{"id":22942,"date":"2010-10-29T13:19:47","date_gmt":"2010-10-29T19:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=22942"},"modified":"2010-10-31T00:40:25","modified_gmt":"2010-10-31T06:40:25","slug":"mailer-aims-to-help-write-in-guv-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/10\/mailer-aims-to-help-write-in-guv-candidate\/","title":{"rendered":"Mailer aims to help write-in guv candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Kenneth Gomez<\/p><\/div>\n

A flyer hitting mailboxes this week purports to be trying to dissuade people from writing in little-known candidate Kenneth Gomez<\/a> for governor.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be fooled. The mailer actually appears to be about trying to get people to vote for Gomez instead of Republican Susana Martinez<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSay NO to the Tea Party,\u201d the mailer states. \u201cDo NOT Write In Kenneth Gomez for Governor!\u201d<\/p>\n

The mailer includes photographs of signs that read \u201cGod bless FOX News,\u201d and \u201cWe will take our nation back with blood shed as a last resort.\u201d<\/p>\n

It states that Gomez is \u201ctoo conservative for New Mexico\u201d because he \u201csupports eliminating the state income tax, which New Mexico needs to fund government programs for the poor, needy and immigrants;\u201d that he \u201cis so extreme he opposes a woman\u2019s right to have an abortion;\u201d and that he \u201csupports \u2018all the Tea Party ideals\u2019\u201d \u2013 such as \u201chardline stances on immigration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more write-in votes Kenneth Gomez gets, the more it would send the wrong message that New Mexicans support extreme Tea Party conservatives,\u201d the mailer states. \u201cOn Tuesday, do NOT Write In Kenneth Gomez for Governor.\u201d<\/p>\n

A fa\u00e7ade<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

The mailer was paid for by Majority Action PAC<\/a>, which describes itself on its Web site as \u201ca campaign organization aimed at winning elections\u00a0through aggressive independent expenditure campaigns to help build and protect the Democratic majorities in Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is this Democratic group really worried that Gomez might win the governor\u2019s race? No, because he\u2019s simply not a factor in the race. Is the group worried that Gomez might be taking votes away from the Democratic candidate for governor, Diane Denish<\/a>? Unlikely.<\/p>\n

Instead, it appears the group is trying to let conservatives know there is another choice for governor on their side besides Martinez. In telling people not to vote for Gomez, the mailer uses buzz words like \u201cTea Party\u201d to describe Gomez and lets people know that he\u2019s opposed to abortion, wants to reduce taxes and takes a right-wing stance on immigration.<\/p>\n

The mailer even illustrates how people can vote for Gomez. It shows an example of someone writing in Gomez\u2019s name and filling in the black circle next to it on the ballot. (The mailer puts a big, red \u201cX\u201d over that photo to go with its fa\u00e7ade of trying to get people to not write in Gomez. However, the \u201cX\u201d actually covers the names of Martinez and Denish, but not Gomez.)<\/p>\n

Doing the same thing in Colorado<\/h3>\n

Fascinating stuff. And potentially effective. It appears that the group has involved itself in a similar way in a congressional race in Colorado.<\/p>\n

Check out this letter to the editor<\/a> published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan from Steve Warren:<\/p>\n

\u201cOn an almost daily basis, I have received mailings from the Majority Action PAC. They warn me that Doug Aden is \u2018too extreme for Colorado.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThey claim that Doug Aden (1) believes that English should be our official language, (2) wants to pull America out of the United Nations, (3) opposes regulations to fight global warming, and (4) thinks our government is \u2018on the march to socialism.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026I am inclined to vote for Doug Aden rather than against him. If that is \u2018extremism,\u2019 count me in. It seems to me that the out-of-staters are the true extremists.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Aden is a third-party congressional candidate who\u2019s not going to win the race but has the potential to win votes that might instead go to the Republican who is challenging the Democratic incumbent. And in this instance, it appears the mailer may have had its intended effect \u2013 getting Warren to become more aware of and at least think about voting for Aden.<\/p>\n

A brilliant trick or unethical deception?<\/h3>\n

In New Mexico, the group\u2019s mailer increases Gomez\u2019s name ID and gives people who identify with the Tea Party the impression that he\u2019s one of them. A brilliant trick or an unethical deception? You decide.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the mailer:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> and here<\/a> to view larger copies of the front and back of the mailer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A flyer hitting mailboxes this week purports to be trying to dissuade people from writing in little-known candidate Kenneth Gomez for governor. Don\u2019t be fooled. The mailer actually appears to be about trying to get people to vote for Gomez instead of Republican Susana Martinez.<\/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-22942","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\/22942","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=22942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22942\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}