Taking a look at vote-getting in southern New Mexico

The local and national media provided a one-two punch last week about the prospects of southern New Mexico’s south valley being a decisive factor in this year’s presidential election.

On Thursday, Jose Z. Garcia of New Mexico State University wrote an opinion piece laying out the numbers to support his contention that the south valley near Las Cruces could be pivotal to the election. He compared Doña Ana County to Rio Arriba, and suggested that visiting southern New Mexico might be just as worthwhile for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama as visiting Española, which Obama did a few weeks ago.

Garcia then further narrowed his scope to the south valley, suggesting that most of the potential gains for Democrats — above the numbers that John Kerry pulled in 2004 — would come from this largely Hispanic area.

The PBS television program “NOW” picked up the focus on the south valley on Friday night, during its segment about New Mexico called “New Voters in the New West.” The show included an interview with Gov. Bill Richardson, a survey of student organizing at the University of New Mexico and a swing through the south valley, highlighting voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts for Obama.

The show said that while the south valley area may not have an official town or newspaper, it does have an Obama field office in the “lone strip mall.”

Victor Montoya, an Obama volunteer, told NOW that “People respect him [Obama] in the valley because he opened an office here. That’s never been done. Ever, ever… Nobody’s ever opened a political office here.”

At the same time, Montoya was shown speaking with several residents—including his own uncle, a registered Democrat—who are supporters of Republican presidential nominee John McCain. Montoya is undeterred, however. He said the south valley has 7,000 unregistered voters who, if registered, would vote for Obama in the majority.

The show also interviewed community organizer Arturo Uribe, who cautioned that the campaign can’t assume registered Democrats in the valley will vote for Obama. Uribe highlighted race and religion as potential stumbling blocks. He said that while it pains him to say it, there’s a fear among some older Hispanics that a black president will mean that African-Americans become the preferred minority group. Montoya also mentioned negative beliefs some residents hold, namely that Obama is a terrorist or a Muslim because of his name.

Richardson told the program that the best way to combat these ideas is for Obama to actually visit the area so that people can get to know him, something Uribe said as well. Uribe also mentioned a novel get-out-the vote strategy. Not only are limousines less expensive than 15-seat passenger vans, he said, people are much more likely to get into them. For that reason, he and his fellow organizers will be making the rounds in limos to take people to the polls.

To round out the weekend press about southern New Mexico, the managing editor of the Las Cruces Sun-News, Walt Rubell, wrote an “observation” about the political climate in Las Cruces for the New York Times Saturday edition. Rubell explains that because Las Cruces has been “hit hard by the housing bust,” the main issue there is the economy.

As to whether or not Obama’s race is an issue, Rubell says if it is, he hasn’t seen it:

 

I have read media accounts of Hispanic voters being reluctant to vote for Obama, or any black candidate. If that sentiment exists, I haven’t seen it. Maybe it’s the kind of thing people don’t talk about in polite society.