I asked Esmeralda Rodriguez Hereford why she was a Republican. Ten showed up. Follow Joe Klein as he drives across the country. I was down in Laredo to begin my second β I suppose we can call it annual β road trip.
Last year, I recruited traveling companions to come along for a few days as agents provocateurs and extra sets of eyes. This turned out to be an inspired choice: he provoked an unexpected conversation at our very first stop. Turk had asked if he could show his latest documentary, Building Hope, to a group of high school students in Laredo.
This was definitely something new. They almost seemed to envy their poor cousins on the Mexican side of the border. One board member, who owns apartments in downtown Laredo, said that the recent immigrants who rented his flats were more respectful of the property, that their children seemed less wild, more disciplined. There was a general sense of bewilderment and loss. These were people who had done well in life. Laredo is doing well compared with other places β there is a lot of poverty, but the city is becoming a major distribution center for the products being made on the other side of the border.
When I suggested that nostalgia for stronger family values and a more rigorous attitude among their young people were very similar to the less toxic issues being raised by the Tea Party, there was no dispute. Even among liberals, it seems, the quality of the liberal welfare state is now open to question. All of which made Rick. Political debates are usually fudge factories β success or failure is determined by gaffes and sound bites β but the Republican debates have been refreshingly primal this year.
Finally, someone was taking it on directly. And the implicit question that Perry was raising β is retirement something we want the government to handle for us or should we take care of it ourselves?
