GOP convention doesn’t feature any NM speakers

We’ve all heard the repeated rhetoric from Democrats, Republicans, analysts and the media this year: New Mexico is a swing state, right?

The Democrats’ convention in Denver was evidence of that this week when three prominent New Mexicans — former Attorney General Patricia Madrid, U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall and Gov. Bill Richardson — were given the opportunity to speak.

I expected next week’s GOP convention in Minnesota to also reflect the importance of New Mexico. But The Republican National Convention Committee released the list of scheduled speakers on Tuesday. There are no New Mexicans on the list of prominent politicos who will speak.

What about the retiring Sen. Pete Domenici, who has spent 36 years in office? Or Rep. Heather Wilson, who has been carrying a great deal of water for the McCain campaign and is one of the more articulate members of Congress? Or Rep. Steve Pearce, Udall’s opponent in the race to replace Domenici?

I wondered, since giving speaking time to any of the three could be a good way to recognize the importance of New Mexico, if their absence from the schedule might indicate that none planned to attend the convention. But the offices of all three Washington politicians confirmed to me today that they will attend the GOP convention.

So, I asked Republican officials, why no speakers from New Mexico at the convention? This is all I received in response:

“New Mexico is a very important state to our party. We look forward to welcoming the New Mexico delegation to the convention, as well as the state’s elected Republican officials,” Matt Burns, Republican National Convention spokesman, said in an e-mail statement sent by an RNC spokeswoman.