© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.

The New Mexico 2010 election is here. The “Guess-what-bad-things-the-(fill in the blank)-have-been-doing” gotcha ads are out.

This Monday I got an e-mail from Lt. Gov. Diane Denish: “Dear Michael, It started as a pretty standard Sunday night around the Denish household. I was getting a little laundry done. But the Republicans had other plans for this weekend, namely, starting the earliest and most negative TV campaign in New Mexico history…”

Would I rather do laundry or be attacked politically? Tough choice. The Republicans were trying to do a Gov. Bill Richardson laundry list, with Denish’s name next to his on his dirty chonies, even though Richardson has not been convicted or even charged with doing anything wrong, yet.

What the GOP is missing (perhaps intentionally) is that Richardson has a history of never sharing power ever ever ever and do not forget it. I bet Diane Denish has been told in no uncertain terms to not strike out in new directions when she is the acting governor.

Both the good and bad things that have happened in our state these last seven years, our improvements and declines, have all been Richardson’s and Richardson’s alone as perhaps the most powerful elected leader in the history of our state. Likewise, the product of his huge power within the state has resulted in the money for him to run for president and the money for his friends. Richardson is a one-way street, and the traffic does not go the other way on his watch.

Denish had no hand in any state government corruption if it occurred while she was in office. It seems that Denish can only be connected to one possible Richardson misdeed in that she protested and then moved away from him at meetings because he touched her leg too much.

Talk about a vision for New Mexico

If the GOP wants to bash Denish — of course they do — they should do so on her view of the role of government in a free society. It is appropriate to argue about her political and philosophical positions as they affect our state. But Richardson’s possible misdeeds have no connection to Denish.

She seems willing to talk about her vision for New Mexico after The Bill has left and we are dealing with the bills he left. I suspect Denish will not fall into the same power traps as Richardson because she has no intention of leaving the state in disgrace a few short years later.

There may be better candidates for governor in 2010 and there may be worse, but all should be judged on their vision for how our little slice of heaven should grow and what state government’s role in the coming years should be. Perhaps the most important question for potential governors is how our chief executive will defend state’s rights given the federal power grab in our nation’s capital.

All of these are legitimate areas of discussion. The Gotcha ads have no place.

There are several Republicans lined up or thinking of lining up to run for governor and perhaps one other Democrat. They are all like kids at a middle school dance waiting to see how the other kids dance before going out on the floor. Some are already on the floor gyrating but they are still very mindful that there might be a budding Tony Manero (the Travolta character in Saturday Night Fever) who may jump out of the crowd and take the dance over.

With those same fears is Diane Denish, who announced 10 minutes into the first administration that she was going to run for governor in 2010. She has around $2 million already in a campaign chest and received $500,000 in the last three months.

Martinez enters the fray

With all that positive traction Denish still could not have been pleased when she learned that Las Crucean Susana Martinez is going to enter the race today.

The very popular district attorney, though, is currently a RINO, a Republican In Name Only, since she is the district attorney. Once that title is given she cannot function as either a Republican or Democrat. Justice is not served if anyone in the legal apparatus functions even in the slightest as a partisan.

Martinez, over the last number of years, has been ceremonially Republican, welcoming John McCain to Las Cruces and things like that.

So we have almost a year of campaigning until the gubernatorial primaries next June. If the future is anything like the past, most of what we will get is thousands of “Gotcha” ads letting the good people of the state know that District Attorney Susana Martinez had a library book three days overdue while in the third grade. Likewise there will be ads saying Denish got a D in crayoning in kindergarten.

What do I want from these campaigners? I want to know what they think is the legitimate role of government in a free society. Where do they draw the lines of government? Do they reject any notions of the founding fathers; do they think government should be bigger? While no governor is a dictator — present governors accepted — how will the next governor collaborate with the Legislature in dealing with the needs of the state? And what are those needs?

I want to go from theoretical to concrete ideas of what our future government would be like with them in charge. Stay tuned.

Swickard is a weekly columnist for this site. You can reach him at michael@swickard.com.