Tequila: Ridiculous Dancing, But Not Votes
Three things come to mind when I hear the word Tequila: special celebrations, ridiculous tourists in Nuevo Laredo, and Pee Wee Herman dancing to the 1958 hit by The Champs. None of these bring a mental picture of political seriousness.
When I was a kid a favorite thing was to laugh at the tourists in downtown Nuevo Laredo who bought over-sized charro hats and yelled after doing the salt lick-tequila shot-lime wedge nonsense. Any self-respecting tequila drinker knows that you’re supposed to sip it, and maybe chase with beer if you’re so inclined. But a shot is for dilettantes. The fact that bars will provide the salt and lime is a matter of supply and demand, not propriety.
Pee Wee Herman? No need to say more. The biggest laugh came when the tourists drank enough tequila to lose their inhibitions, stand and do the dance.
The special occasions? Of course. Among friends and family, laughter and song – tequila is more than appropriate. You know you’ve reached your limit when someone stands to propose a toast to the selfless agave’s that sacrificed their lives for our merriment.
None of these, though, bring politics and voting to mind.
I’m not sure what the founders of the political Tequila Party were thinking when they launched what they hope will be a national movement to register Latino voters. They weren’t thinking about me. I’m a registered voter, have been for a very long time. I’m not a casual tequila drinker, I take tequila very seriously. So maybe I shouldn’t worry.
Still, the question of credibility persists. Of all the names available for a serious Latino political movement, why Tequila? A TV reporter in Tucson asked the Party’s funder, Dee Dee Garcia-Blase, that same question.
“Not at all,” said Garcia-Blasé. “We would’ve angered some people if we would have named it the tortilla party or the frijole (bean) party.”
A couple of things need to be set right here. First, there’s no such thing as a frijole. The singular of frijoles is frijol (but this falls in the same category as tamale/tamal, it’s just wrong). Second, why follow anyone else’s lead. I understand the juxtaposition of the name to the ultra-c0nservative Tea Party – they’re teetotalers and we’re what? So if they named themselves the Tiger Party we’d be the Jaguar Party, or something like that? Are those the only cultural references we can think of? Frijoles, tortillas and tequila?
That’s just bad public relations, not just of the fledgling political movement but of our community in general. We need better objects of cultural reference, something that goes beyond the kitsch: piñatas, sombreros, mariachis.
I like what the Tequila Party is trying to do. I personally know that it’s no easy task to register Latino voters. So far the Party, established in Arizona – of all places, has spread to Kansas. And I’m not going to speculate as to whether the movement will spread further than that. I’ve learned that these things can surprise. I’m just not sure that the Party’s founders are helping themselves with that name.
The Tea Party has an historic and decidedly political reference, what does tequila elude to?
I’d like to know your thoughts. What else could we call a Latino political movement?
Follow Victor Landa on Twitter: @vlanda
[Photo by lil’bear]
