{"id":1759,"date":"2007-05-22T13:02:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-22T19:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/05\/pearce-wants-to-keep-dccc-out-of-2008-race\/"},"modified":"2007-05-22T13:02:00","modified_gmt":"2007-05-22T19:02:00","slug":"pearce-wants-to-keep-dccc-out-of-2008-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/05\/pearce-wants-to-keep-dccc-out-of-2008-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Pearce wants to keep DCCC out of 2008 race"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce<\/a>, R-N.M., is trying to raise enough money in the second quarter of 2007 to keep the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee<\/a> away from his 2008 re-election bid. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He sent a letter to potential donors earlier this month asking for contributions before the June 30 deadline for second-quarter fundraising. His goal is to prove that he has strong support and keep the DCCC, the official fundraising arm of House Democrats, from taking an interest in his seat.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThey have the funds and power to make a real impact in any race they choose and we need to keep them out of the Second District,\u201d Pearce wrote in the May 9 letter. \u201cThey are guaranteed to target us unless we make the hurdle too tall to climb.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

You can read Page 1 of the letter by clicking here<\/a> and Page 2 here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Pearce\u2019s letter began by expressing concern that two Democrats have already entered the race \u2013 Al Kissling<\/a>, who Pearce defeated last year, and Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter last fall\u2019s hotly contested election cycle, I expected tough opposition in 2008,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI just didn\u2019t expect it in the spring of 2007 \u2013 and from two liberal opponents, no less!\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Then Pearce went negative, almost 18 months before Election Day.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have one opponent who has a left-wing record including a history of voting for tax increases and fighting against prayer at county commission meetings,\u201d he wrote about McCamley. \u201cAnd another opponent who favors the death tax and has said he\u2019s \u2018more scared of our own American National Guard than Islamic terrorists.\u2019 Unreal!\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Pearce is spinning the facts<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In the letter, Pearce hammered Kissling on the same issues he did during last year\u2019s campaign in a radio advertisement<\/a> calling the Democrat \u201cbizarre.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Kissling, who spent a tenth of the money of Pearce and received 40 percent of the vote last year, said he \u201ccan\u2019t believe that Mr. Pearce can\u2019t come up with better ideas than what he\u2019s expressed in that statement. It just reveals the shallowness of his position.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Kissling did say during last year\u2019s campaign that he supports a death tax, and the quote Pearce attributed to him is accurate, but it\u2019s taken out of context. Kissling was speaking specifically about his belief that National Guard soldiers should not have been policing American airports after 9\/11.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Pearce\u2019s statements about McCamley are also spin.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>McCamley did vote for one tax increase, to raise salaries for sheriff\u2019s deputies and create paid firefighter positions, but so did all commissioners, including two Republicans, and the action had widespread bipartisan support in the community, including the endorsement of Republican District Attorney and Pearce supporter Susana Martinez<\/a>. McCamley also voted to allow voters to decide whether to raise taxes to help fund Spaceport America<\/a>, but that\u2019s not the same as voting for a tax increase.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIn calling out this policy,\u201d McCamley said about Pearce questioning the public-safety tax increase, \u201cI would ask if Mr. Pearce dislikes either our brave police forces or the men and women who put themselves at risk as the first health care responders on the scene.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

On the topic of prayer, the commission used to allow anyone to sign up to pray before meetings, but a Christian prayer group monopolized the schedule and frequently prayed in the name of Jesus. McCamley proposed and the commission adopted a policy modeled after that in the U.S. House of Representatives, which requires non-sectarian prayer <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCamley, in cooperation with an interfaith group at New Mexico<\/st1:placename> State<\/st1:placetype> University<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>, now arranges for religious leaders to pray before each commission meeting.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIf he wants to continually bring this up during the campaign, then I fully expect him to ask the House chaplain to change the way they do business as well,\u201d McCamley said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Kissling said Pearce\u2019s attack on him \u201cdoesn\u2019t deal with any issues of the campaign.\u201d McCamley said it\u2019s \u201ckind of sad when a politician, especially an incumbent, feels that he has to go negative this early in the campaign. But when you have no accomplishments after four years of service, I guess it\u2019s the only thing you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2018Proud to be a commonsense conservative voice\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Pearce wrote in his letter that \u201cit could be worse. Another liberal \u2013 or two, or three \u2013 could jump into the race. Or worse, the (DCCC) could get involved in our race.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud to be a commonsense conservative voice in Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> whereas, if either of our opponents wins, he will be a voice for the far left and Nancy Pelosi<\/a>,\u201d Pearce wrote.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCamley took issue with that statement.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cHe has voted with Bush and DeLay over 90 percent of the time, so maybe it\u2019s not possible for him to believe that you can be an independent voice in the House,\u201d the commissioner said. \u201cI, however, plan on doing what is best for the people that voted for me, even if I have to vote against the speaker sometimes. Unlike Mr. Pearce, I won\u2019t be a rubber stamp.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to raise a lot of money<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Pearce\u2019s letter is likely also geared at keeping state Rep. Joseph Cervantes<\/a> of Las Cruces<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> from jumping into the race. He\u2019s the other politician who has openly considered the race, and he met with Democratic officials in Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> last week to discuss it.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Kissling also met recently with officials from the DCCC. He said the meeting was \u201cvery cordial,\u201d but the group won\u2019t get involved in the Democratic primary.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Pearce raised $1.4 million<\/a> for the 2006 election, but the oilman from Hobbs<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> is capable of raising a lot more. In the first quarter of 2007, he raised $114,000<\/a> and had more than $200,000 in the bank.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Kissling, on the other hand, raised very little<\/a> in the first three months of the year and still had a debt to himself from his 2006 campaign. McCamley didn\u2019t enter the race until April, and didn\u2019t raise any money in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Taking on Pearce is a daunting task for a well-funded candidate, but one who doesn\u2019t have money doesn\u2019t have much of a chance. To get the attention of the DCCC, which can provide funding and attention to make this a competitive race, either Democrat will have to raise a significant amount of money by June 30.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCamley has been working hard to raise cash since jumping into the race, but isn\u2019t releasing any fundraising totals. Kissling is currently traveling on the East Coast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., is trying to raise enough money in the second quarter of 2007 to keep the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee away from his 2008 re-election bid. He sent a letter to potential donors earlier this month asking for contributions before the June 30 deadline for second-quarter fundraising. His goal is to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759","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=1759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}