NEW MEXICO SENATE UPDATE

-by Alex Flores

Howie last invited me to write here about our Draft Udall effort in New Mexico on October 29. Since then, we've claimed success – on November 16, Tom Udall filed papers to run for the United States Senate. This cycle, we have the best chance to take this seat back from Republicans since Senator Pete Domenici first took the seat 35 years ago in the same election as when Richard M. Nixon defeated George McGovern.

Our mission continues, however. While Udall is favored in polls by wide margins over his primary opponent Mayor Martin Chavez, the Netroots need to stay heavily involved in this race. We have an opportunity here to show the Democratic party the kind of progressives we want in office.

I'm going to tell you now, after reading below, you're going to want to open your wallets for Tom Udall and make sure that DINO Marty takes a permanent vacation from politics.

This Primary race is a perfect example of why we work in politics: this race illustrates why we read, write, and work on behalf of progressives to change the Democratic agenda and elect more and better Democrats (and in this case, more and better Udalls!)

We're used to the national security narrative from Republicans – they call Dems weak on the military, weak in foreign policy, and weak on fighting terror.

On November 9, the NRCC posted a video attacking Tom Udall's cousin, Colorado Democratic Senate Candidate Mark Udall using the same frame. Here's a line straight from the video:

…putting American lives at risk. Why doesn't Mark Udall want US intelligence to have the tools they need to keep America safe. Call Mark Udall, ask him why America's safety isn't his first priority.

But we're not used to the same narrative from Democrats running in a primary.

In New Mexico, DINO Marty has come out in full attack mode against progressive Congressman Tom Udall (even during our Draft when Udall wasn't in the race) using national security and other right-wing frames to gain media attention.

If it seems like DINO Marty and the NRCC are reading from the same playbook, you're right. From the national security narrative to outright racism, DINO Marty thinks that his politics of hate will resonate with New Mexicans who already favor Udall by 62%-32%.

In a campaign email on Monday, November 26, DINO Marty beefed-up his GOP credentials and accused Udall of "Endangering our national security" by voting to cut funding for National Laboratories in New Mexico in a huge budget bill.

Here is Tom Udall's case, from a speech made on November 15:

Because nuclear weapons work is the core mission of the Lab, it stands to suffer in the upcoming fiscal years – unless it chooses a path of increasing diversification, growing new areas of research and work for the Lab…. I advocate for a path forward that supports areas of work including: alternative energy and energy independence, science research such as climate change modeling, intelligence research and analysis, nonproliferation efforts, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) projects, and nuclear counter terrorism.

Barbwire, a New Mexico blogger, has more details at her site including an on-point assessment that:

It's one thing to criticize your primary opponent's positions, but I think this kind of over-the-top rhetoric coming directly from Chavez can only serve to turn more Dem voters against him. Chavez already has a reputation for publicly and privately trashing fellow Dems on the Albuquerque City Council, supporting Repubs and their causes and vowing to vote for Repub Sen. Pete Domenici if he ran for reelection.

Do Chavez and his campaign team really believe that using inflammatory language like this to attack one of the most highly respected and popular Dems in the state will help him in his quest for Dem primary voters? Astonishing. Not only is it wrong, it's bad politics.

LP, another New Mexico blogger who runs NMFBIHOP, is thinking the same thing that you and I are: DINO Marty's language

…sounds like something straight out of the Karl Rove playbook.  Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce are probably filing that away for further use.

Barbwire and LP are right on. But it's not just a quest, DINO Marty is on a Quixotic mission. He has poll after poll after poll, New Mexicans prefer Udall by WIDE margins.

Mid-article break: If you're already convinced that DINO Marty needs an early retirement, please donate to the "Netroots for Udall" ActBlue page. Take ownership of this race and let's send a true progressive to the United States Senate!

And even though DINO Marty wants this race to stay in New Mexico, he has no problem giving racist soundbites to the New York Times:

[Chavez] said that Senators Schumer and Reid thought of Mr. Udall, the son of Stewart Udall, secretary of the interior under President John F. Kennedy, as their "fair-haired boy."

[Quick aside: Isn't it also odd that DINO Marty is so quick to badmouth the Majority Leader and the DSCC Chairman? If he won the nomination, would he flip-flop his way back into their grace for national support and party infrastructure?]

Is DINO Marty relying in part on being "Hispanic" to carry him to victory? Well, in the same NYT article, the author points out that DINO Marty

…is expected to emphasize his Hispanic heritage.

Thankfully, many Latinos are not fooled by racial politics. New Mexico pollster Brian Sanderoff said that race

could be an advantage in a state where, since 1994, a Hispanic candidate facing a white candidate in a statewide Democratic primary had won 9 times out of 10.

But I'm not sure that's true. In one of the most revealing polls of the race yet, Latin@s split down the middle. Sorry Chavez, being Brown doesn't mean that all of us Brown folk will blindly vote for you.

The choice here is clear. We're talking about supporting popular Tom Udall (a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus) over DINO Marty to carry New Mexico for Democrats and progressives in the state and across the country. Let's show both of them that the Netroots have voice and the infrastructure to make a difference in this race. Please donate to the "Netroots for Udall" page on ActBlue.