Last night a mixed crowd congregated Downtown to watch the Presidential debate in style. The event took place at Downtown coffee shop The Percolator, located at Stanton and Mills. (An inconspicuous door leads you into a private movie theater complete with cup holders for you Mocha/Shiner/Latte.)
A good turn out meant a few tuts, claps and giggles along the way, which complemented the experience of watching on the big screen. (Politicians have big enough heads without projecting those heads on a 12 foot square screen). And when the debate got a little boring in places? Well you’ve still got your Mocha/Shiner/Latte.
“We definitely had a good turn out. More people are taking an interest in this election” said Bobby Smith, owner of The Percolator. And will the Percolator be putting on more events like this in the future? “Definitely,” says Bobby.
That's good news for Dr. Joseph Villescas of UTEP who organized the event. The event was born when he bumped into a certain Barack Obama in a Chicago bookstore last month.
Villescas thougt the event a huge success but is anxious to see that this sort of thing continues past November. He was keen though to stress the need to keep this sort of thing going.
“Is this all to end in three weeks? Are we really going to end all this apparatus in place that has got El Pasoans talking?”
“No mater who wins I see something that has never happened in El Paso before. There is a great level of awareness here.” For Villescas the event encapsulated his love for the city: civically engaged people of different ages and ethnicities to tackle the big issues. “This is El Paso”
Villescas hopes that the political awareness and involvement exhibited by the city during the election will transfer into the local scene afterward. “If this really does take hold then it can only be good for El Paso”
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Editor’s note: click here to read a story on this subject
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If you missed the debate, you can watch the whole thing here:
On a more tangential note, here is a clip from 1976, where media theorist Marshall McLuhan talks to a young Tom Brokaw about the debate between Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.
On a more quaint note, here is a clip from the Nixon/Kennedy debate orginally aired in 1960
Ken G
October 19, 2008
Why all the noise? El Paso will vote for Obama, Texas will vote for McCain. Voters in the Northeast and Westside liked Pat Haggerty but their was more action in the Democratic Primary so many switched side. Margo may be more qualified but a very unqualified Joe Moody will probably win on the straight-party vote. El Paso's delegation will then be totally Democrat and ignored even if Democrats win in the Lege. El Paso got more under Republicans than Democrat administrations in Austin. Either way we will lose.
elrubio
October 19, 2008
Mr Ken G,
What an absolutely superlative comment ......... and I really mean that. So, what are you saying, there is no point; are you saying democracy does not work? You’re basically stating the system is corrupt and there is corruption.
If so …………
Can you please relay a message to our Democrat Rep (Mr Holguin) and our Park & Rec Rep (Mrs Smejkal) that a bunch of Eastside residents left messages on other NPT (corruption) articles, and will continue to post comments until the Paseos Del Sol Park is under way?
Otherwise, we may form the same ideology you seem to profess ………..
L Chuco
October 20, 2008
Ken G, what makes you assume that Margo is "more qualified" than Moody? Because of "whom he knows"? Nothing to brag on there. And what has El Paso received under Republican state leadership? Thousands of children kicked off the health insurance program? Declining education standards? Skyrocketing property taxes? Sounds to me like a Bridge to Nowhere.
I say: "No Thanks!"
Diane
October 21, 2008
Sorry to say, that if Obama wins there may be civil war.
It will cost many people their lives. Maybe even Obama knows this and is now trying to just lose, by a little bit.