Why aren’t you mentioning that ALL of these legislators are of the Rod Adair/McCleskey wing of the GOP? All of the officials are either lock step with Adair or owe their office to him. Just some basic “asking around’ would have gotten you that information.

Besides, you only seek endorsements when you can’t stand on your own record. If you can’t make the argument for yourself, have someone else make it for you. That’s what these endorsements mean.

Forgetting this key component of the GOP dynamic leaves for a flawed analysis and a skewed view.

In my view – the two contenders for the R ticket are the two women … the guys will get cut to ribbons by Denish. She’ll bait Weh into saying something bruthish and stupid – won’t be hard, and since the candidate will need to turn D’s to win the vote – he’ll lose. Petey isn’t catching on – the name doesn’t do it and people are angry, not relieved, that he has entered the race. Turner IS a nice guy – smart, good PR guy – not photogenic (needs to dump the billboards) and needs an original line of thought.

Both female candidates are articulate and capable – the difference is that Arnold-Jones has extremely broad legislative experience and knows the issues, she is well respected in the party and legislature – on both sides of the aisle. Martinez has more narrow experience – bustin’ bad guys and while she addresses the issues – she doesn’t know them nor the details behind them. There will be some minor philosophical differences between the two … but I’ll take Arnold-Jones.

That said – the food tax? Removing food from the gross receipts tax was a bad idea – and a classic bait and switch. The argument that the poorest of the poor were harmed by the tax was a lie – if you have food stamps, a tax is not assessed … so instead – they raised gross receipts on everything else … water, electricity, phone service, diapers – you know, silly things that you don’t need … which affected the poorest of the poor … so removing the GRT on food was a feel good thing that folks were duped into supporting as a good thing. While it affected the poor the most – it also affected our villages and small towns who’d based their budgets on the GRT from their grocery stores – the one common dedominator of every town. But – discussions to reinstate the food tax are misguided because they won’t drop GRT on everything else – it’ll just be a big tax hike that really does affect the poor. As for the tax pledge – a dumb phrase – as Transparency said – George HW Bush … I’ll take a person of character with ethical values that we understand over a person with a catchy phrase.

Glad these discussions are happening … the toughest job in the political realm isn’t being a candidate or holding an office – it is being a citizen. We need more good citizens who deal with the issues and don’t fall prey to the emotion and whim of campaign strategists. Keep it coming.

She is doing neither. Instead, she is holding rallies at the capitol claiming to be opposed to the very wasteful spending she voted for. And she is supposed to be the candidate of honesty and courage?

Susana Martinez is a much more credible and authentic candidate and it’s not surprising that the Republican legislators are lining up behind her. It’s also why she has won election in a very Democratic County. People in Las Cruces know her and support her and the more the rest of New Mexico gets to know her, the more support she will enjoy.

It would be wonderful if all governing had to do with is just saying no to the party in power. Gary Johnson left the state in the black by just saying no… but he didn’t contribute a whole lot to getting anything done or moving this state forward did he?

Taking a no new taxes pledge is roughly akin to saying you will never go swimming… and then one day when you see a child drowning in a pond… do you keep your promise or break it? On the surface, those kinds of pledges seem easy to do. But the second you have to break them, you are accused of all sorts of bad things… just ask George Herbert Walker Bush.

So, lighten up a bit… channel your anger at the way things are against the people who are the problem by electing someone with the experience and built in ethical standing and ability to reach across the divide to get things done that we truly need. Elect Janice Arnold-Jones!

Arnold-Jones refused to take the “No New Taxes” pledge, said the food tax was the “fairest” tax and removing it caused problems, and admitted to “slipping” a couple times by raising fees while in the legislatures. That’s not a surprise to those of us who follow the legislature, as Arnold-Jones voted for 4 of Richardson’s budgets that grew government by 50% and created this budget crisis.

You’re right — talk is cheap.

State Representative Janice Arnold-Jones owns the open government / transparency issue in this state which is the underpinnings of the corruption problem. Arnold-Jones is the one who single handedly embarrassed the legislature into reform.

And, Arnold-Jones has been nominated for the William Dixon award for open and transparent government sponsored by the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government in this very news blog by Mr. Haussamen.

Susana managed to miss the very first candidate forum as did Allen Weh where Doug Turner and Janice Arnold-Jones appeared in early December sponsored by the Rio Grande Foundation. Why? The interesting thing about that forum (beyond the notable absence of the two) was how often Doug Turner agreed with the form and substance of what Arnold-Jones said.

Turner is a nice guy. Weh is a gruff Marine who cannot reach across the political divide and pretty much offends everyone the second he opens his mouth. Martinez is full of platitudes. Arnold-Jones is the only candidate with any real experience in state government now completing her eight year in the roundhouse as representative from District 24 in Albuquerque.

We absolutely don’t need someone lacking in experience. Arnold-Jones is the only one that has it. She is a fiscal conservative who happens to moderate her behavior well enough to be able to reach across the political divide and get things done in the legislature. A Governor who lacks that experience and those relationships will be no Governor at all. Arnold-Jones rocks!