John McCain
Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Susana Martinez in the GOP gubernatorial primary race has received a lot of attention, but a $2,500 contribution from U.S. Sen. John McCain’s political committee to Allen Weh, one of Martinez’s opponents, has gone largely unnoticed – until now.
The March 26 contribution from Country First, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee’s political action committee, was reported on Weh’s April 13 finance report. I missed it until I went back over the report again this week, and I haven’t found any other news reports about it.
Weh never announced that he had received a contribution from McCain.
Apparently, Weh’s campaign isn’t eager to talk about the contribution from McCain’s PAC. NMPolitics.net has received no response to two e-mails sent to Weh’s campaign manager and communications director about the contribution.
Allen Weh
McCain’s PAC hasn’t responded to a question about whether the contribution should be viewed as an endorsement of Weh (that’s the same question the Weh campaign has ignored). But when McCain started the PAC in January 2009, he said he would use the PAC to promote Republican candidates and causes.
“Country First will allow us to strengthen our party, better define our Republican ideals and message, recruit and back strong, dedicated candidates, and continue our efforts to bring real reform to government by always putting our country and the noble ideals she stands for first,” he wrote in a January 2009 e-mail, according to CBS News.
“With your help we can work to elect these new leaders to governorships, statehouses, the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 and beyond,” the New York Times quoted the e-mail as saying. “Once in office they will become fierce advocates for limited government, economic opportunity, personal responsibility and strong national security.”
The PAC’s Web site features several GOP candidates from around the nation, but Weh isn’t mentioned. Jon Barela, who’s running against U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., is listed on the Web site. Barela has also not promoted support from McCain.
A positive or negative?
McCain is facing a tough re-election challenge in Arizona from tea party favorite J.D. Hayworth, who touts himself as the “consistent conservative” while attacking McCain for waffling on conservative values.
McCain shook up his campaign staff earlier this week – a sign that Hayworth’s challenge is serious, and is making the senator nervous.
Some conservatives view McCain as a negative. Earlier this week, speaking about Palin’s endorsement of Martinez, former U.S. Rep. Bill Redmond of Los Alamos said Palin’s endorsement would be a “wash” in the primary election because Republicans who don’t like McCain aren’t happy that Palin has endorsed him in his Senate race.
Former state Rep. Dan Foley, a Republican who isn’t backing any candidate in the gubernatorial race, said Wednesday that McCain is no “darling” of conservatives, but he doesn’t think that’s the reason Weh isn’t talking about McCain’s contribution. He said Weh’s attitude is that people should vote for him because of who he is, not who’s backing him.
“I believe that Allen Weh wants to stand on his own and his record since he is the one running,” Foley said.
Political analyst Jose Z. Garcia, a Democrat, said he thinks the support of any politician with national stature is helpful to a candidate from that party.
“Any time you get an endorsement, whether it’s from Sarah Palin or John McCain, it’s useful,” Garcia said. “It indicates a connection to important party members nationwide, and it suggests a seriousness of the candidate, and so on balance I think it would be a positive.”
A prior version of this posting incorrectly quoted Foley as saying Weh was no “darling” of conservatives, when in fact Foley was speaking about McCain.