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Category: To the Point with Mick Rich To the Point with Mick Rich
Published: 01 December 2022 01 December 2022

Has anyone explained why the 2020 and 2022 elections were a disaster?

As a young construction manager, there was an occasion when the construction crews were standing around waiting for me to make a decision. I knew how much money they cost every minute they looked at me. I told the foreman, "Do something even if it is wrong. That is better than your crew standing around doing nothing." (I later had to clean up the mess for the "doing something" and never repeated it) The NM GOP Leaders must have heard me say those words because that is what they intend to do on December 3, elect new leaders. NMGOP Delegates have another choice.

At the upcoming convention, the NM Republican Delegates (NMGOP-D) should make and pass a motion to postpone the forthcoming election for new NMGOP leaders for forty-five days. This will allow the NMGOP-D to understand why the 2020 and 2022 elections were a disaster and how not to repeat those failures.

New Mexicans continue to elect Democrats and send them to Santa Fe. Those elected Santa Fe Democrats have kept New Mexico at the bottom of all the states in our great country. New Mexicans may be leaving the Democratic Party, but they have registered as Independent, not Republican. Why?

Santa Fe Democrats pushed through re-districting to disenfranchise Republicans in Southern New Mexico. Doing so demoralized Republicans (Republicans in Lea County had the lowest turnout ever). The NMGOP could have defined redistricting as disenfranchising Democrats in Northern New Mexico. That Santa Fe Democrats sacrificed the residents of Taos and Santa for Las Cruces. Why did we not "sell" the redistricting as the biggest Democratic blunder of the past decade to energize Republicans across the state?

Redistricting diluted Republican districts, but it also diluted Democrat districts. Re-districting provided Republicans, Independents, and Blue Dog Democrats an opportunity to outmaneuver those Progressive Santa Fe Democrats. Why didn't the NMGOP take advantage of that opportunity?

Santa Fe Democrats were relentlessly pounding the drum of women's and abortion rights. At the same time, Republicans essentially said no to late-term abortion while privately saying no to all abortions. Eighty percent of New Mexicans are against abortion. Why didn't the NMGOP and pro-life organizations announce together, "We are united in ending the barbaric practice of late-term abortions?"

The 2020 Election provides an excellent opportunity to elect candidates that support Republican policies that create safe neighborhoods while safeguarding individual rights, schools that teach and are not indoctrinating, and good-paying jobs while protecting the environment. New Mexicans are rejecting the failed policies of the Santa Fe Democrats. But why are they not choosing the NMGOP?

In 2021, the Albuquerque business community supported moderate and conservative candidates for county, city, and school board elections. Many of the business coalition-supported candidates won against progressive democrats. Why can't the NMGOP have the same successes?

The NMGOP needs new leadership and not a variation of the old. Before the NMGOP Delegates choose a new leader, they must answer all the "Why?" of the two past elections.