{"id":3418,"date":"2008-07-02T11:25:00","date_gmt":"2008-07-02T17:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/07\/n-m-gop-needs-to-let-in-the-sunshine\/"},"modified":"2009-08-22T14:47:01","modified_gmt":"2009-08-22T20:47:01","slug":"n-m-gop-needs-to-let-in-the-sunshine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/07\/n-m-gop-needs-to-let-in-the-sunshine\/","title":{"rendered":"N.M. GOP needs to let in the sunshine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Shortly after the 2006 primary election, the Republican Party of New Mexico\u2019s<\/a> central committee entered a closed-door meeting with J.R. Damron as its gubernatorial candidate and emerged with John Dendahl as its candidate. Damron\u2019s withdrawal from the race, which allowed the party to place Dendahl on the ballot, was a surprise move<\/a> that didn\u2019t help the party at all: Dendahl was steamrolled by the Bill Richardson<\/a> re-election train later that year. <\/p>\n

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

But the switcheroo did earn the GOP some criticism. What happened in that private meeting? Was Damron pressured to drop out? Who orchestrated the change? Rank-and-file Republicans had no opportunity to vote in the primary for or against the man who represented their party at the top of the ticket that year — a controversial, fire-breathing politico many Republicans loved but others were embarrassed to call their own.<\/p>\n

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

As a result, some ended up voting for Richardson, a westerner who, on issues including gun rights, was an acceptable choice in the eyes of many Republicans.<\/p>\n

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

The state GOP should have learned a lesson about transparency following criticism from members of its own party and an embarrassing defeat that year. Apparently it has not.<\/p>\n

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

The party\u2019s 2008 quadrennial convention was held in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> a little more than two weeks ago. Two days before the meeting, the state party\u2019s chairman, Allen Weh<\/a>, told me during a phone interview that the entire meeting would be open to the public and that I and others who were interested should arrive by 10 a.m.<\/p>\n

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

So I did, but when I arrived, I was told the chairman had changed his mind and closed most of the meeting to the public. I wouldn\u2019t be allowed to enter the meeting room until after deliberation and voting were completed. Basically I\u2019d be able to listen to speeches by the party\u2019s federal candidates at the end of the meeting but, before that, would be barred from watching the selection of the party\u2019s five presidential electoral nominees, its national committeeman and committeewoman and its delegates to the Republican National Convention, which will be held in Minnesota<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> in September.<\/p>\n

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

So I and several other journalists who were also told the meeting would be open stood around for nearly three hours before the meeting broke for lunch. In the meantime a supporter of former GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul<\/a> was kicked out of the secret meeting while trying to ask why video cameras weren\u2019t allowed.<\/p>\n

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

During lunch I chatted with Republicans from around the state. Several asked why I wasn\u2019t allowed in the meeting. Many expressed outrage over Weh\u2019s decisions to keep the public and media out and to oust the Paul supporter from the meeting.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWe criticize the Democrats for secrecy, but we\u2019re doing it too,\u201d one politico told me.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cYou should nail the chairman for this,\u201d said one Republican elected official.<\/p>\n

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

State GOP staffers didn\u2019t have an answer when I asked why Weh changed his mind and closed the meeting.<\/p>\n

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

Fund raising isn\u2019t enough<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Since I wasn\u2019t in the meeting, I can\u2019t comment on why the supporter of Paul was kicked out and whether his removal was justified, but I know this: The event should have been open, and he should have been allowed to record it. Weh has been praised by many Republicans for his ability to raise money, and that\u2019s why a divided party decided to keep him in the top position last year despite criticism from county party officials about his lack of communication.<\/p>\n

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

But the party should realize that fund raising isn\u2019t everything. Even with Weh\u2019s ability to raise money, the 2006 election resulted in no GOP gains in state government. This year the party will try again to make gains in the state Legislature, but the tide remains Democratic and many Republicans aren\u2019t optimistic. The state\u2019s minority party needs to make gains quickly in 2008 and 2010 if it wants influence in the coming redistricting process.<\/p>\n

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

There\u2019s also bad news on the federal front for the GOP. While three of five current members of Congress from New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> are Republicans, there\u2019s a good chance that will change this year. There are three seats — one in the Senate and two in the House — that are currently held by Republicans but are open because of the retirement of U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici<\/a>. The Senate seat is ranked by the Washington Post<\/a> as the second-most likely to change party control this year, and Democrats think they have the best chance in years to win the 1st and 2nd congressional district seats.<\/p>\n

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

Apparently Weh\u2019s ability to raise money isn\u2019t enough for Republicans to gain ground in a left-leaning state. The Republican Party is disenfranchising many of its own members by shutting them out of important meetings. There\u2019s nothing that requires the Republican Party to open its meetings, but if it truly wants to gain more influence in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, it\u2019s time for the GOP to do some soul searching and redefine itself by letting in the sunshine.<\/p>\n

\n

Update, 2:50 p.m.<\/p>\n

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

Photographer and blogger M.G. Bralley also has an extensive write-up on the closing of the meeting in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>. You can read it by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shortly after the 2006 primary election, the Republican Party of New Mexico\u2019s central committee entered a closed-door meeting with J.R. Damron as its gubernatorial candidate and emerged with John Dendahl as its candidate. Damron\u2019s withdrawal from the race, which allowed the party to place Dendahl on the ballot, was a surprise move that didn\u2019t help […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-haussamen-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3418","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=3418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3418\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}