N.M. Republicans may be down, but they’re hardly out

By Kate Nelson 11/5/08 11:13 AM

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce

Despite the tears and occasional jeers at the New Mexico Republican Party’s election-watch event Tuesday, rays of hope began to emerge.

Retiring U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici assured Republican candidates that they hadn’t lost because they weren’t good candidates.

“I say to all of you, just remember, when you’re down and out, it just takes a little time, and you’ll be back up and you’ll be back out,” he said.

See? There’s always a next time. There’s always a second chance. And, despite the nation having just endured the longest presidential election in history, there’s always another election just around the corner.

Some of the could-be’s next time around:

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce. Although he lost U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici’s seat to Democrat Tom Udall, Pearce has long been mentioned as a potential gubernatorial candidate in 2010 (along with U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson).

On election night, Pearce wasn’t exactly jumping at the chance to put together another campaign, but he wasn’t hiding from it either. His main concern about running? Having to fix the state budget:

I hear those calls [to run for governor], and we’ll look at it. We’ve put ourselves in a very difficult position as far as the state is concerned. There are significant challenges facing us. It’s going to be a very difficult business. If that was a business I was looking to buy, I might buy it, but it would be a serious challenge.

Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White. By 2010, White will be term-limited out of office. Going into the 1st Congressional District race, his positive name ID was expected to carry him to victory. Alas for him, he ran in a Democrats’ year.

Would he consider staging another run for a seat that has been held by Republicans since its creation four decades ago?

I have no idea. This was a long year. When you come off of something like this, the only thing I can think of is getting some rest. We’re tired. We’ll regroup in the next couple days, look at things we might have been able to do better.

3rd Congressional District candidate Dan East. He’s already back. During his concession speech at the election-night party, East spoke diplomatically of his race against victorious Democrat Ben Ray Lujan Jr. and Green Carol Miller. And he let them know he’s ready for more.

We need to thank Ben Ray Lujan Jr. and Carol Miller. We really had a healthy dialogue. Most important, we did keep this race civil.

I have been reaffirmed in my beliefs that this is a great place to live and to raise a family. Yes, it is difficult, but I believe in myself. I believe in this state and I believe in this district and I will be back in two years.

Bernalillo County District Attorney candidate Lisa Torraco. After spending much of Tuesday evening ducking reporters, Torraco finally sat down in the party hall long after most Republicans had gone home to bed. She ran a tough-nosed race against incumbent Democrat Kari Brandenburg and, despite the still-trickling-in results that showed she wouldn’t win, she still sounded like a candidate.

But maybe one who’s had enough.

The issues remain, and [Brandenburg] never saw that she did anything wrong. She didn’t have a plan to change. She won as a result of a Democratic movement, and the sad thing is she won’t realize she needs to change some of the things she does. That’s sad for the people of Bernalillo County.

So will she run again?

“I can’t comment on that,” she said.

Why not?

“I can’t comment on that,” she repeated.

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cindy403

Good for Torraco. I am proud of her run. She took on a lot, she might have lost the election, but she won my support.

politicalcouchpotato

It will be interesting to see if Torraco runs again. Too bad she is a republican, she would win hands-down if she registered Democrat. Progessive republican verses conservative dem... what's the difference?

babyfatt

The problem with the R's this year was not that it was a Dem year (economy, etc) it was that the R's continue to run on resentment and fear, and the country is finally sick of negativity and divisiveness. The R's made a deal with the devil when they wedded a big business, small government ideology with religious fundamentalism and the "Southern strategy" (i.e., racism). The old politics of resentment are so 20th century, which doesn't mean the R's won't continue to try and use them--and even win some elections here and there--just that the demographics of the country have changed, and the old culture wars just don't mean much to young people worried about jobs, healthcare, idiotic wars of foreign adventure, etc. Want to know what the R's biggest challenge is (and the Dems' biggest strength)? Just go to a R rally and count the non-white faces (one hand should suffice). Then go to a Dem rally, and see the diversity (not lockstep ideology, not agreement on all the issues, just genuine diversity). That's why the conservative movement died last night. It's disingenuous to suggest that the Dem victory was due to external forces beyond their control (the economy). Dems won because history passed the R's by, and they still haven't noticed (nor have their enablers in the mainstream media).

JoMa

I wish I had as much faith in "young people" as you do. What I see is a generation that believes it is automatically entitled to have fun, party on, and receive all the benefits of a great society built by those that came before without shouldering the load.

The Dems won because they spent over $600M on a terrific campaign which ran for what, 22 months? They've promised so many things to so many people, it will be a huge challenge. Do you really think that "genuine diversity" means that there won't be a huge fight among the special interest groups within the party over the spoils? The unions think they should be first in line. MoveOn has already said that they expect to be rewarded because they raised some $80m. People want free health care and believe that should come first. The list is endless.

Just watch how this diverse crowd starts to growl and snap over the carcass that is the "forgotten man" - the taxpayer.

I give it about 2 weeks before the fighting within the party begins in earnest, and about 6 months before the love affair in the media sours. (By the way, the MSM enabled the D's, not the R's.)

You can believe that the 56 million people who did not vote for O are all old white people who can just be ignored, but Obama has sense enough to understand that he has to try to get their respect too, even if you don't.

I'm willing to give him a shot.

babyfatt

Of course the Dems are going to fight internally--hey, we're Democrats, that's what we do, but that's not a sign of weakness, as the R's would have it, but a sign of strength (for us Dems, its the R's ongoing litmus tests of ideological purity speak most clearly to their weakness). The MSM was in the tank for McCain the whole way--the maverick, the war hero, blah blah blah (and never focusing on his past associations with terrorists and sleaze ball businessmen, just those of Obama). It was a great victory for working people (yes, including unions, which are the only thing that will save our middle class). It wasn't the Dems who forgot the "taxpayer", it was the corrupt elite that runs the R party.

JoMa

Nah, the Repubs are out for good. NM has been run by one party for decades - just like most other third-world states. That's one reason why we rank so high in everything.

Why would a capable conservative who happens to be a Republican waste time or money on this place. What we need are more like Manny Aragon. All Dems know greed is good and the biggest advantage to this victory is not that they can continue to enrich themselves on the backs of the people, but that their chances of getting caught are getting slimmer. That's the only down side I can see as the Repubs cave - now who can the Dems blame? Big business? Hollywood?

Party on!

NMPollyTicks

Perhaps it is time for the NM Reps to clean house. Allen Weh knows that the proper thing to do is to "fall on his sword" and resign. It is time for cleaning out the loosing strategies of the last few years and get unknown people to be the leadership models. Nationally, as far as the National Repubs are concerned, a pox on there house...let these rats leave.

Jeeter

Oh Boy! A bruising Steve Pearce vs. Heather Wilson gubernatorial primary slugfest!

I can hardly wait for 2010! (NOT!)
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N.M. Republicans may be down, but they’re hardly out

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