Guns and showmanship – Seeing a Texas GOP debate watch party through the eyes of a study-abroad student

By |

EL PASO, Texas – CNN reported that more than 80 million people tuned in to watch the Clinton-Trump debate on September 26, making it the most-watched presidential debate in history. It will also remain a day which will live long in my memory as my first real taste of a U.S. presidential debate watch. When I first arrived at the El Paso County Republican Party offices I was greeted with a man carrying a 12 gauge shotgun and a .44. Magnum marching Hilary Clinton around the offices. No, not the real Hillary, a masked version of the candidate.

Former White House correspondent, Sam Donaldson, gave the lecture "Road to the White House." (Ernie Chacon/Borderzine.com)

Sam Donaldson says the presidential election is too close to call

By |

EL PASO – Veteran ABC news reporter Sam Donaldson has covered every national political election since 1964 but he has never seen one as close and as difficult to call as the upcoming contest next week between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. “I can’t call this election.  Many times at this point, two weeks before a presidential election you kind of know who is going to win. I don’t know this time,” Donaldson told students at the University of Texas at El Paso October 23. “It’s been an interesting year,” the former White House correspondent said. He told students that each candidate has flaws, referring to Obama as an “empty suit” during the first debate for which the President was criticized for not speaking out as forcefully on the issues as Romney did.

Mormon temple of the El Paso Texas Stake at 1212 Sumac. (Elliot Torres/Borderzine.com)

Mormons see increased exposure by presidential race as potential benefit

By |

EL PASO —The two candidates running for the presidency in a close election face questions about the fate of the U.S. economy, poverty and discrimination, but aside from these traditional political issues, republican candidate Mitt Romney has to deal with questions about his Mormon faith. We are not only talking about 2012. This happened to John F. Kennedy in 1960 when voters wanted to know if his Catholic faith would make him subject to edicts from the Vatican. Religion has always been a factor in politics, but this year it seems to have a different wrinkle, one that is highlighted by Romney who is a Mormon like some 6 million other Americans. Though the Mormon church has existed for well over a century and half, and was founded in America, it is still misunderstood by many.

Roderic Ai Camp, left, and Miguel E. Basáñez talk about Camp’s recent books about politics in Mexico. (Salvador Guerrero/SHFWire)

Mexico’s July presidential election may put PRI back in power

By |

WASHINGTON – The United States isn’t the only country facing a contentious presidential election this year. Mexico will elect a new president in July, and some experts think the National Action Party (PAN) will be ousted from office by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which held power for 71 years before the PAN took over in 2000. Roderic Ai Camp, professor of the Pacific Rim at Claremont McKenna College, said Friday that two issues are likely to be important to voters: increasing family income and  reducing violence. He spoke at a forum sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars Mexico Institute and the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress. “It will be interesting to see what PRI is really proposing that will be different from PAN on two major issues,” Camp said.