{"id":28244,"date":"2011-04-08T08:13:07","date_gmt":"2011-04-08T14:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=28244"},"modified":"2011-04-08T08:15:24","modified_gmt":"2011-04-08T14:15:24","slug":"ready-to-take-the-fight-to-the-gop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/04\/ready-to-take-the-fight-to-the-gop\/","title":{"rendered":"Ready to take the fight to the GOP"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Javier Gonzales<\/p><\/div>\n

Traveling the state\u00a0over the past few months has renewed my optimism for 2012 through my interaction with our active, grassroots Democrats who are all ready and geared up to win\u00a0next November.<\/p>\n

In cafeterias and community centers, high school gyms and bingo halls, the people I meet are energized, active, and ready to take the fight to fight to Susana Martinez, Heather Wilson, John Sanchez and the\u00a0Republicans whose dangerous ideas threaten our future.<\/p>\n

An old friend from Hobbs once told me that \u201cthe sun doesn\u2019t shine on the same dog\u2019s ass all the time,\u201d and we learned the hard truth behind that last November. Facing a Republican wave of historic proportions and an economy that hit bottom at the worst possible time, we suffered some serious losses, and no one is more disappointed than me.<\/p>\n

But in spite of overwhelming odds against us, our mettle was tested and we came together to re-elect\u00a0Martin Heinrich\u00a0to a seat that Republicans had held for 40 years. That had never been done before. Congressman Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n ran and won strong in our northern district.<\/p>\n

To give you some perspective on the size of the GOP wave in 2010 \u2013 19 states, many of them strong Democratic states, lost their legislatures to Republicans. Fortunately, we were able to hold our majorities here.<\/p>\n

Hector Balderas, Gary King and\u00a0James Lewis\u00a0are stronger than ever, and\u00a0Ray Powell\u00a0took back the State Land Office, a seat Republicans had held for eight years. In our best fund-raising year ever, we put $2.3 million into races in all 33 counties.<\/p>\n

Undaunted<\/h3>\n

As I look ahead to 2012, I see a\u00a0Democratic Party\u00a0undaunted by its setbacks. We are leaner, stronger, and smarter for the lessons we learned, and poised for major victories. The stakes could not be higher. During the legislative session in Santa Fe, New Mexicans got a clear view of the stark contrast between Republicans and Democrats, and the 2012 election cycle will be a contest to see who is serious about putting politics aside to propose solutions to our challenges and who is interested only in\u00a0wedge issue\u00a0politics that divide us against each other.<\/p>\n

In Santa Fe, Democrats were focused like a laser beam on jobs, education, ethics and preserving our land and water. Susana Martinez sadly misspent her historic first legislative session pushing wedge issue after wedge issue.<\/p>\n

She was elected on a clear promise to New Mexicans: to focus on jobs.\u00a0But we have yet to see a single job-creating proposal from her administration, and our state and its struggling families are paying the price.<\/p>\n

She went out of her way to destroy incentives that created thousands of high-paying jobs, created countless educational opportunities and generated millions of dollars into our state\u2019s struggling economy.<\/p>\n

Susana Martinez hasn\u2019t taken the leap as her role as a prosecutor to serving the people in the highest elected office in our state. One could perhaps argue that the dialogue over driver\u2019s licenses for foreign nationals and\u00a0voter ID\u00a0have a place in public discourse, but no serious New Mexican is going to buy that either should take priority over the economy. Yet that\u2019s where she put them.<\/p>\n

While Susana puts the livelihoods of thousands of New Mexicans on the back burner, Democrats are busy proposing incentives and supporting the types of education that will create jobs and strengthen the economy \u2013 not just in the short-term but for generations to come.<\/p>\n

Seven priorities<\/h3>\n

For all of these reasons, we are focused on electing a Democrat to follow in the footsteps of our great\u00a0Senator Jeff Bingaman, re-electing President Barack Obama, increasing our majorities in the\u00a0State House\u00a0and Senate, and winning back the\u00a02nd\u00a0Congressional District.<\/p>\n

To that end, I have seven priorities for 2012:<\/p>\n