{"id":131037,"date":"2016-02-25T11:39:14","date_gmt":"2016-02-25T18:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=131037"},"modified":"2016-02-25T11:39:14","modified_gmt":"2016-02-25T18:39:14","slug":"working-for-progress-benefits-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/02\/working-for-progress-benefits-everyone\/","title":{"rendered":"Working for progress benefits everyone"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY:<\/strong> Jeffery Isbell\u2019s slanted op-ed<\/a> published recently by NMPolitics.net\u00a0was an interesting read. The article begins with a cleverly worded assault on those of us working in Las Cruces toward social change by implying that, like Mr. Isbell, we have helicoptered in to change the dynamic of our beloved city.<\/p>\n

Of course the big difference he fails to mention is that almost every single person he names, and those of us whose organizations were named, are long-time residents, many of us lifelong residents, of Do\u00f1a Ana County. Unlike Mr. Isbell, we know our neighbors and our children\u2019s friends and we know how much potential there is here without the outside interdiction of a self-proclaimed \u201cpolitical operative.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lucas

Courtesy photo<\/p>

Lucas Herndon<\/p><\/div>\n

And let\u2019s not mince words here about what Mr. Isbell is and is doing. When he mentions that there\u2019s only one conservative group operating in Las Cruces that\u2019s a (patently untrue) political maneuver designed to disarm moderate liberals and enrage conservatives. The fact that he himself moved here from Illinois to organize the city council recall effort should be enough to prove that they already have a firm grasp on the importance of grassroots organizing. Under his hand conservatives were able to maintain their stranglehold on the Do\u00f1a Ana Soil and Water Conservation District during last year\u2019s election. His candidates received support from Rep. Steve Pearce by way of robo-calls and high-end glossy mailers. Don\u2019t think for a second that this issue is lopsided one way or the other.<\/p>\n

Actually, no, please do consider it that way. ProgressNowNM raised about $3,000 to spend in last year\u2019s city council race. That money came locally from New Mexico donors and the mailers we sent out were printed locally at a Las Cruces shop. Contrast that to Mr. Isbell\u2019s \u201c$100,000 in direct mail and radio commercials,\u201d which was mostly comprised of out-of-state money from larger conservative PACs. The real issue that\u2019s coming up is that Isbell\u2019s heavy handed, out-of-state style doesn\u2019t fly well here. Voters know that when their friends take the time to get involved and have a yard sign or host a candidate party, that recommendation means something.<\/p>\n

The differences are in what we are all working for. Candidates who\u00a0Mr. Isbell has helped back consistently share the idea of going backwards. They want to \u201cundo\u201d things. They want to undo minimum wage. They want to undo marriage equality. They want to undo conservation protections for beloved natural areas. Well Mr. Isbell, I\u2019m not sure you\u2019ll ever find enough people to rally around undoing those things. Most people are interested in doing something. Most people I know get fired up because there\u2019s a group of people hurting or in need and we have the power to help them.<\/p>\n

Politics may be a game or a just a career to some people like Isbell, but for the men and women he called out by name, serving the public in an elected office is an opportunity to help their community. And for those of us who work behind the scenes and organize, it\u2019s about letting our elected officials know what the community really needs, not just the 1 percent who have the money to advertise it whenever they want.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s about going to city council meetings that happen in the middle of the day when most people have to work or be in school. It\u2019s about driving to colonias and unincorporated towns to talk with people who don\u2019t have transportation or Internet connections and their voices aren\u2019t being heard. It\u2019s about countering all the negativity and deceit that comes from outside agitators who can use money to buy influence the rest of only ever dream of.<\/p>\n

We share this time and this space. Working for progress benefits everyone. What does organizing against it accomplish?<\/p>\n

Lucas Herndon is a lifelong resident of Do\u00f1a Ana County and is raising his daughter here. He is the communications manager for ProgressNow New Mexico<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most people are interested in doing something, not undoing something. Most people I know get fired up because there\u2019s a group of people hurting or in need and we have the power to help them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,16],"tags":[145,705,113],"class_list":["post-131037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-guest-columns","tag-las-cruces","tag-money-in-politics","tag-nonprofits"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}