Border Street: Reality takes priority over election

By Tina Griego, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Wednesday, November 8, 2006

The Teacher and her parents, regular voters, like to be among the first in line to cast their ballots on Election Day, and since this year their precinct was abandoned in favor of a voting center, they leave the house extra early, only to discover their directions are bad. They figure it out, and 15 minutes later take their place in line, the Teacher with her sample ballot under her arm, her mother holding a small piece of paper, her cheat sheet.

The Teacher's father will vote after work, though, the Teacher's mother grumbles, "He should have taken the day off."

The Teacher's mother takes her voting seriously. It is like a holiday to her. Her eyes even sparkle. She is the political junkie of the household, an avid news watcher who takes it upon herself to inform the rest of her family of the latest developments on the campaign trail. She was home last week when a young man came to the door and asked her if she would be voting. Of course, she said. She votes every election - no matter how disgusted the campaigns make her, and this year made her sicker than most.

The young man asks her if he can put a sign in her front yard, and she says yes again. It reads: "My Family Votes. Mi Familia Vota." Only one other house on the block displays the sign.

Border Street cannot be called a hotbed of political activism. It is a place where, for many, voting falls low on the priority list, far removed from the reality of overdue bills and children knocking on doors to borrow eggs and jobs that never seem to work out. Longtime Eddie, looking down the road to the holiday season, has sunk into what has become an annual depression, and he turns so deep inward that he loses track of time. Oh, he says, emerging bleary-eyed from his house, "to tell you the truth, I thought the election was last week."

The illegal immigrants on the street can't vote, and they go to work as usual. The Legal Permanent Resident can't vote, either. The citizenship he says he desires remains out of reach because, after more than a decade in this country, he cannot speak English, cannot seem to find the time to learn.

The American Spouse, one of the young mothers of the street, voted in 2004 for President Bush. "I really regretted it afterward," she says. "I don't think it's right, he has our men out there dying and their mothers and fathers suffering."

But she will not vote. She is looking for work. She and her husband, an illegal immigrant, have split up. As far as the election goes, "I don't even care anymore."

The older voters on Border Street do not talk to one another about politics, and so might be surprised to learn they all lean in the same direction. They give Democrat Bill Ritter the nod for governor - though this provoked some debate in the Teacher's household after she announced she might go Republican because of the ads depicting Ritter as soft on immigration. Oh, don't believe the ads, the Teacher's mother said, providing her daughter with Ritter's response. This is the only decision the national picture colors. The failure to pass immigration reform, and to a lesser degree, the war in Iraq, turn them decisively against Republican Congressman Bob Beauprez.

"They've been bashing (Massachusetts Sen. Ted) Kennedy, saying he's friendly to illegal immigrants, but it seems to me that the Republicans have been in charge, and they haven't done anything," Longtime Eddie says. "You say you are better on immigration, but what the hell have you done?"

The voters of Border Street are longtime residents, U.S.-born, descendants of U.S.-born men and women with roots that stretch back into Mexico and Spain. They are children of tradition, of cultures shaped by obedience to the church and reverence for the law, and so while they may vote the Democratic ticket, they also vote for measures that would sanction employers who hire illegal immigrants and would seek to sue the federal government to demand enforcement of immigration laws. They vote against legalizing domestic partnerships for same-sex partners and for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of man and a woman.

They vote for an increase in the minimum wage, and this is not surprising since, at some point in each of their lives, they or their children earned it, tried to live off it. "People deserve more," the Fed Up Neighbor says. "Every penny counts."

At the voting center Tuesday morning, the Teacher and her mother claim the ninth and 10th places in line. At 7 a.m., a worker shouts, "Polls are open," and a mild cheer comes from the line. On Border Street, Longtime Eddie is still sleeping and the Fed-Up Neighbor is already at work and the American Spouse is getting her kids ready for school. The Teacher and her mother leave the voting booth and head home. Duty done.

griegot@RockyMountainNews.com