New Mexico's Enigmatic Ethnic Politics
Diane Ellis, Ed. ·
Oct 16, 2010 at 10:35pm
A new SurveyUSA poll shows Hispanic GOP gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez leading Democratic opponent Diane Denish, New Mexico's lieutenant governor, 54% to 42% among likely and actual voters in the race to become New Mexico's next governor. Among New Mexico's Hispanic population, however, Martinez trails Dinesh by a margin of 12 percentage points.
Ricochet member Kenneth asks:
Could this mean that Hispanics' ethnic political loyalty has been eclipsed by their loyalty to Democrats? Meanwhile, whites prefer Martinez by 62% to 35%. What the heck does that mean? That whites have ceased to by racist?
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Comments :
Jun '10
Re: New Mexico's Enigmatic Ethnic Politics
In some urban communities, Christians get a second more secular baptism. "I baptize you in the name of Jesse Jackson, Gloria Steinem, and Cesar Chavez." It's their second religion, big government religion, and just like the first, seems to transcend race and ethnicity.
Jul '10
Re: New Mexico's Enigmatic Ethnic Politics
Under Uber Marshal Eric Holder, this is an obvious violation of the Constitution and the election rules will be rejiggered from the current racist norm to a proper People's victory.
Jun '10
Re: New Mexico's Enigmatic Ethnic Politics
I'm a resident of Santa Fe, so allow me to explain. Patronage is a long established custom in this region going back to the mid 16th century. During the colonial period wealthy landowners provided the patronage. Today the Hispanic population is a client of the state and federal governments. It's only natural that the party of patronage, the Democrats, would eventually claim New Mexico's Hispanic population as a constituency. Educated Hispanics generally work for the government or enter politics where they spend their time dispensing patronage in exchange for votes.
The 62 to 35 split that you reference in favor of Martinez reflects the same percentage of white voters nationally who oppose Obama. The divide is further aggravated by 8 years of the Richardson administration which was characterized by rampant corruption and budget deficits. Denish was Richardson's lieutenant governor during this period. There is no way she can escape her association with a now very unpopular governor.
Ethnicity has nothing to do with current polling data. This is a push back by the productive tax paying class against the party of government. Sound familiar?
Jun '10
Re: New Mexico's Enigmatic Ethnic Politics
I see a far brighter future for hispanics as conservatives. Paules is correct that in NM this is largely a Tea Party push back , but Hispanics are part of that push back. I have rarely met better conservatives than Hispanic businesspeople. As they climb the economic ladder they come to us.
As the Dems become the party that can't come through with patronage, as no money, Dems are left peddling tree's, gay rights, and abortion. Not the issues you want to get Hispanics working for you. So all that is left is immigration, where we do lose many thanks to some of our more colorful comments, but I see bright signs there as well.
Jun '10
Re: New Mexico's Enigmatic Ethnic Politics
Mark Simon provides, quite accurately, reasons why Hispanics should be courted by the Republican party. Hispanic culture with its emphasis on family and Roman Catholicism fits the conservative template. In addition, Hispanic businesses in areas like ranching, mining, and construction need relief from taxation and the crushing affects of government regulation. New Mexico is also heavily dependent on military bases (Kirtland, Cannon, and Holloman) as well as national defense laboratories (Los Alamos and Sandia) where many Hispanics find employment. There is no reason New Mexico should be a blue state aside from continued dependency on government as a way of life for the underclass and continued employment for government bureaucrats.
Sep '10
Re: New Mexico's Enigmatic Ethnic Politics
I agree with my brothers above but would just like to add a couple of things. No. 1 Bill Clinton was in heavily Latino northern New Mexico campaigning for Denish. He hauled out one of those far-fetched notions that Demos Re using this year: Martinez is really a Texan and wants to give NM's water away to TX. But for sure he's up there to attempt to keep Martinez from siphoning away from what would be normally a Dem vote. (one would have to dig deeper into the referenced poll to see if the demographics are 'normal' or not.) No. 2 We'll have to see how Martinez performs in the next 4 years; I suspect she'll be a little squishy for people on Ricochet. But she is one tough and interesting woman. Someone for us righties to cheer for.
Jul '10
Re: New Mexico's Enigmatic Ethnic Politics
A question for our New Mexico members:
How was Gary Johnson, a Libertarian, able to win the Governor's seat? Has the electorate changed very significantly since his era?
Jun '10
Re: New Mexico's Enigmatic Ethnic Politics
Kenneth,
I wasn't yet a resident of New Mexico when Johnson was elected, so I'm not sure what the dynamics were that put him in office. I can tell you that he was elected on the Republican ticket, although he is ideologically closer to a libertarian. He did an amazing job, mainly with his veto pen, at reigning in the state's runaway bureaucracy, and he left the state with a large budget surplus when he left office. Naturally, the surplus was squandered by his Democratic successor, a local crook by the name of Bill Richardson. We are now suffering a deficit between one and two billion dollars, but no one is sure, or is willing to admit, what the real number is.
Sep '10
Re: New Mexico's Enigmatic Ethnic Politics
I think the answer is that there has not been much change since Johnson. Here's the way NM goes: southern NM is whiter and more conservative. Northern NM is more Latino and more Dem. Mid-NM is the swing part of the state and is thus the determiner of statewide elections. The state tends left because of the heavy proportion of Latinos; this has been the case since Voter Rights were enforced decades ago. But Republicans can be elected statewide depending on the year and the issues. NM has been recently scandalized by various corruptions and pay to play convictions by Demos in state offices, so that IMHO is what's getting Martinez elected. Plus as I said above she's a formidable candidate. One delicious thing is that her opponent is as gobsmacked as Hillary was by BO.
Jun '10
Re: New Mexico's Enigmatic Ethnic Politics
As for your other question, the electorate hasn't change much since Gary was governor. The southern part of the state is more like west Texas with ranching and oil providing the economic base. Albuquerque is its own congressional district, divided pretty much 50-50 between the two parties. The northern district where I live is diverse. Santa Fe is one of the most liberal cities in the country with the usual flotsam of greens, peaceniks, moonbats and other assorted riff-raff. The northwest corner is oil country, but rather sparsely populated. The northeast is likewise thinly populated, a place where 120 votes can make you county commissioner if you really want the job.