{"id":20721,"date":"2010-08-20T08:05:53","date_gmt":"2010-08-20T14:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=20721"},"modified":"2010-08-23T07:34:02","modified_gmt":"2010-08-23T13:34:02","slug":"both-candidates-accomplished-their-goals-during-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/08\/both-candidates-accomplished-their-goals-during-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Both candidates achieved their goals during debate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Susana Martinez (left, courtesy photo) and Diane Denish (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

Both candidates for governor accomplished what they set out to do during their first debate<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Democrat Diane Denish<\/a> successfully appeared to be a strong defender of public schools and raised doubts about Republican Susana Martinez\u2019s<\/a> support for them. Speaking before hundreds of educators, Denish was convincing in trying to rally a crowd already friendly to her to actively help her win the race.<\/p>\n

Martinez spoke to a more general audience with a message about school choice, accountability and protecting taxpayer dollars. In a year in which the pendulum is swinging to the right and people are concerned about the economy and believe the government is failing them, she was convincing in her harsh criticism of Denish and the status quo.<\/p>\n

The different approaches were apparent in the way the candidates attacked each other. Denish spoke in the third person about Martinez to the audience of 400 people \u2013 many of them public school educators.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy opponent \u2013 she\u2019s not being straight with you. For months she has advocated a voucher program, taking public money out of public schools and putting it into private schools. Today she wants you to think it\u2019s something else,\u201d Denish told the audience. \u201c\u2026New Mexicans are tired of that double speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez, on the other hand, attacked Denish directly, looking right at her and speaking to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiane, you took office in 2003 and you said, \u2018Hold me accountable for our graduation rates; hold me accountable, because we expect all children to read by the time they are in the third grade,\u2019\u201d Martinez said. \u201c\u2026I am holding you accountable, Diane. \u2026 You have failed our kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because she spoke directly to Denish, Martinez\u2019s attacks appeared more vicious, but it was Denish who took the first shot during her opening statement. The back-and-forth sparring continued throughout the debate and colored it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Martinez at Thursday\u2019s debate (screen shot taken from KNME-TV\u2019s webcast)<\/p><\/div>\n

Martinez and vouchers<\/h3>\n

Denish repeatedly hit Martinez on the voucher issue. I\u2019ve already reported that Martinez has moved away from the traditional vouchers<\/a> she advocated during the primary. When Denish accused Martinez of lying for claiming that her plan wouldn\u2019t take money from public education, I was surprised that Martinez didn\u2019t simply explain why she\u2019s moved away from her initial position.<\/p>\n

Denish effectively used Martinez\u2019s own words against her:<\/p>\n

\u201cSo on the voucher issue, here\u2019s Susana\u2019s words: \u2018The money should follow the child,\u2019\u201d Denish said. \u201c\u2026If you don\u2019t remember that Susana, watch YouTube.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was something Martinez said at a forum during the primary. Martinez still supports vouchers for students with disabilities, but not for all other students. Instead, she\u2019s proposing tax credits for people who donate to organizations that provide scholarships for poor children who want to attend a different school. Martinez, like Denish, now pledges not to cut funding for public education.<\/p>\n

Why not just say she\u2019s changed her mind and explain why? Instead, Martinez said this:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know Diane, you can say it over and over again and it\u2019s not going to make it true. It\u2019s not going to make it true,\u201d Martinez said. \u201c\u2026I want private funding to be available to our children who are trapped in failing public schools.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denish and Richardson<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Denish at Thursday\u2019s debate (screen shot taken from KNME-TV\u2019s webcast)<\/p><\/div>\n

Similarly, I was surprised that Denish didn\u2019t try to distance herself from Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> when Martinez attacked the \u201cfailures\u201d of the Richardson administration. Martinez said more than once that Denish was \u201cat the front of the table chairing the Richardson\/Denish reform\u201d on education. She gave Denish credit for more influence and power than Denish actually had as lieutenant governor.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve reported on a separate issue<\/a>, that\u2019s in part because Denish has exaggerated her own importance over the years.<\/p>\n

The attack was part of Martinez\u2019s repeated efforts to tie Denish to the governor by pointing out statistics and claim that the reforms of the Richardson years have failed. Denish didn\u2019t try to distance herself from Richardson at all. And when Martinez took a shot at Denish for her frequent use of the state jet to travel to the state\u2019s rural communities, Denish defended it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to fly an expensive jet to get there,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cThose are wasted dollars that our kids could be benefiting from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denish\u2019s response was that Martinez \u201cmight not think it\u2019s important to visit those communities\u2026 but I believe it\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Style and substance<\/h3>\n

Neither candidate is a brilliant debater. On Thursday, Denish needed to address Martinez directly more and Martinez needed to address the audience more. Martinez\u2019s direct attacks gave her the appearance of someone who\u2019s passionate, but she needed to do more to engage the audience in that passion. Denish\u2019s third-person attacks made her appear calm and cool, but I wanted to see more passion from her.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a balance between the tactics the candidates took that would have been beneficial to both.<\/p>\n

Martinez has improved dramatically since the primary, when her debate and forum appearances weren\u2019t impressive. Though I think Denish had a slight advantage at the end of Thursday\u2019s debate, Martinez showed that she can go toe-to-toe with the lieutenant governor.<\/p>\n

In July, I wrote that Martinez\u2019s plans and positions needed more substance<\/a>. On education, she showed during the debate that she has ideas about how she would reform education and she can speak intelligently about them.<\/p>\n

Denish, who has had years of practice in developing nuanced views on education issues, came across as very knowledgeable.<\/p>\n

In closing<\/h3>\n

Denish had the better closing statement \u2013 dropping a bomb in pointing out that Martinez failed to vote in a school election in 2003. Denish said she appreciates Martinez\u2019s \u201cnewfound\u201d respect for funding public education, but said Martinez \u201cdidn\u2019t care enough about education in September 2003 to go to the polls and vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one people will be talking about. And it\u2019s one to which Martinez didn\u2019t get to respond because Denish intentionally saved it for her final statement.<\/p>\n

Martinez\u2019s closing statement was one of the few times when she addressed the audience:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re satisfied with New Mexico being 49th in the nation in education \u2013 she\u2019s right. Vote for Diane Denish,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n

Then she went back to speaking directly to Denish.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s immoral that we don\u2019t have a higher achievement level for the hundreds of millions that have been spent,\u201d Martinez said. \u201c\u2026Frankly Diane, you need a pink slip. We need a change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking for some fact-checking of claims made during the debate? Click here<\/a>. And if you missed the debate, you can watch it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Both gubernatorial candidates accomplished what they set out to do during their first debate. Diane Denish, speaking to educators, appeared to be a strong defender of public schools. Susana Martinez spoke to a general audience with a message about school choice, accountability and protecting taxpayer dollars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[108,125,107],"class_list":["post-20721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2010-election","tag-education","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20721","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=20721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20721\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}