Commentary: Here's hoping Progressives keep their eyes on the ball.
Steve Pearce, despite losing our county to less experienced candidates, has held Congressional District 2 for years, using it as a platform for spouting far-right ideology most folks here don't share.
We need to get the seat out of ReTrumplican hands. For everyone's sake.
We have some highly promising candidates. Xochitl Torres-Small is someone I've long thought has promise. Angel Peña comes highly recommended, and I look forward to meeting him. David Baake, a bright, committed environmental lawyer, campaigned hard, despite limited connections to New Mexico. (All three are professional environmental watchdogs.) I don't yet know Mad Hildebrandt, but she'll appear on my radio show soon.
I'm delighted Xochitl is in the race. She's a water lawyer who grew up among us and worked on public-interest matters here – as well as on statewide matters for Senator Udall. Her parents grew up here. One became a teacher and the other a social worker. She's a lifelong resident who went away to Georgetown, then UNM Law School, and chose to return. I know her to be capable, incredibly ethical, and deeply caring. Her candidacy has quickly generated a lot of excitement.
Thursday I received an anonymous letter to Democratic leaders saying that Xochitl (whose work commitments delayed her announcement) met with David to tell him she would be announcing, and that the DCCC was (understandably) enthusiastic about her candidacy. The anonymous letter bashed the DCCC, which probably deserves some bashing for not having treated CD-2 candidates very well and not being much help to Merrie Lee Soules two years ago. The letter was obviously from people still bitter – and reasonably so – over the appearance of Democratic Party favoritism in the 2016 Presidential race. That concerns me too.
Unfortunately, the letter seems to attack Xochitl as well. It snidely calls her “Mrs. Small,” presumably because her husband is State Rep. Nathan Small. It refers to her as “an assigned candidate,” suggesting that DCCC encouragement and financing equates to forcing us to vote for her.
The DCCC should concentrate most on helping the Democratic candidate win the general election.
But make no mistake: Ms. Torres-Small's obvious appeal, and the longstanding local support for her, created the national party's interest – not the other way around. She's well-qualified. She's locally popular, for good reason. She has every right to run – as do the other candidates. She and Peña, and perhaps Hildebrandt, are promising. I hope and trust they won't do anything that prevents uniting behind the ultimate nominee. (At least one of the letter's authors is a serious progressive who'll work hard for whoever wins the nomination.)
The letter addresses continuing issues that the Democratic Party must deal with at some point.
But those issues should not be used to attack a local candidate who may be our best chance to get the congressional seat back into the hands of the people. As Baake said, “I don't blame Xochi at all for the way the national party handles its business.” He's a fine young man. I hope he'll stay in New Mexico and do good here.
Still, the letter's suggestion that Baake was “the will of the people” was a little premature. (Ironically, one of its authors was voted out of local party office.)
The people of the desert will make their will known in the usual way. In June and November.