by José de la Isla
HOUSTON, Texas — Minuteman Civil Defense Corps co-founder Chris Simcox announced in late April he will challenge incumbent John McCain for the 2010 Arizona U.S. Senate nomination.
Back in March 2005, Simcox and Jim Gilchrist mobilized volunteers to converge on that state’s Cochise County and patrol the border.
They pulled off a publicrelations coup. With unauthorized entry from Mexico their lightning rod, about half of the Minuteman volunteers cited lethargic politicians as their motive for joining the mobilization.
Contacting their representatives brought no response, many complained. Mostly, they said, the threat of terrorism inspired them. The participants appeared to be deeply patriotic, their pride worn on their sleeves.
When photographer Wilhelm Scholz and I showed up on an assignment in that area, the Minutemen had appropriated symbols like the flag — on hats and T-shirts — to illustrate their discontent.
Gilchrist ran as an American Independent Party congressional candidate in California near the end of that summer. In an e-mail backing him, Simcox criticized Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, President Bush and the Republican “establishment,” as he referred to them, for supporting one of their own party over Gilchrist, charging they were “soft” on immigration.
Now he wants to become one of them in the party.
The next part of his message was revealing. Simcox said, “We cannot afford to have another congressman a newspaper, the Tumble-weed. The paper’s tone turned policy issues into talk about bravado, gumption and guns.
The organization he co-founded increasingly adopted elements of a nativist movement. There were charges about “sell-out offi cials” and “national sovereignty violations.”
Valid patriotism came only in the Minuteman vintage.
Perhaps it was appropriate that this culture would take root in Tombstone, near Boot Hill, and that the newspaper offi ces were on Toughnut Street.
On the other hand, many local merchants laughed it off and referred to the handful a Simcox’s followers more like the gang that couldn’t shoot straight.
When Wilhelm and I called Simcox for an interview in 2005, he was continually “out of the office.”
In mid-2006 he also made himself mostly unavailable to account for issues arising from funds up to $1.8 million for a six-foot-deep “Israeli-style” border trench, and fence he proposed to erect. Some critics of Simcox are openly gleeful that he announced for the Republican nomination. His statements are often cynical or extreme.
He is such an easy target.
His motivation does not seem to be to join the Republican Party but for the party to join him, to transform it from the party of Lincoln to the snide one of Rush Limbaugh.
Simcox and others like him will only divert the discussions we should be having; his jarring words incite theatrics that appeal to a lower nature. Nor is there a history of problem-solving to be found in his bio.
Rather, it’s one of taking pleasure in a problem. Our political periscope tells us Simcox has no chance of winning. Now we expect better in our politics.
[José de la Isla’s latest book, Day Night Life Death Hope, is distributed by The Ford Foundation. He writes a weekly commentary for Hispanic Link News Service and is author of The Rise of Hispanic Political Power (2003). E-mail him at joseisla3@yahoo.com]. © 2009
