NM list PING! Click on the flag to go to the Free Republic New Mexico message page.
(The NM list is available on my FR homepage for anyone to use. Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
Posted on 08/16/2011 1:17:32 PM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
Dear Conservative Friend,
I'm writing you today as the hard-charging Republican Lt. Governor of New Mexico and proud TEA PARTY conservative running for New Mexico's open U.S. Senate seat!
I'm reaching out to patriotic grassroots activists like you because this is the #1 race in America where teh GOP can capture a Democrat U.S. Senate seat in 2012.
They know that my record as a successful small business entrepreneur, an unwavering fiscal and social conservative, and recent top vote getter here in New Mexico is the exact combination the GOP needs to take this seat away from the liberal Democrats...
Needless to say, we DO send money to people who we believe deserve our support.
Except I've never freaking HEARD of John Sanchez before, and the FR contingent in New Mexico is not really very loud....so I'm asking: is Mr. John Sanchez as true a conservative as his letter paints?
"The [big-government establishment is] bolstering the candidacy of a former liberal Republican Congresswoman named Heather Wilson.
Heather Wilson is exactly the type of Republican Democrats love.
She's voted against tax cuts, for tax increases, and for big-government bailouts like TARP.
The name Heather Wilson sounds vaguely familiar, but I don't recall her being a world class RINO. During her entire tenure in Congress she was one of a handful of liberal Republicans who conservatives ahd to constantly lobby to do the right thing.
Heck, I don’t know.
Such a breath of fresh air over the last crew, though.
I can tell you he won’t get any votes in Santa Fe. I visited that scenic little city recently. The concentration of Obama bumper stickers makes it look like the UC Berkeley campus.
You said it, AZLiberty. I was there just about a month ago and also just before the elections last fall. The number of stickers in ABQ is also pretty high. That's why I was surprised they were able to elect Gov. Martinez last fall. It was certainly a minor miracle.
Heather Wilson, our former Republican congresswoman is running for this seat. Is she as conservative as John Sanchez? No. Is she conservative enough for most of us living in a really blue state? Yes. She is a USAFA grad and smart and savvy. Most of us in NM who are conservative cannot understand why Sanchez is primarying a really electable Republican. He would have been a shoe-in for CD-1, the seat Martin Heinrich is giving up to run for the senate. This is another example of Republicans going for defeat where there was an opportunity for a double win. We currently have 2 progressive (read socialist) senators and 2 out of 3 socialist congressmen. With good messaging and hard work this state could become solidly purple with an eventual turn to blue if there was a set of principles and a real strategy. Oh, and Sanchez pulled this stunt just a few months after being elected Lt. Governor. Just my 2 cents.......
Thanks Judy. I appreciate a resident’s or former resident’s opinion.
I face the same dilemma with Jeb Bush. His last name automatically turns people off—but he was a damn good governor, and his last name ought not disqualify him from further consideration.
Yes, he is a Conservative.
Apparently the southern part of the state got the vote out last November. Politically, southern NM resembles Texas. Northern NM might as well be Massachusetts.
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.
NM list PING! Click on the flag to go to the Free Republic New Mexico message page.
(The NM list is available on my FR homepage for anyone to use. Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
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
________________________________
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.
What you folks said.
Sanchez’s opportunism bugs me too. Heather is a known quantity, smart, and although not as conservative as I’d like, will listen to her constituents and do the right thing.
Thanks, Impy. Good perspective.
Sure, John Sanchez is ambitious, perhaps even more so than your average politician, but I don’t think that it’s reason enough to oppose his candidacy. He is generally considered to be more conservative than Heather Wilson, and he may or may not be a better general-election candidate than Wilson; being Hispanic is a plus for him, as is his statewide name ID from his ill-fated gubernatorial campaign against Bill Richardson and his successful Lt. Gov. campaign on Gov. Susana Martinez’s ticket, but Wilson is the more experienced campaigner and has shown greater ability to attract a winning coalition in her swing Albuquerque congressional district.
As for Wilson, I would describe her as a moderate-to-conservative Republican, not much different, really, from Pete Domenici (as Impy mentioned). While she is not 100% pro-life, her House voting record on abortion can be fairly described as being 80% pro-life, straying from the right path only on votes dealing with (i) embryonic stem-cell research, (ii) the phony human-cloning ban that would allow cloning of embryos so long as they were for research, not implantation, purposes, (iii) funding for the UN Population Fund (which devotes a portion of its budget for “reproductive services”), and (iv) the “morning-after” pill. Wilson’s voting record on abortion-related issues can be found here: http://nchla.org/keyresults.asp?state=&locale=checkcongper&congper=Wilson&zip=&plusfour=&year=1997&year2=2009&issue=&terms=-1&bills=-1&vote=&displaysize=10&displaystarts=1&displaystarth=1&submit=Search+Key+Votes&displaystarth=61&displaystarth=1. Wilson appears to believe that human life does not begin at conception (fertilization of the ovum), but at implantation in the uterus, a position that I find abhorrent but that unfortunately appears to be shared by many politicians who are almost universally described as being pro-life, such as Orrin Hatch, John McCain, David Dreier, Jim Gerlach and Connie Mack. Heather Wilson is a bit to the left of those congressmen on abortion.
So who to support? Close call, and in the end it should be decided by NM’s Republican primary electorate. Right now, I’m leaning towards Sanchez, but if he doesn’t seem to be getting traction or if he acts foolishly on the campaign trail I’ll switch to Wilson. One thing that we can’t do is waste our golden opportunity to capture a Senate seat that has been in Democrat hands for the past 30 years and for 67 of the past 75 years.
I realize this post is two weeks late, but I knew John when he ran against Bill Richardson for the latter’s first term in 2000 or 2002. John was as conservative as I am, and he is very, very intelligent. He beat Raymond Sanchez (no relation), who was the Speaker of the NM House!
If he has changed his conservative outlook, then it would be a shock to me. Opportunistic? What the hell is that, if he is a voting conservative? Heather is a little opportunistic, too, by the way. She is no conservative, but she is a hell of lot better than any NM ‘Rat. She screwed over NM conservatives many times in both of her two terms in Congress (check her ACA ratings). She HAD to to be re-elected, but things have changed in NM since Susana won the governorship.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.