I'd consider him more of an opportunist. Less than 90 days into his new 4-year term as Lt. Gov. he declared for US Senate. Admittedly, the NM Lt. Gov. position does not have a lot of responsibilities and new Gov. Martinez has not given him a lot either, especially now. It appears she's not particularly happy with his decision, not only for an appearance of using his office as a quick stepping stone, but maybe because she supports Heather.
In any event, I agree with JudyM. Heather is NOT a Susan Collins/Olympia Snowe RINO but more in the mode of former Senator Domenici. In NM that is much more likely to get a Republican back in the Senate. We don't need a repeat of Steve Pearce's 2008 candidacy that gave us far left-wing environutter Tom Udall.
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I’d consider him more of an opportunist. Less than 90 days into his new 4-year term as Lt. Gov. he declared for US Senate. Admittedly, the NM Lt. Gov. position does not have a lot of responsibilities and new Gov. Martinez has not given him a lot either, especially now. It appears she’s not particularly happy with his decision, not only for an appearance of using his office as a quick stepping stone, but maybe because she supports Heather.
In any event, I agree with JudyM. Heather is NOT a Susan Collins/Olympia Snowe RINO but more in the mode of former Senator Domenici. In NM that is much more likely to get a Republican back in the Senate. We don’t need a repeat of Steve Pearce’s 2008 candidacy that gave us far left-wing environutter Tom Udall
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Big agreement with Dave and JudyM from this NM FReeper! Opportunist is exactly the right word.
I also heard he and Martinez have never had a good relationship which might also be why she hasn’t given him much to do. I’m sure though once she realized he was thinking of running for this spot, that sealed the deal for her as far as he was concerned.
I’m glad Pearce hasn’t declared. I know he was considering it and I’ve written more than one letter telling him not to facilitate a replay of the 2008 race. Why Sanchez felt he needed to go after Heather Wilson I don’t know. What was wrong with running for Heinrich’s seat?
Good perspective, CedarDave.
Let’s face it, many or most LT Governorships are useless positions. He has little to gain by just staying there so I can’t blame him for taking this opportunity. Obviously he’s ambitious having run for Governor against the heavily favored Bill Richardson during his first and only term in the State House (the only general election he’s won on his own, he beat the sitting State House Speaker). You could could say he jumped the gun then.
He’s more conservative than her, but she’s not all that bad. Mildly pro-choice I think (for the partial birth ban) but otherwise about the same as Pete Domenici, the last GOP Senator. Obviously the choice is clear if abortion is one of your top issues.
Which is the stronger candidate I don’t know. Being Hispanic should help Sanchez win in November especially if the rats nominate their White candidate (Rep Heinrich) instead of their Hispanic one (Auditor Hector Balderas). But some people point to his landslide loss (albeit to the heavily favored Richardson) for Governor in 2002 and Wilson’s success for several terms in a swing district.
Based on some of his comments I think Sanchez has good leadership potential (if he had beaten Richarson and been reelected Governor he may have run for President). If I lived in NM I’d vote for him unless it was clear that Wilson had a markedly better chance of beating the rat.