Republicans? No Way!!

A few months back I was having a very interesting discussion with some acquaintances in D.C. or Austin, or maybe it was a bar in McAllen. Nonetheless I assure you my discussion panel was of the utmost qualification for a conversation such as this. Continuing, we were talking about the political atmosphere in the Rio Grande Valley and how our Democratic representation was always able to work both sides of the rail.

It became clear rather quickly that we here in the Rio Grande Valley are actually economically depressed Republicans. Keeping social issues separate from economic issues one can quite quickly see that the core of our population is socially conservative. Very conservative. The majority of the Rio Grande Valleys voting population is:

1.) Male
2.) Catholic
- Pro Life
- Anti Gay Marriage
- etc. etc.

Once you factor that in you can add that most women in the Rio Grande Valley vote along similar lines when it comes to social issues. So will the Valley ever reach a point where it stops voting strictly Democrat? Well to answer that you must first examine why we vote Democrat when we are so socially conservative. The Rio Grande Valley is POOR. We are a bunch of POOR Republicans. Saying that we in the Rio Grande Valley are in favor of government funded aid would be a huge understatement. We LOVE the government to give us stuff because otherwise we'd be in some real trouble. Truth be told the Valley would not survive without government support.

1.) WIC
2.) Medicare
3.) Medicaid
2.) Headstart
4.) Free Public School
5.) Free Meals
6.) Summer pay for attending school
7.) Free and or subsidized college tuition
8.) Student loan forgiveness

In eight (8) steps the government has taken us from conception to adulthood with little to no want on our behalf.

What will the Impact be? Well as education levels increase income levels will as well, hopefully some day in the future the Valley will not be quite so dependent on government aid. If the majority of the Valleys voters were to become educated there is a real chance that all of a sudden social issues would become more important than economic issues. Thus allowing Valley voters to vote their hearts instead of their stomachs. There is however, one problem with that train of thought. It is no secret that the education system in this country leans left, way left. So the educated, young middle class will almost always vote predominantly Democratic.

So where does this leave us? Well its hard to say which is why I am hoping for some commentary. I think that the Rio Grande Valley is Republican at heart but votes Democrat because like my grandfather used to say "los dientes estan mas cerquita que los parientes". With increased education rates and decreasing poverty the Valley might suddenly find itself as a swing area. Something Democrats of the past could never imagine.


Until The Light shines again, Good Day.