told lies daily to get where they are, I'd be willing to take the risk. But I don't believe it. I know better. Politics is messy and it's easier to participate if moral ambiguity is one of the special skills you can list on your resume. If you play by the rules, if you never stoop to the level of loopholes and half-truths, if you aren't just someone with the potential to be good, but the conviction that integrity means more than winning...well, you rarely win. As soon as you say "I won't go there" a competitor gleefully says "I will" and you and your high ideals and morality are left in the dust.

So where does that leave us, the voting public, when it comes to choosing our supposed leaders? If we look askance at every candidate, trying only to choose the lesser of evils, how does government ever become anything but a necessary one?

Back home in El Paso, the grey area of "anything for the greater good" and "oh, that's just politics" is playing out very close to me. Political corruption has been increasingly in the local press there over several years. And I mean, serious, old school, vote-buying corruption. So now at a time when the city needs its faith in the political process rebuilt, and when the next generation coming of age could actually help in that effort, its politically ambitious are only following the old guard.

Here's the story. Dee Margo, husband to Adair Margo of the Adair Margo Gallery (local art gallery in El Paso) and arguable gal pal of First Lady Laura Bush, is running for State Representative against the incumbent Pat Haggerty. The shadiness in this story begins before we even get into any mud slinging. You see, as reported by the El Paso Times and Newspaper Tree of El Paso (see links below), Margo conveniently took up a second residence or "moved his residence", or however you'd like to label the maneuver, in order to become eligible to run in Haggerty's district. It's an old move, one that political parties often encourage and facilitate in order to position viable candidates in key races. I would argue, though, that a tradition of rule twisting doesn't make it right.

In another district, the local race for city councilman/woman/person has multiple candidates who twisted, or who are claiming to have twisted, the same rule to be eligible to run in that district. One of those latter candidates is my soon to be ex-husband. The El Paso Times has called him out repeatedly for this Margo-like maneuver.

Now before the jokes start to fly about hell having no fury, I should say that I believe strongly that my husband--or at least the man I knew as my husband--could truly do a great deal of good for the city, for the district that he grew up in, and could be a major force for energizing and engaging the youth of El Paso in city life and the political process in general. I know that he loves the city, always has; he cares about his old neighborhood and the many generations of families living there. I know that he has the potential to be a great local leader and to affect change for the better.

However, I also know that he doesn't meet all of the residency requirements to run right now. That fact, that attempt to sneak through the loophole and its implications for personal integrity, rather overshadow his potential and his promise. Instead of being a passionate, energetic, sincerely and selflessly concerned candidate who stands away from the expected shadiness of a Dee Margo, he seems just another candidate whose intentions are called into question, whose motives can only be doubted, a candidate no better or worse than any other.

And so I'm left wondering how that microcosmic example plays out at the presidential level. In the end, whether I vote for Obama or Clinton, whether a Republican or a Democrat gains the top office, will it really make any difference? If the prim-rose path is the same for every candidate, whether they've already walked it or are just a few steps in, then no matter who wins the election, we, the public, have already lost.

Like the generations before me, perhaps I should just put my hope in the next one.

******************************

http://www.newspapertree.com/politics/1803-the-inner-loop-11-11-07

http://www.newspapertree.com/politics/2019-moreno-marquez-haggerty-and-margo

http://www.newspapertree.com/politics/2043-haggerty-and-margo-debate

District 3 race gets new candidate, same residency concerns

Who cares where politicians live?

Race for City Council's 3rd District draws second candidate

Me in the paper!

I'm published! Ok, so it's just a little Op-Ed, but I'm rather proud and I didn't tell my family so it was a big surprise for them this morning.

I submitted it a couple of weeks ago, and it was the editor's decision to run it on Christmas Day...even had to change the tense and voice in some places so that it made sense running today rather than last week. Also, they made an exception to their normal maximum word count for this piece, something they normally don't do. And they've asked me to contribute in the future, so I hope it's the first of many pieces I will do for it and other publications.

More than anything, I'm proud of simply being comfortable with sharing something so very personal with a public audience that also includes my private circle of family and closest friends. That's a big milestone for me as a writer--someone who used to let only a few random strangers see her stuff. The content, however, says more for me as a woman, and a grown-up, than anything else.

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas! Good-night!

thanks to everyone who donated to the project i chose in my blogchallenge. though i'm unable to see who exactly gave what, i'm pleased to announce that the project was fully funded! check out the note below from the sponsoring teacher.

Dear Ms. Torres,

Thank you so much!!! I was so excited to see that our project was funded. The students will be so excited to see our new easel in the classroom. What will be even better is to see them using it. I can't wait to send you pictures of the children reading and writing with it. This is such a wonderful asset to our classroom. Again, thank you so much. Sincerely, Kristen Navarro

good job all! and if you didn't donate, there are plenty of other worthy projects to support. take a look!

i've done it. i found the place i've been searching for, wandering from almost-but-not-quite to god-awful-bad for the last six years, only to find it here, today, and in such an unlikely place.

no, i'm not talking about my new job. (come on, folks, i'm not drinking the kool-aid just yet.) i'm talking about...El Meson. home of the best damn mexican food in austin!

my litmus test of the enchiladas verdes passed with high flying colors. and their guacamole was good too. the tortillas, also, appeared homemade. my lunch companions had caldo de pollo and tacos al pastor and they looked perfect. smelled perfect too.

don't get me wrong, there are a lot of mexican inspired, or almost mexican, restaurants in town, and there are many i rank at tasty goodness level, BUT none come close to el paso standards. at least none, until today.

if you're ever in the area and you have the chance, stop by El Meson on Burleson Road, not far from the intersection of Burleson and Stassney. it is fabulous!

[woo hoo--i was assigned my first tiny task today and i was so excited. me hates just shadowing. me bored out of my mind watching and not doing. can't wait to be crazy-out-of-my-mind with projects.]

Hello all.

DonorsChoose.org is a way for teachers to request funding for tangible, immediate classroom improvements and several El Paso schools/teachers are participating--requesting help in funding items for their classroom. So I have started my own blogger challenge!  Click on the thermometer for more info.

All El Pasoans and former El Pasoans, and honorary El Pasoans, I urge you to answer the call--the tug at your heartstrings for desert sunsets and the view of Star on the Mountain as your plane prepares to land. Support this effort!

From something as small as a reading easel to technology purchases, you can help to make a difference in your hometown.

All proposals have been reviewed by DonorsChoose.org and I am personally picking out a few that look good to me. Feel free to find others. You can view the ones I have selected by clicking on the thermometer. (UPDATE: I've chosen to highlight one project at a time so that i can be fully funded and realized. First up is the Classroom Reading Easel.)

Can you spare $25 to augment the educational experiences of El Paso schoolchildren? Come on--it's easy when you think about it. That's just a handful of visits to Lumenbrite or Chico's Tacos we're talking about. So buy the small latte this week and just the single order of tacos and put your money somewhere other than, um, your mouth.

Practice philanthropy. It gets easier every time. Forward this to all your El Paso contacts. Let's see what we can do.

(To start things off, I took advantage of sixapart.com's gift certificate program and donated $30 to the reading easel project. Then I matched that with my personal funds for a grand total of $60. Will you match me?)

back in austin this week. sunshine, rain, sunshine, rain. luckily i'm well away from all the flooding. came home, though, to find the grass in the backyard three feet high and the dogs trooping through with only ears and tails visible. that would have been comical if we didn't have to worry about snakes in the area. so i finally had a chance to cut the grass on friday night -- yes, friday night in the dark; yes, it was probably not the smartest idea, especially because i was too lazy to go back inside and turn on the porch and motion lights when it got dark, but hey, i did it and no harm done. i raked up an entire trash can of clippings and the dogs seemed amazed to be able to see their paws.

had to clean out and organize the old office yesterday. my sister is coming to visit for just over a month and i needed to make room in the guest closet. so i tossed and piled and moved furniture, and came across my wonderful valentine's letter, though i only read a few lines, opting instead to let that emotional landslide happen later in the day. anyhow, i cleaned and set up my desk and now the office has my stamp on it. it looks like my room now. and i hate it. i fucking hate it. the only thing i like is the pen sketch of downtown el paso that i put in my old diploma frame and hung on the wall. i'm hoping it will help me to keep my dreams close.

spent the rest of the day with a couple of friends in austin. we met up at a azul for a drink and then went mrs. bea's bar on east 6th for the jesse canales classic car show and barbecue benefit. mr. canales is my neighbor across the street and has been in the hospital for nigh on 2 months for a heart condition, complications from surgery due to diabetes, etc. his wife belinda is very sweet and served me and my friends our barbecue plates even though i'd lost our tickets. (it may have helped that i removed a live tarantula from her front door the other day.) the food was good, the cars were sweet, the beer was COLD, and the jukebox inside was playing music circa el paso 1975. i'm entertaining the idea of making it a permanent part of my austin writing life.

we went swimming after, drank and stayed in the water 'till eleven, then went to magnolia for oatmeal. overall it was a great day but that drive home was looooooong. today is a day for rest, hope, and renewal. may your day hold much of the same.

couldn't see the star on the mountain the night i arrived. the weather sent the plane dipping and jerking, and people gasping around me. but i smiled sheepishly as i touched up my make-up, opting to skip the mascara for fear of putting my eye out. so nice not to be afraid of flying anymore. so nice to be home.

driving home in the car, though, i turned my face to the window to hide my tears. every street corner, every view a memory...one right after the other battering my heart. then the cd changes tracks, and my wedding song comes on..."night and day, you are the one"...how i wish he would remember. i turn off the radio.

later in my old room, treasure chest of girlhood memories, i lie awake listening to the poplars tinkling in the breeze that blows through the open window. i say my prayers, and i move to sleep in the middle of the bed so it won't seem so big, so empty. i pray for him, for success for hope for forgiveness for compassion for healing. i pray for us.

my grampa's memorial was a wonderful experience. flipping through all our photos, seeing family from my childhood, and standing up and speaking from the heart...it was all a blur, but so healing. and i smiled as much as i cried. i'm not afraid of death the way that i was before, the way i've been all my life. grampa's memorial only confirmed it for me. i hope he understands what has happened to him, that he is able to move on wherever he is, and be happy.

gramma is sad and relieved, but grieving very privately. i want to be home again to help her, to just sit with her while she lets it all out--her pain, her sorrow, her anger--and then smiles again. i know she will get through this. i know it will take time.

we once talked about gramma living with us someday. he brought it up, not i, and i thought how loving a gesture that was, how compassionate of him to be willing to open his home for her. he's a good man. i wish he would remember and believe it.

i am back in austin, a strange home away from home where i tend my flowers and feed the dogs and try not to remember my dreams in the morning. the rain is coming down steadily and more of it on the way, washing everything clean, i hope, even me.