The Return of Pachangas?

Back in the bad old days - corrupt Lower Valley politicians would hold pachangas around the holidays. They offered free food and free beer to people to get them to show up to their events. It was an old school attempt to buy votes.

That is how little they thought of their voters - that they could be bought with free food and free beer.

Eventually it got so bad that they started upping the ante and started giving away free stuff. First it was small things for kids, then those prizes steadily grew. They grew to the point that they eventually reached the point where they were giving out big screen TV's and cold hard cash.

Here's a video trip down memory lane...check out Chente Quintanilla giving out cold hard cash!



Eventually it had to reach such an embarrassing level as to cash giveaways for the people to say enough is enough.

I mean the candidates that used to attend them knew it felt wrong, but the perception was always, well, this is how you get votes in the valley...terrible sentiment, I know.

Well it looks like the Holguin's are trying to resurrect that pachanga but boy to the take things to an all new embarrassing low...shamefully use Catholicism to wrap around what is basically the same old-school effort to essentially try to buy votes. Instead of a pachanga, they are saying its about posadas. The other pachangas were held in Socorro, but this one is being held in San Elizario.

But its the same effort as always - trying to buy votes with free booze, free food, and God only knows what else they are going to giveaway. You can slap a new label on it, but its the same old effort to buy votes.

Its embarrassing that such an obviously bad practice is being employed again. And its insulting that people always do that to people in the Valley.

The Holguin's sent out this inviting to high efficacy voters. If this were a community celebration to commemorate something as solemn as posadas, it would be something they did without looking for attention and it would be at church.

So don't let them tell you this isn't just a political attempt at buying votes because this event is in a party hall not a church and its very obviously political in nature evidenced by the fact that she sent out an invitation with the political disclaimer on it and it was sent to particularly targeted voters.

Here's the invitation that was sent out.

Obviously voters were pretty upset that they'd use a Catholic tradition like posadas as their way to buy votes. Especially in a town they really don't know or have any connection to.