Back yard buzz on Hillary is good

Ask Ernie Gonzalez Jr. who he’s going to vote for and the 9-year-old will tell you, “Hillary.”

Playing on a tree swing in his backyard Thursday, the young Democrat explained why his Kids Voting ballot will carry Clinton.

“Because she’s good and her words can help the country,” he said. “It’ll work.” He smiled and gave two thumbs up.

Affordable health insurance and care is the No. 1 campaign issue for his parents, Ernie and Janice Marcelle Gonzalez. The Brownsville couple met on the Bill Clinton campaign trail in 1992. That trail led to their Forest North subdivision home Thursday night, where they hosted a debate watching party for about 20 friends and family members supporting Sen. Hillary Clinton’s run for the White House.

The Gonzalezes, a young and growing family, spend nearly $800 a month on health insurance, plus care costs and medicine. “That’s money we could be using for my son’s college fund,” Ernie Gonzalez said. “Under the current administration, we were promised that tort reform would fix things, bring down health costs and it didn’t.”

Clinton and Obama have offered more inclusive health care plans, even “universal” plans that would help families like the Gonzalezes. The topic was discussed vigorously between the Democratic candidates.

And though there are only slight differences in most of their major platform positions, “She’s been consistent with her message,” Ernie said. “He lacks substance.”

The home was decked out with Clinton signs and Texas flags. “We’ve been big supporters of the Democratic Party, especially for the Clintons,” Janice said. “Bill Clinton did so much for us, the minorities, and we need that again, we really need a hero to take us out of the dump that we’re in right now.”

She observed that “behind every good man is a great woman,” and quoted a line from local singer/songwriter Dulce Gonzalez who penned a tune for the Clinton campaign and performed it for debate watchers.

“If a woman can carry the weight of a child, she can carry the weight of a nation,” Janice, a mother of three, said. “That’s how I see it.”

As the debate continued, the group watched and listened closely, applauding the candidates’ position on news/" class="autolink">immigration reform and a proposed border fence.

The two agreed on the need for “comprehensive immigration reform,” and secure borders, that doesn’t necessarily include a border fence. “I am for comprehensive immigration reform Â… tougher, more secure borders, of course, but let’s do it the right way,” Clinton said.

Obama said, “comprehensive reform means stronger borders and cracking down on employers that are exploiting illegal workers.”

Both said they would reconsider plans for a proposed border fence, including several miles in Brownsville and the Texas-Mexico border. As senators, they both voted for the legislation that created the plan.

Clinton referenced her rally Wednesday at UTB-TSC. It was one of a handful of allusions she made to her visit here that drew cheers from the Brownsville audience.

“This is how absurd it has become,” she said. “What I learned is that the University of Texas at Brownsville would have part of its campus cut off Â… this is the kind of absurdity from this administration.”

The university’s Fort Brown Golf Course, the site of a historic battle and memorialized for Gen. Jacob Brown, the city’s namesake, would be on the south side of the fence, as it is currently mapped out.

As president, “I would say, ‘wait a minute, we need to review this,’ ” Clinton said.

She criticized the government’s eminent domain lawsuits, including several filed against Cameron County property owners, in an effort to secure access to border lands.

“This is an area where we almost entirely agree,” Obama said. “I will reverse that policy Â… there may be areas where it would make sense to have some fencing,” others where Border Patrol and technology “would be a better approach.”

Cameron County Clerk Joe Rivera applauded these remarks but didn’t attend the party to be convinced of the best candidate.

“I’ve already decided who I’m going to vote for,” he said and pointed to framed pictures of him and a younger Bill and Hillary Clinton during a 1992 visit to Brownsville.

“The Democratic Party has two outstanding candidates,” he said “I just happen to lean toward Hillary because I know her personally and she knows how to get things done.”

It’s her experience, he said, that makes all the difference.

“I’ve been the county clerk for 30 years. I don’t get there as fast as I used to but I get there. So I know, experience counts.”