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 Vallarta Living | April 2008 
Local Dems Gear Up for 2008 US Elections
 Kent Paterson - Frontera NorteSur
| | For more information, contact DA/Costa Banderas-PV area chapter chairperson, Dee Dee Camhi at chair.banderas(at)mexicodemocrats.org. | | |
Puerto Vallarta - Democratic Party activists Dee Dee Camhi and Larry Canady say enthusiasm is running high among the rank-and-file membership. Welcoming an infusion of new members, local chapter meetings draw between 30-60 people.
What sets Camhi's and Canady's branch of the Democratic Party apart from many others is that it is located outside the United States, in Banderas Bay, Mexico, to be precise.
First organized in November 2007, the Costa Banderas chapter of Mexico Democrats Abroad now counts more than 200 members. The chapter represents US citizens residing in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, as well as in the emerging, new gringo "colonies" located just to the north of the well-known tourist resort in the state of Nayarit.
"I think the same things that motivate (Democrats) here are the same things that motivate them in the States," says Canady, a full-time resident of Puerto Vallarta who serves as the vice chairperson of the Costa Banderas organization. "I think they are probably a little tired of the last 8 years. I've seen more people enthusiastic and have more energy, more passion about this election than any other election that I remember."
According to Costa Banderas Chairperson Camhi, immigration and Medicare stand out as two issues of particular concern for local Democrats. A Spanish teacher who is well-versed in Mexican culture, Camhi stresses that she and other US citizens living south of the border are surrounded by family-oriented neighbors who depend on remittances from family members working in the US to sustain them in a tough economy.
"We see the issue of what is supposedly immigration and "illegals" as not as significant as it seems to be played up in the press in the States," Camhi says.
In Banderas Bay, many new immigrants are either retired or approaching retirement age. Camhi and Canady say US citizens are deeply concerned about the inability to tap into Medicare, a system they paid into all their lives, for payment of medical services in Mexico.
Mexico Democrats Abroad is working on a resolution for the August 2008 Democratic Party convention that would endorse Medicare coverage for US citizens living abroad. The backers of the resolution intend to have it approved as part of the party's platform for 2008 election, Camhi says.
Another issue of keen interest to the Mexico-based Democrats is the state of the cross-border economy, Canady adds. In the last decade, Puerto Vallarta and the surrounding region experienced a real estate sales boom as more and more US citizens moved into the area or purchased second homes for extended vacations or for income-producing rentals.
"The economy there is definitely going to spill over here, good or bad," Canady contends. "Whether Mexico experiences a serious downturn, or only a mild slowing of the feverish pace of growth and development we've seen in past years is still an open question, but we believe that a Democratic administration and congress will help restore the U.S. economy quickly, and that will be good for Mexico as well."
Organizing Mexico Democrats Abroad
Jumping into politics in late 2007, Canady and Camhi found themselves charged with the task of organizing the local version of the Democratic primary. Like other International Democrats, the new Costa Banderas members plugged into the Global Primary that commenced on Super Tuesday in February of this year.
Barack Obama emerged as the favorite of Mexico Democrats victor by a close margin. In the Banderas Bay election, 126 Democrats voted. According to official figures posted on the Mexico Democrats website, Barack Obama got 68 votes, Hillary Clinton 56, Dennis Kucinich 1, and John Edwards 1.
In Mexico, registered Democrats were allowed to cast their ballots via an Internet voting system or at polling stations that were set up for Super Tuesday. The primary unfolded in areas with large populations of US immigrants, including San Miguel de Allende, Lake Chapala, and Mexico City.
"Paris and London are the only two cities from abroad which had more voters than San Miguel de Allende," Canady adds.
Writing for the Mexico Democrats website, Bruce Rossley, vice chairperson of the San Miguel de Allende chapter, describes the scene where 512 US citizens voted.
"It looked like any polling place in America," Rossley writes, "but when you looked, more clearly, you realized that you weren't in Kansas any more. The walls and concave ceiling of the polling place were covered in vibrant colors of red and orange, with figures of ancient Aztec warriors looking down on Americans casting their votes for the first time in a foreign land."
Pre-election campaigning for the candidates and the Global Primary varied from place to place in Mexico. Camhi and Canady say they were prohibited from setting up a public literature table by local authorities in Puerto Vallarta, but that Democrats in San Miguel de Allende were able to promote the event in public with no trouble.
A milestone event, the Democrats' 2008 Global Primary is perhaps the most salient example to date of what Miami University scholar Dr. Sheila Croucher calls "political transnationalism."
With some estimates of the number of US citizens residing in Mexico exceeding one million (no exact census is publicly available), both the Democratic and Republican parties have an important stake south of the border for the 2008 and future elections.
November 2008
The November general election will be very different from the Democrats' Global Primary, which was organized for the sole purpose of selecting a Democratic presidential candidate. In addition to the presidential contest, Mexico-based Democrats will vote in congressional and local races as well.
For November, the main task for the Costa Bandera Democrats will be to organize their supporters to complete and send absentee ballots to the US. According to Camhi, the ballots will be sent to the US in a diplomatic pouch via the US Consulate in Puerto Vallarta.
"What we're looking at in the states in November is not only the president, but we're looking at congressmen from each of the different states," she says, "so each of us from a different state has to get a different ballot."
Much has been written about Latino immigrants in the US being a potential swing vote this year, but could politicized US expatriates be the over-looked factor in close 2008 elections? Camhi says the impact of US citizens voting from Mexico and other places abroad will be difficult to assess because of the way absentee votes are compiled and counted in different places.
"It could make a difference, but unfortunately, you'll never know," Camhi says.
If you would like to become a member of the Costa Banderas chapter of Mexico Democrats Abroad, contact Chapter Chairperson, Dee Dee Camhi at chair.banderas(at)mexicodemocrats.org.
Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news Center for Latin American and Border Studies New Mexico State University Las Cruces, New Mexico. For a free electronic subscription email fnsnews(at)nmsu.edu.
A veteran journalist, Kent Paterson has covered the borderlands, Mexico and Latin America for more than two decades. A frequent contributor to Radio Bilingue and other public radio programs, his stories have appeared on hundreds of stations throughout the world. He has written for publications including Ecoamericas, New Mexico Business Weekly, Crosswinds, Pacific News Service, and more. Kent is the author of the award-winning book The Hot Empire of Chile, a history of the New Mexico chile pepper industry. Kent's work has been recognized by numerous awards from the New Mexico Associated Press Broadcasters Association, New Mexico Press Women and the national Radio-Television News Directors Association. |
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