{"id":22892,"date":"2010-10-28T14:50:24","date_gmt":"2010-10-28T20:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=22892"},"modified":"2010-10-29T10:54:33","modified_gmt":"2010-10-29T16:54:33","slug":"chandler%e2%80%99s-attack-ad-is-spin-king%e2%80%99s-is-patently-false","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/10\/chandler%e2%80%99s-attack-ad-is-spin-king%e2%80%99s-is-patently-false\/","title":{"rendered":"Chandler\u2019s attack ad is spin; King\u2019s is patently false"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Matt Chandler, left, and Gary King<\/p><\/div>\n

Republican attorney general candidate Matt Chandler\u2019s<\/a> new attack ad spins the truth, while the central claim in Democratic candidate Gary King\u2019s<\/a> new ad appears to be patently false.<\/p>\n

The two have been hammering each other in recent days on television. Chandler\u2019s newest ad<\/a> states that King \u201csupports driver\u2019s licenses for illegal immigrants\u201d because allowing them to obtain licenses \u201cmakes our highways safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

King\u2019s new ad<\/a> attacks Chandler\u2019s statement in a previous ad<\/a> that he has \u201csuccessfully prosecuted over 30 murderers.\u201d King\u2019s ad state\u2019s that Chandler\u2019s claim is false.<\/p>\n

\u201cFacts prove Chandler has only worked on half the murder cases he claims,\u201d King\u2019s ad states.<\/p>\n

King\u2019s ad<\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s start with King\u2019s ad. You can watch it here:<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

The ad includes no citations to back up its claim that Chandler has only \u201cworked on\u201d half of the 30 murder cases he claims. When initially asked for a fact sheet or other documentation to back up the ad, King campaign spokesman Phil Sisneros wrote this in an e-mail to NMPolitics.net:<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you asked Chandler to prove he has prosecuted as many cases as he claims?\u00a0While I\u2019m thinking about it, have you asked him for proof that Gary King supports drivers licenses for illegals? What documentation is that based upon?\u00a0I would like to see you ask him to show any proof of that claim.\u00a0After you get answers from the Chandler campaign for their claims, I might be more inclined to discuss our research.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Following a contentious e-mail exchange with NMPolitics.net, Sisneros issued a news release that included what was labeled a \u201cKing campaign research\u201d document<\/a>. That document states that the King campaign\u2019s claim is based on data obtained from the state\u2019s Administrative Office of the Courts that shows that Chandler\u2019s office has filed 16 murder cases during his tenure.<\/p>\n

The King campaign also claimed in the document that, of the cases Chandler cites as murder cases he prosecuted, eight were prosecuted by Chandler; four were prosecuted by other attorneys in his office; it was \u201cnot possible\u201d to determine who prosecuted 12 others; on two cases the \u201cmajority\u201d of the work was completed by Chandler\u2019s predecessor; nine were homicide cases other than murders; and one was a federal conviction.<\/p>\n

But the King campaign still didn\u2019t provide documentation to back up those claims. Sisneros hasn\u2019t responded to two e-mails asking if he can at least provide case numbers to NMPolitics.net.<\/p>\n

Documentation proves King wrong<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Chandler, on the other hand, issued a news release<\/a> in response to King\u2019s ad listing 35 people he says he has successfully prosecuted for murder. Each includes a link to a news article about that case.<\/p>\n

Chandler went a step further when asked by NMPolitics.net for additional documentation. He provided 180 pages of news articles and court records to back up his claim about personally being involved in the prosecution of each of the 35 cases he lists.<\/p>\n

In that document<\/a> sent to NMPolitics.net, Chandler backs up claims about 33 of the 35 cases with news articles, court records, or both that show that he was directly involved in each case.<\/p>\n

For the other two, Chandler provided news articles that don\u2019t definitively prove that he, instead of another attorney in his office, was directly involved in the prosecution. For those two, articles were quoting news releases Chandler issued after his office secured convictions.<\/p>\n

Chandler says he personally worked on each case.<\/p>\n

\u201cChandler not only worked on all of these cases; he visited the crime scenes, advised investigators on the legal ramifications of their investigations, and as district attorney he personally prosecuted each and every case below along with other members of his office,\u201d his news release about King\u2019s ad states.<\/p>\n

In 94 percent of the cases cited, the documentation provided by Chandler definitely proves that he was directly involved.<\/p>\n

Homicide versus murder<\/h3>\n

There is a technical difference between murder and homicide, as King points out. Both describe the killing of another human. Murder requires the intent to kill that person, while homicide does not always require that intent. Vehicular homicide or killing in self-defense are examples of other types of homicide.<\/p>\n

One of the cases Chandler cites as the prosecution of a murder ended with a conviction for child abuse resulting in death. The child died from blunt force trauma to his head. And in another case, a man was convicted of voluntary manslaughter after prosecutors said he was given a gun and ordered to shoot someone with it.<\/p>\n

What does society call such people? Homiciders? No. Society calls them killers or murderers. And that\u2019s what Chandler did in his ad.<\/p>\n

However, even if you accept King\u2019s point that those aren\u2019t murders, that leaves Chandler with 26 cases he\u2019s personally been involved in prosecuting that led to murder convictions. That\u2019s closer to Chandler\u2019s claim than King\u2019s claim.<\/p>\n

Put simply, King\u2019s attack ad isn\u2019t factual. Even if you give King the benefit of the doubt, Chandler has been involved in the successful prosecutions of 26 murderers \u2013 not 15.<\/p>\n

Chandler\u2019s ad<\/h3>\n

On to Chandler\u2019s ad. Here it is:<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no citation in the ad to back up its claim that King \u201csupports driver\u2019s licenses for illegal immigrants\u201d because allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain licenses \u201cmakes our highways safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the campaign provided a link to this video<\/a> that shows both candidates answering a question about the controversial 2003 driver\u2019s license law at a forum.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy opponent is on record\u2026 as saying it makes it makes New Mexico highways safer,\u201d Chandler said at the forum. \u201cI disagree, and that\u2019s maybe just one of the different contrasts between us.\u201d<\/p>\n

King spoke next, affirming that he does believe the law makes New Mexico highways safer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, he\u2019s right on that one. We do disagree,\u201d King said. \u201cI have certainly said that one of the arguments for driver\u2019s licenses for anybody, including immigrants, is that we have an obligation in New Mexico to make sure the people that are driving on the roads have a basic set of competencies so that they\u2019re not causing automobile accidents.\u00a0 I think having a driver\u2019s license is the key. That\u2019s what states do to make sure that people have that competency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though King said the state has an \u201cobligation\u201d to make sure drivers are competent by issuing them driver\u2019s licenses, he then clarified that he wasn\u2019t expressing personal support for the law that allows everyone \u2013 regardless of immigration status \u2013 to obtain a license.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t really said whether I personally am for or against it because I am the state\u2019s chief law enforcement officer,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026It actually would be more or less inappropriate of me to say that I was opposed to a law that\u2019s on the books because I am the guy that enforces the laws that are on the books.\u201d<\/p>\n

King added that one downside is that the law may cause problems for New Mexicans traveling to Arizona. He said that can be fixed with a change in law so that licenses make clear whether a person has provided proof of citizenship. And he reiterated that \u201cthere are some arguments for why the Legislature of New Mexico passed this.\u201d<\/p>\n

So King does believe that issuing driver\u2019s licenses to undocumented immigrants makes New Mexico\u2019s highways safer. And he says the state has an \u201cobligation\u201d to do that. But that\u2019s a little different than expressing support for the law.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what state Republican Party spokeswoman Janel Causey, speaking for the Chandler campaign, had to say when asked about the difference:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hear King on a number of occasions argue the benefits of this law \u2014 people pay insurance, limits fatalities, want to make sure people have competency to be on roads \u2014 while conveniently hiding behind his familiar tagline that as the AG he can\u2019t personally weigh in on the law. If that\u2019s not defending the law, what is it? In King\u2019s role as the state\u2019s chief law enforcement officer, charged with public safety, King frequently opines on other policies and pieces of legislation, but on the issue of driver\u2019s licenses, all we hear is King\u2019s defense of the merits of the law.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fair enough. I can see King\u2019s statement being interpreted that way \u2013 or being interpreted as a very careful toeing of the line between enforcing the state\u2019s laws and opining on them, as King says he\u2019s trying to do. So I\u2019m going to plant myself in the middle on this one and call Chandler\u2019s claim spin on the facts, but not false.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republican attorney general candidate Matt Chandler\u2019s new attack ad spins the truth, while the central claim in Democratic candidate Gary King\u2019s new ad appears to be patently false.<\/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":[108,107],"class_list":["post-22892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2010-election","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22892","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=22892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22892\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}