D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
July 2009
Editor's Notebook
Page: 2Some political observers, however, look to New Mexico as a place to jump-start a Republican resurgence. Given the scandals shadowing the Richardson administration and Democratic state officials (see "Pirates of the Roundhouse," March), the GOP can run on a promise to clean up the mess in Santa Fe. As political blogger Heath Haussamen has suggested, "capitalizing on the scandals plaguing the party that controls virtually all of state government appears to be a key to the race" for governor in 2010.
It may be tough, however, to tar Lt. Governor Diane Denish — thus far, the only announced Democratic candidate to replace Richardson — with that brush; moreover, she's already raised more than $2 million for the race. As NMSU government professor Jose Z. Garcia pointed out on Haussamen's blog, "New Mexicans tend to vote for the person, not the party, and so that gives Republicans some hope. The problem is they have to find the right person." The GOP primary could well feature a Wilson-Pearce rematch, in which again Wilson would likely be the stronger November candidate. Garcia added, "She never got so far into adulation of George Bush that she forgot her constituents."
The conservatives who tend to dominate GOP primaries, however, would likely back Pearce — and their party would fumble its chance to make a comeback in New Mexico.
An alternative scenario has been playing out in another Western state, Utah. There, Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. won wide popularity by blending conservatism with support for Obama's economic-stimulus plan and civil unions for same-sex couples. He also pushed through a liberalization of the Mormon-dominated state's archaic liquor laws. Recently picked by the president to be ambassador to China, Huntsman will burnish his foreign-policy credentials — possibly with an eye on the White House in 2012.
Domenici could do his party a favor by urging the GOP — both in New Mexico and nationally — to follow the Huntsman path rather than continuing toward the cliff's edge. That would be healthy not only for Republicans but for the country, which needs a vibrant two-party system. (Indeed, New Mexico can be seen as exhibit A for what can go wrong when one party dominates.)
In doing so, perhaps "Saint Pete" could remind his fellow Republicans that when Abraham Lincoln joined the fledgling party, he described it as "composed of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements."
Or he could quote from the rest of that famous "extremism in the defense of liberty" speech at the 1964 Republican convention by our former neighboring senator, Barry Goldwater. "This Republican Party is a Party for free men, not for blind followers, and not for conformists," the Arizonan also said. In words Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney might want to heed, Goldwater went on, "We must not see malice in honest differences of opinion, no matter how great, so long as they are not inconsistent with the pledges we have given to each other in and through our Constitution."