Kenneth Gomez
A flyer hitting mailboxes this week purports to be trying to dissuade people from writing in little-known candidate Kenneth Gomez for governor.
Don’t be fooled. The mailer actually appears to be about trying to get people to vote for Gomez instead of Republican Susana Martinez.
“Say NO to the Tea Party,” the mailer states. “Do NOT Write In Kenneth Gomez for Governor!”
The mailer includes photographs of signs that read “God bless FOX News,” and “We will take our nation back with blood shed as a last resort.”
It states that Gomez is “too conservative for New Mexico” because he “supports eliminating the state income tax, which New Mexico needs to fund government programs for the poor, needy and immigrants;” that he “is so extreme he opposes a woman’s right to have an abortion;” and that he “supports ‘all the Tea Party ideals’” – such as “hardline stances on immigration.”
“The more write-in votes Kenneth Gomez gets, the more it would send the wrong message that New Mexicans support extreme Tea Party conservatives,” the mailer states. “On Tuesday, do NOT Write In Kenneth Gomez for Governor.”
A façade
The mailer was paid for by Majority Action PAC, which describes itself on its Web site as “a campaign organization aimed at winning elections through aggressive independent expenditure campaigns to help build and protect the Democratic majorities in Congress.”
Is this Democratic group really worried that Gomez might win the governor’s race? No, because he’s simply not a factor in the race. Is the group worried that Gomez might be taking votes away from the Democratic candidate for governor, Diane Denish? Unlikely.
Instead, it appears the group is trying to let conservatives know there is another choice for governor on their side besides Martinez. In telling people not to vote for Gomez, the mailer uses buzz words like “Tea Party” to describe Gomez and lets people know that he’s opposed to abortion, wants to reduce taxes and takes a right-wing stance on immigration.
The mailer even illustrates how people can vote for Gomez. It shows an example of someone writing in Gomez’s name and filling in the black circle next to it on the ballot. (The mailer puts a big, red “X” over that photo to go with its façade of trying to get people to not write in Gomez. However, the “X” actually covers the names of Martinez and Denish, but not Gomez.)
Doing the same thing in Colorado
Fascinating stuff. And potentially effective. It appears that the group has involved itself in a similar way in a congressional race in Colorado.
Check out this letter to the editor published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan from Steve Warren:
“On an almost daily basis, I have received mailings from the Majority Action PAC. They warn me that Doug Aden is ‘too extreme for Colorado.’
“They claim that Doug Aden (1) believes that English should be our official language, (2) wants to pull America out of the United Nations, (3) opposes regulations to fight global warming, and (4) thinks our government is ‘on the march to socialism.’
“…I am inclined to vote for Doug Aden rather than against him. If that is ‘extremism,’ count me in. It seems to me that the out-of-staters are the true extremists.”
Aden is a third-party congressional candidate who’s not going to win the race but has the potential to win votes that might instead go to the Republican who is challenging the Democratic incumbent. And in this instance, it appears the mailer may have had its intended effect – getting Warren to become more aware of and at least think about voting for Aden.
A brilliant trick or unethical deception?
In New Mexico, the group’s mailer increases Gomez’s name ID and gives people who identify with the Tea Party the impression that he’s one of them. A brilliant trick or an unethical deception? You decide.
Here’s the mailer:
Click here and here to view larger copies of the front and back of the mailer.
