The lines have been drawn and certain people have made fools of themselves. Jamie O. Perez, dishing on his recent breakup from County Judge Anthony “Fuck the Times” Cobos (yes, El Paso’s longest running bromance has come to an end), declared on KVIA that “El Paso is a town divided, and Cobos is trying to bring everyone together.”

The division has been somewhat apparent over the last few years, but has only recently started to rear its ugly head. No, the division is not between progressives and conservatives, nor between those who live north of the freeway and those who live south of it, not even between the East Si-yud(!) and West Side for that matter. The division is between old people and young people (or at least middle-aged who want to think they’re young).

Examples include Mr. Viva Youth in Government himself, Walt Phillips filing to run presumably against this site’s favorite hottie, Rep. Melina Castro (as of this posting, Rep. Castro had not yet filed to run for re-erec, um…re-election). A crucial moment in this war was when up-and-comers Steve Ortega, Susie Byrd, Eddie Holguin, and Beto O’ Rourke all won and brought down the average age of City Council. Luckily, Rep. Ann Lilly jacked it back up. Another was the election of Veronica “White Blouse” Escobar to Commissioner’s Court (she also brought some much needed sexyback to the courthouse). And don’t forget the double whammy in the last election where Joe Moody beat Dee Margo and Marisa Marquez beat some old guy (yes, there were races other than the one with el negro. The latest line drawn in the sand came recently as Jaime O. Perez declared that he would be running against the favorite of several local priests, Rep. Steve Ortega in District 7.

In this town, however, age does not guarantee any particular stance. The relatively young Reps. Eddie Holguin, Melina Castro, and Rachel Quintana often clash with Reps. Ortega, O’ Rourke, and Byrd.

Oh, and an 18-year-old was recently appointed, as opposed to elected, to the Socorro ISD school board.

Whether young voters will turn out to support those in their age cohort in an Obama-less election remains to be seen.

-Avocadoan Staff