May 23, 2010 Section: Opinion Columnists

Joe Muench: El Pasoans are Republicans

Joe Muench / El Paso Times I just slapped my own forehead. I was searching for an El Paso middle-class Republican, then realized I haven't been seeing "the forest for the trees." El Pasoans act Republican ... so how come we vote Democrat? I'm not saying one party is always best. Big government isn't always best. Tax breaks for the wealthy are not always best. But when I look at El Paso, which votes overwhelmingly Democrat, I don't understand. Republicans are for less government spending. Probably 75 percent of El Pasoans want it that way, at least when it comes to local government spending. City Council is tried and true Dem at heart, although they don't have to run on a party ticket. They're called "tax and spenders." County Judge Anthony Cobos runs for offices as a Democrat, but he's never been a tax-and-spender. He ran on a ticket of finding ways to save money. That's Republican. Had he run as a Republican, Barbara Perez would be our county judge today -- and she's no "spender," either. So how come, unless you're a Haggerty, you can't get elected on the Republican ticket at the county or in the state Legislature? Republicans generally oppose abortion. That's El Paso in a landslide. Republicans are for the right to bear arms. We put up with no San Francisco silliness here. Tony Bennett should have crooned, "I Left My Bleeding Heart in San Francisco." We applauded the homeowner who shot the intruder in Northeast. We love Fort Bliss and the military. Thousands of military veterans choose to retire here. We don't kick military recruiters off our college campuses, as did San Francisco. Left-wingers do that, and left-wingers are Democrats. Do you think marijuana should be legalized in the U.S. as a means of weakening the Mexican drug cartels? After we choke and hack and cough, we settle down to a hearty, "Heck no! And "heck no" is a Republican chant, with some Dem voices joining in. We don't even let the "legalizers" finish their spiel -- which goes into how much money we'd make by highly taxing marijuana. I fully understand that the smartest Democrat and the smartest Republican could debate forever, and neither would win. Dems vs. Republicans is like a hard-and-fast rule on some national radio call-in shows: No one is allowed to bring up abortion, gun control or the question, should Pete Rose be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Nobody wins those debates. Wait a sec. I've got it figured out. So many middle-class El Pasoans want to be known as a Republican, but have no one to sidle up to. We take you now to Republican Headquarters. Knock knock. Knock knock. Knock, knock KNOCK! (I peer into the window) All I see are two men around a card table. I hear one say, "Gimme all your eights." And I hear the other retort, "Go fish!" Perhaps if the Republican Party put on the face of the average citizen, more average citizens would realize ... "Ohmygosh! I'm a Republican."

Perhaps El Pasoans will realize they can have Republican values, and still have American values, without having to like Dick Cheney or Halliburton or Goldman Sachs ... So, do you favor tax/fee/rate increases imposed by Democrats? Electricity, gas, raises for the $100,000-a-year central office personnel at the El Paso Independent School District? "Heck no!" So say it. This isn't an AA meeting, after all. "My name is (fill-in-name), and I am an El Paso middle-class Republican." Joe Muench may be reached at jmuench@elpasotimes.com

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