Carl Trujillo
My stands on the issues are clear – they’ve been on my website since the beginning of the LAST campaign in 2010 – and for Mayor Coss and his campaign to suggest otherwise is dishonest political posturing.
I’m Carl Trujillo and, as most of you probably know, I’m running for state representative.
Over the past few weeks, my opponent, Santa Fe mayor David Coss, and his campaign have spread misinformation and outright lies about who I am and what I stand for.
My stands on the issues are clear – they’ve been on my website since the beginning of the LAST campaign in 2010 – and for Mayor Coss and his campaign to suggest otherwise is dishonest political posturing.
I’ve been a Democrat since I was first old enough to vote. And I’m proud to come from a long line of Democrats, because I believe in the values that the Democratic Party has long stood for – chief among them, fairness, honesty, social justice and inclusivity.
My opponent and the establishment party insiders who back him have seem to have forgotten those ideals. I haven’t. And I don’t think the people in our community have, either.
When I got into this race, I expected that it would be a tough campaign, and I welcome that. What’s not okay is my opposition’s dishonesty. Trying to win a campaign through dishonest smear tactics is beneath the dignity of our community. It’s the same tactics used by the Swift Boat Veterans in 2004, or when opponents insinuated that President Obama wasn’t born in the United States and “obviously” has ties to terrorists because his name sounds Muslim.
Seeking to represent the people
The truth is that Mr. Coss and I aren’t that different when it comes to our positions on “the issues.” What is deeply, fundamentally and profoundly different is how we view the role of a representative. Mayor Coss is a career politician. I’m a citizen candidate.
That means I’m seeking to represent the people, not govern them. That’s why instead of spending my time arguing with my opponent about “the issues,” I prefer to invest my time in the community listening to what the people think. Because I believe in a government by the people, for the people.
And while we’re on the subject, as a Democrat, I believe that “we the people” means ALL of the people. Black, Hispanic, Native American, or white, gay, straight or bisexual, old or young, male or female, progressive, Democrat, Republican, independent, Green Party, socialist, Libertarian, Tea Party, liberal or conservative – I welcome everyone’s ideas if they will make our community better.
To my mind, that’s what being a representative means. That’s what being a Democrat means – being open to new ideas even when we disagree, including every member of our community in the discussion, respecting different points of view, and creating solutions that are based on our shared experience of living in this community together in peace.
The people I’ve been listening to in our community have all kinds of great ideas for solving the problems we have here in New Mexico – teachers and students and parents who have innovative ideas for reforming education that deserve a chance to be heard. Leaders in the alternative energy field, both in the community and at LANL, where alternative energy is a particular interest of mine, have some exciting ideas for supporting green, sustainable energy that will uniquely benefit New Mexico. Local business people struggling to keep their doors open who know firsthand what the state could do to help their business so they can hire more people.
These are the people I seek to represent. They are all throughout our community and they are ready to have a voice in the Roundhouse.
Threatened by a candidate willing to listen to the people
So, it’s understandable that Mayor Coss and company would feel the need to lie to win this election. He’s a career politician with a dubious record when it comes to ethics, candor and transparency in government. Also, he’s backed by the political old boy network and their cronies, who are threatened by the idea of a candidate who is willing to listen to the people and not simply vote as he’s told by the special interests and old boy club.
It’s understandable, but that doesn’t make it okay to lie.
On June 5, we will all have a choice as to who we want speaking for us in the Legislature. I hope and trust that the people in our community would rather have a representative who doesn’t ignore what they think to advance his own personal agenda.
I believe that the people of our community understand that a politician who is willing to lie about his opponent to win an election is likely a politician who is equally willing to ignore the will of the people once he gets into office. And we all know what it feels like when the people we elect to speak for us vote against the will of the people.
The invasion of Iraq. Health-care reform. The debt-ceiling debacle. Do we really want more of the same, or do we want something more in line with our deeper values as Democrats?
Of course, that’s a choice we’ll all have to make for ourselves.
Trujillo, a Democrat, is a candidate for the District 46 seat in the N.M. House.