More on the Youth Movement in EP Politics
I wrote something last week about the youth movement in El Paso politics and the El Paso Times also had something similar in opinion section of the Sunday edition.
Their piece very conspicuously left out City Rep Eddie Holguin. I included him in mine but my piece and the Times piece were making different points. I was making the point that El Paso has been making the transition to younger leadership for quite some time. The Times piece was about the youth movement being progressive.
Which explains why Holguin was omitted. I think Holguin might actually be the youngest member of City Counil, something people tend to forget because he's been there awhile now. And he is by no means a "progressive".
But I just realized I left a couple of people out myself. Anthony Cobos and Willie Gandara. Both of those guys were on the younger side and they were elected within the same time frame as the other leaders mentioned in my previous piece.
The election and the Democratic Convention underscore the fact that this election, even more so than the Obama election, was about change. The jury is still out in a couple of other races, but with so many young leaders in politics now and with the defeat of Old Guard Democrats at the convention, its clear that things are going to change in El Paso.
Its almost like the town is far more progressive than its leadership. Normally the leadership pulls the public in to a particular direction. Thus the term "leader". In this case, I think El Paso is dictating to leadership what they want in a leader.
Their piece very conspicuously left out City Rep Eddie Holguin. I included him in mine but my piece and the Times piece were making different points. I was making the point that El Paso has been making the transition to younger leadership for quite some time. The Times piece was about the youth movement being progressive.
Which explains why Holguin was omitted. I think Holguin might actually be the youngest member of City Counil, something people tend to forget because he's been there awhile now. And he is by no means a "progressive".
But I just realized I left a couple of people out myself. Anthony Cobos and Willie Gandara. Both of those guys were on the younger side and they were elected within the same time frame as the other leaders mentioned in my previous piece.
The election and the Democratic Convention underscore the fact that this election, even more so than the Obama election, was about change. The jury is still out in a couple of other races, but with so many young leaders in politics now and with the defeat of Old Guard Democrats at the convention, its clear that things are going to change in El Paso.
Its almost like the town is far more progressive than its leadership. Normally the leadership pulls the public in to a particular direction. Thus the term "leader". In this case, I think El Paso is dictating to leadership what they want in a leader.
Well I think you are confusing my point with the El Paso Times' piece. My two pieces on this topic weren't really about the leadership being progressive because as I pointed out, not all the young leaders are progressives.
ReplyDeleteSo I made that very point you made about being young and progressive.
As for why I think this town is far more progressive than its leadership is pretty simple. When given the choice, this town has elected younger and more progressive candidates.
I would say that I think the louder voices in the community are anti-progressive, but I think election results speak volumes.
The fact that leadership is younger and more progressive because they are voted in by the electorate when given a choice between two candidates is why I feel that way.
Although there are still pockets of conservatism like the Republican primary a couple years ago that saw Kleberg versus Margo or the domestic partner benefits issue.