Susana Martinez on the Bob Clark Show

On a side note I am posting this late because I decided to play the Sean Hannity “Literally” drinking game this afternoon and after half an hour and Sean’s fiftieth use of the word “Literally” to describe something that might or might not be literal, I hit the floor. I had to turn off the radio and listen to Deftones “Around the Fur” as part of my weekly listen to all their albums after their latest dropped last week. Anyway, on to my thoughts from this morning.

This morning Susana Martinez, Dona Ana County District Attorney (since 1996) and Republican candidate for New Mexico Governor was the 9 AM guest on the Bob Clark show on 770 KKOB AM Radio. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to listen to the complete interview because of a meeting that I could not re-schedule. Every attempt was made to listen to as much of it as possible and then relay my thoughts on the candidate based on the interview and other news relating to Martinez campaign.

Introduction
Like me, Martinez has allergies that come into full affect in Albuquerque. Martinez has a lot of ads right now and is gaining a large amount of endorsements. She did well at the primary convention and feels that her campaign is full of momentum. Her experience as a DA translates to the Governor’s office starts with a career of delivering results. The voter wants someone who not only talks about what they have done but delivers such as dealing with corruption, securing the border and balancing a budget.

Notes
- How to deal with the borders? First get rid of drivers licenses for illegal immigrants. Second, make NM less attractive to illegal immigrants by removing sanctuary policies, law enforcement should be able to inquire about citizenship in legal contacts. Third we should not allow scholarships to illegal immigrants that graduate from local high schools. It is a mistake for the current executive to court illegal aliens.
- Would she adopt the AZ law? The law in AZ is changing because of issues with it. She wants to see the finalized version. Before any new laws Martinez would adopt her outlined three steps. She also supports similar efforts in Oklahoma. Martinez clarifies the intent and what exactly are the legal ramifications of the AZ law.
- How to deal with corruption and how it affects the economy? Martinez believes that the favoritism and pay to play corruption exhibited by the executive branch in our state leads to an unpredictable state in regard to the economy and hurts it. This is because it results in changing policies and does not allow for business to find a stable environment when it comes to identifying what works and what does not in their interactions with state government. She has heard that her ads sometimes seem as though she is running for state AG instead of governor and has tailored her ads in this way because corruption has become so commonplace now that enforcement and change to this environment is very important.
- Martinez believes that Political appointments must be limited and that the current administration has done too many favors for friends and insiders. State employees must be judged strictly by their qualifications and not because of who they know.
- She would not sign the domestic partnership law. She would veto it.
- Our state keeps losing business, what do you plan to do? Reduce business taxes. There are only 6 states that tax on more business things than NM. So that makes NM uncompetitive to businesses. Business to business transactions are taxed, known as pyramiding, and leads to increased cost to the consumer. This needs to stop. There is now a back door secondary income tax that also needs to be stopped.
- She was a democrat in the 90s, why did she change? She did what her parents did. Later she met with Republican friends and talked about issues and thought of her own values and realized that she was a Republican. It was not a political decision, running as a Republican in Dona Ana County is not easy. This is an easy thing to understand. My dad registered as a Democrat because my Grandpa told him to and my Mom did because my dad was one. In my early twenties I spoke to my parents about the issues and values and that resulted in both switching to the Republican Party. It happens. I have always been one because my parents and grandparents encouraged me to be thoughtful and explore what was important to me. Additionally, my grandpa, my mom’s dad was a Republican so I didn’t feel what can be a paternal pressure (as much as that exists in this state) to become a Democrat because of tradition.
- Because I missed some of the interview because of a meeting I went to the candidates website and clicked the ‘On The Issues’ link to learn more. This may not be the best way to really judge a candidate but a good candidate can really stay on message and the composed way that Martinez is in an interview I think reflects this and so I think that the candidates official statements are sufficient.
- On the state budget Martinez opposes raising taxes to solve budget deficits because it will hinder economic growth. She believes that the problems are a result of poor financial decisions and little to no planning. In good economic years money should be paid or refunded. She will cut programs that don’t work and establish a relationship between spending and revenue.
- On health care, Martinez believes that decisions should be made more locally and not at the federal level. She will pursue tort reform to stop junk lawsuits that hurt physicians, incentive based approach including individual tax credits and support insurance purchasing across state lines. I hope that this means that she will push the AG to sue the federal government over ObamaCare. If not, then her goals are impossible.
- On education, Martinez will stop just throwing money at the state education infrastructure. Under Richardson spending went up 40% and 40% of students in New Mexico do not even graduate. That is a depressing set of statistics. She will fight for the education of children first starting with pushing to ensure that students go to class, going so far as to holding parents accountable.

Conclusion
Turning on the radio this morning I was looking forward to it as Martinez is one of the two candidates that I plan to vote for. After following her campaign and listening to her plans if she were to win I thought that Martinez would make a worthy Governor. After the interview I was impressed but not as much as I thought I would be. Martinez interviewed well and her answers to the questions of the host and listeners were complete and detailed. I was hoping for more specifics but in the radio format and from a candidate there is only so much you can really expect. So, for that I understand. Also, as a long time District Attorney, Martinez’s perspective is very much lined with legalese and tied to law enforcement which is a good thing but does not lead to much fire or charming rhetoric. Martinez is also experienced in running a campaign and it shows. I do wish there were more details in regard to specific policies and legislation that she would pursue on the campaign web site. There are short descriptions of her approach to several issues which is helpful but as a specifics type person I would prefer these (what I see as) introductions have links to white papers or some such thing.

It remains my opinion that Susana Martinez is one of the top two candidates running for Governor this election. It will be difficult to choose between her and Doug Turner. Hopefully one of them wins and if not at least Pete Domenici, Jr. is acceptable and I wouldn’t mind him winning. Janice Arnold Jones interview is Monday and I am not inclined to vote for her. And Allen Weh, I really would not like for him to win, more on that in a bit. Good luck New Mexico. Voting for Diane Denish is simply an extension of the Richardson administration.