Political Loyalty: Don't Expect It If You Don't Give It

Frankly, following the loss of Congressman Reyes to Beto O'Rourke I have heard a lot of BS.

I'm not really sure how much higher the BS can be stacked around here.

Stop trying to externalize the loss. Yes, it sucks.

But stop looking for someone to blame.

Here's what I think is the most interesting development lately. Apparently some of the Reyes people are now complaining about loyalty. Newsflash - you didn't lose because of loyalty. He lost because of redistricting and turnout.

Redistricting more than any other factor in this race changed the outcome of the race. Its that simple. But since we are on the conversation about loyalty, lets have a conversation about loyalty.

The Reyes campaign screwed Vince Perez. Yeah, I said it. They sure did. Every chance they had to take a whack at Vince they took it. Lets start from the beggining.

When Perez first expressed a desire to run for County Commissioner several members of the Congressman's campaign committee met with him and told him not to run. Perez stood his ground and still stayed in the race.

And yet they complain about loyalty?

Uh, what about the times when they tried to spread dirt about Vince? Yep, thats right. Congressional staffers spent time trying to spread dirt about Vince rather than focusing on the congressional race. Now they are pissed because of a picture on FB that showed Perez and Landeros going over maps and there was an O'Rourke sign in the room.

Its indicitive of the fact that from day one they were more focused on trying to find a supposed mole than doing what they should've been doing...trying to win a race! At the end of that day thats what a race is all about.

Every action you take should be geared toward winning your own election.

They spent too much time trying to get pay back with people in other races and lost focus. Spent too much time meddling and trying to prop up Aaron Barraza as a legitimate candidate.

Then staff end up at Dora Oaxaca's fundraiser.

Vince Perez was the guy that was the face of the Congressman and they actively worked against his campaign. And they have the nerve to squawk about loyalty?

Look in the mirror first. Loyalty is a relative term to those people.

For a very long time in the campaign I was the only one giving the Congressman's side of stuff in the media, and multiple family members started smack talking about me. Its indicitive of the fact that they were so damn emotional that they were divorced from rationality.

Don't talk about loyalty when you have your campaign committee try to get Perez not to run. Don't try to talk about loyalty when you have staffers go to fundraisers of his opponents. Don't talk about loyalty when you practically endorsed Willie Gandara over Perez for your own percieved self preservation. Perez was a loyal staffer who protected the congressman in the media.

There wasn't a single negative op ed written about the Congressman when Vince was running PR.

Not one.

Don't beleive me, go look it up.

How loyal was it to slap your own staffer in the face and endorse his opponet? In fact, they should be grateful Vince didn't fire back.

When asked a couple of weeks after the campaign started, Perez called the congressman the best congressman El Paso has ever had. This was AFTER he was already screwed over.

Yet he remained loyal.

God only knows why.

The Congressman then goes to an event and talks up Dora Oaxaca, who they knew was an opponent of Perez and tied to Willie Gandara, at a community event.

And they are complaining about loyalty?

Learn what it is before you start demanding it from people. And while I'm at it, you should learned that loyalty is EARNED not just given away. And every chance Vince had to be a team player and stick up for the Congressman and his staff, he did. Even though the loyalty from the staff wasn't reciprocated.

Even recently during a live interview on KVIA, Perez still stood up for the Congressman, and STAFF (even staff that attended other candidates' events) when he could've easily taken another approach.

And you know what started all of this?

A stupid photo.

There was a photo with an O'Rourke sign in the background. All of a sudden that made Perez some sort of disloyal fiend.

And now the Reyes click is going to show the same amount of strategic restraint (sarcasm) they are known for and you will see their vitriol all over the internet with all the grace and poise of a 10 year old that just found their daddy's shot gun.

Its really sad to see what this has come down to.