{"id":26977,"date":"2011-03-08T08:56:35","date_gmt":"2011-03-08T15:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=26977"},"modified":"2011-03-08T16:57:51","modified_gmt":"2011-03-08T23:57:51","slug":"message-to-pearce-you-can%e2%80%99t-win-the-senate-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/03\/message-to-pearce-you-can%e2%80%99t-win-the-senate-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Message to Pearce: You can\u2019t win the Senate race"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

Though Heather Wilson isn\u2019t directly saying it, the implicit message from Monday\u2019s announcement seemed to be that she \u2013 not Steve Pearce or anyone else \u2013 is the only GOP candidate who can win the U.S. Senate race<\/h4>\n

There was a different atmosphere around Republican Heather Wilson\u2019s<\/a> announcement on Monday that she\u2019s running for U.S. Senate<\/a> than there was around the launch of her 2008 campaign, which ended with a primary loss.<\/p>\n

Many of the same familiar politicos were present this time around, including former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici<\/a>. But there were some different \u2013 and significant \u2013 political players on stage this time.<\/p>\n

At the center was Matt Rush<\/a>, a former land commissioner candidate and a Roosevelt County farmer and rancher who does motivational speaking. He was given the prominent role of introducing each speaker who came before Wilson.<\/p>\n

Rush\u2019s decision to endorse Wilson \u2013 and to try to keep a candidate who is further to the right out of the GOP primary \u2013 caught the attention of many sources NMPolitics.net spoke with. Some expected him to stay out of the race, or maybe even back U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce<\/a> or another potential candidate over Wilson.<\/p>\n

Rush made clear why he is endorsing Wilson, saying she is \u201cthe only candidate who can beat the Democrat.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, he wants Republicans to win the U.S. Senate race, and doesn\u2019t think anyone but Wilson can do that. For a party still trying to heal from the divisive 2008 primary between Pearce and Wilson \u2013 which was followed by Pearce being shellacked by Democrat Tom Udall<\/a> in the general \u2013 the implicit message seemed to be aimed at Pearce:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t win, you messed things up for us last time, and we don\u2019t want you to do it again. Don\u2019t run for Senate.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Heather Wilson<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018The party is uniting\u2019<\/h3>\n

Wilson, of course, didn\u2019t go that far in an interview with NMPolitics.net. But she said there is a big difference this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe party is uniting and pulling together,\u201d she said. \u201cThat is different from two years ago \u2013 the number of people, leaders in the Republican Party from all over the state, who have come together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI also think the times have changed and people are very worried about the future of our country,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n

Though her announcement was intentionally designed to win over those on the right side of the GOP who question whether she\u2019s conservative enough, Wilson said she\u2019s staying true to who she has always been. Wilson has a record of a Republican, definitely, but one who has compromised on some significant issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am pro life. I am pro Second Amendment. Nothing about that has changed,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cA free-trade, low-tax, fair-regulation Republican.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI also try to understand problems and listen to people,\u201d she said. \u201cI am proud of my record.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Pearce\u2019s response to Wilson entering the Senate race was to essentially, well, yawn. He also shrugged off questions about his own consideration of the Senate race.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitics can wait,\u201d he said. \u201cThe business at hand \u2013 addressing devastating unemployment rates, obstacles to small business, and a looming debt crisis \u2013 cannot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, I am working hard at the job that the people of New Mexico sent me to Congress to do,\u201d Pearce said. \u201cThe filing deadline is still nine months away, and I have plenty of time to make decisions. I\u2019ll reach out to my supporters, but now, for New Mexicans, the stakes are higher than personal ambition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018The country is in deep trouble\u2019<\/h3>\n

Wilson also talked about the stakes being high. In fact, she said the significant threats facing the nation are the reason she\u2019s running.<\/p>\n

Wilson is 50 and has recovered from a recent fight against thyroid cancer. She\u2019s been back in New Mexico only a couple of years to enjoy more time with her husband and children after spending 11 years in the U.S. House.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s a GOP heavyweight, so she had the luxury of waiting for the right race to come along, knowing the huge outpouring of support she enjoyed on Monday would be there when she decided to run. So why now?<\/p>\n

Wilson said she feels a duty to serve \u2013 in particular because of her knowledge of the nation\u2019s finances and national defense, though she also mentioned health care and \u201ccultivating a society that respects the family\u201d as significant issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need leaders who are willing to serve and grapple with those extremely difficult problems,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cThe country is in deep trouble. The financial picture, no matter if you take the optimistic or pessimistic projections, they are both unsustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

How serious a threat is that, I asked? Is the nation facing possible collapse? Wilson said she isn\u2019t sure, but she doesn\u2019t want to find out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf something is unsustainable, you have to either avert it or it will cause you great harm,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need to figure this out, and that\u2019s going to take some tremendous effort.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though Heather Wilson isn\u2019t directly saying it, the implicit message from Monday\u2019s announcement seemed to be that she \u2013 not Steve Pearce or anyone else \u2013 is the only GOP candidate who can win the Senate race.<\/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":[156,116],"class_list":["post-26977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2012-election","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26977","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=26977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26977\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}