{"id":2864,"date":"2008-02-12T19:13:00","date_gmt":"2008-02-13T01:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/02\/mccamley-shines-at-cd2-forum-in-anthony\/"},"modified":"2008-02-12T19:13:00","modified_gmt":"2008-02-13T01:13:00","slug":"mccamley-shines-at-cd2-forum-in-anthony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/02\/mccamley-shines-at-cd2-forum-in-anthony\/","title":{"rendered":"McCamley shines at CD2 forum in Anthony"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Bill McCamley<\/a> presented the most articulate, intelligent and passionate plea for support of any of the Democratic candidates running for the Second Congressional District seat being vacated by Steve Pearce<\/a> at a forum in Anthony on Monday. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCamley effectively answered criticisms of his tenure as a Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place> commissioner. He spoke with authority about the need to reform the educational system and trade agreements to help Americans compete for jobs that are going overseas and talked about increasing cooperation among local governments to grow the economy and ensure some of those jobs come to the Second Congressional District.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He also made two attempts at speaking Spanish during the forum, which impressed several I spoke with afterward.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve disclosed many times, I\u2019m friends with McCamley (read about that by clicking here<\/a>), which is why I solicited the opinions of several others before I wrote this article. The handful I spoke with agreed that McCamley shone at the forum.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say he\u2019s the frontrunner. Harry Teague<\/a>, who has more campaign cash than McCamley, isn\u2019t as articulate but is personable and, like McCamley, a hard worker. Either could win the Democratic primary.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCamley\u2019s best moment on Monday came when he was grilled about his decision to not recuse himself last year from the commission\u2019s consideration of three tax increment development districts in Santa Teresa for the El Paso-based Verde Group. McCamley has taken thousands of dollars for his congressional campaign from people tied to Verde.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He acknowledged the contributions but said what\u2019s important is that he can demonstrate that contributions don\u2019t affect his decisions. He pointed out that his disagreement with Verde is what caused the TIDD proposal to fall apart.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCamley asked Verde to promise that 15 percent of its housing would meet federal affordable-housing guidelines. When Verde refused, McCamley said he could not support the deal, and it fell apart. The county and Verde are now exploring other options for funding the project.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cMy record speaks for itself,\u201d McCamley said. \u201c\u2026 I went against my campaign contributors in favor of what\u2019s in the best interest of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Back-and-forth between the candidates<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Teague, who owns an oil company, was also forced to defend himself. When asked how he could assure voters he won\u2019t support legislation that favors the oil industry, he said he would be no more than \u201cjust fair\u201d to the industry.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Teague was asked, in light of ExxonMobil\u2019s record $40-billion profit last year, whether he would support an excess-profits tax on oil companies. He said he would not.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that those profits are very high, but they\u2019re at about 10 percent, and some restaurants make lots more than that,\u201d Teague said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That answer might be acceptable on the east side of the district, but defending a $40-billion profit to people paying $3 per gallon for gas won\u2019t resonate in Anthony, one of the poorest communities in the district. Teague gets some credit for saying what he really thinks in front of a crowd he had to know wouldn\u2019t like it, but the answer still cost him.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCamley seized the moment, pointing out that Teague has made millions as an oilman.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to make sure that our fiscal policy is fair to all Americans, and I\u2019m not someone who\u2019s making lots of money off of these things,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m someone who\u2019s going to be working only for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The third candidate to take part in the forum, Frank McKinnon<\/a>, is running primarily on his opposition to the spread of the nuclear industry in Southern New Mexico<\/st1:place>, and he criticized McCamley and Teague for taking money from people with ties to that industry.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Teague, responding to the criticism from both, said he has received campaign contributions from people with ties to the oil and nuclear industries, but also from farmers, teachers and state policemen.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these people are my friends, and so I took their money,\u201d Teague said of oil-industry contributors. \u201c\u2026 But I\u2019m going to represent everyone in Washington<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCamley defended taking money from people tied to the nuclear industry by saying he won\u2019t take nuclear energy off the table as long as safety checks are in place because it could help stop global warming.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Asked why his campaign should be taken seriously when he\u2019s up against better-funded candidates, McKinnon said some environmental groups have promised him money if he can make it through the March 15 preprimary nominating convention and secure a spot on the ballot.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Observations<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCamley demonstrated on Monday that he understands national issues and has clear ideas on how to address them, and can also speak effectively about local issues like economic growth and constituent services. He convincingly argued that the economy and health care are family-values issues because economic stresses are the highest cause of divorce.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Teague attempted several times on Monday to talk about issues in the context of how they affect families. It\u2019s a similar message to that of McCamley, but one Teague needs to hone to make it more effective.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McKinnon is clearly passionate about nuclear issues. He tried Monday to talk about other issues, including the Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> war and health care, but they aren\u2019t his passion, and it shows.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Teague wins some points because he\u2019s a millionaire who earned his money through hard work. He clearly isn\u2019t afraid of getting his hands dirty. He cites examples of backing up his words with action, answering a question about health care on Monday in part by pointing out that he provides good health care for his 250 employees. He makes a credible argument that his business experience helps him understand issues Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> politicians don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCamley, on the other hand, makes connections with people and appears genuinely passionate when he talks about having to work three jobs to make ends meet, struggling to pay medical bills and growing up in a home with a father who suffered from the emotional effects of war. He also cites examples of backing up his words with action \u2013 like his rejection of Verde\u2019s TIDD proposal \u2013 and makes a credible argument that his experience on the commission and as director of a non-profit that works on rural economic development gives him a strong understanding of issues.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCamley or Teague could win primary<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCamley and Teague both have the experience to be credible candidates, and they\u2019re both working hard. At this point, Teague has more money but McCamley has a greater ability to articulate the reasons why he\u2019s the better candidate. McCamley has also raised a respectable amount of money.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The point? It\u2019s impossible to declare a frontrunner in this race.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s forum was sponsored by a number of south-county activist groups and attended by about 50 people from Las Cruces<\/st1:city> to Sunland<\/st1:placename> Park<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>. The forum was paid for by the candidates, who were each asked to pitch in $500. McKinnon and Teague did that, while McCamley gave $1,500.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The fourth Democratic candidate, Al Kissling<\/a>, did not attend the forum.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

You can read additional coverage of Monday\u2019s forum from the Las Cruces Sun-News by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Update, 7:50 p.m.<\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I often post video from these forums. I have learned that closing statements are usually better for short videos than opening statements, so at this forum I waited to take video of closing statements, only to learn at the end of the forum that there would not be any closing statements. Hence, no video. Sorry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bill McCamley presented the most articulate, intelligent and passionate plea for support of any of the Democratic candidates running for the Second Congressional District seat being vacated by Steve Pearce at a forum in Anthony on Monday. McCamley effectively answered criticisms of his tenure as a Do\u00f1a Ana County commissioner. He spoke with authority about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2864","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=2864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}