{"id":3566,"date":"2008-08-13T11:54:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-13T17:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/08\/gop-group-works-to-ensure-victories-by-white-tinsley\/"},"modified":"2008-08-13T11:54:00","modified_gmt":"2008-08-13T17:54:00","slug":"gop-group-works-to-ensure-victories-by-white-tinsley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/08\/gop-group-works-to-ensure-victories-by-white-tinsley\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP group works to ensure victories by White, Tinsley"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee<\/a> (NRCC) is working to ensure GOP victories in two tough House races in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>. <\/p>\n

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

Rep. Tom Cole<\/a>, R-Okla., was in New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> this week to help raise money for and promote the campaigns of 1st District Republican candidate Darren White<\/a> and 2nd District GOP hopeful Ed Tinsley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Cole, who heads the NRCC, was in Hobbs<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> on Sunday evening to meet with Tinsley and his team, conduct a newspaper interview and attend a fundraiser hosted by one of Tinsley\u2019s primary opponents — Monty Newman. On Monday, Cole met with White\u2019s team and then, along with White, met with local tribal leaders and conducted a radio interview.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Cole said in an interview that he\u2019s optimistic about the GOP\u2019s chances in the races and expects the NRCC to be \u201csignificantly engaged\u201d in both, financially and in other ways. He said he and White were well received by American Indian leaders during that meeting. Cole is the only American Indian in Congress.<\/p>\n

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

White is well-known among tribal leaders because of his law-enforcement background, and Cole said the meeting revealed that he has a reputation as someone who listens and is responsive.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI suspect (White) will do better among Native Americans than people suspect,\u201d Cole said.<\/p>\n

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

Still, Cole said he expects a \u201cvery contested race\u201d between White and Democrat Martin Heinrich<\/a>, but Republicans have \u201cprobably the best candidate we could have on our side.\u201d Though he expects Democrats to attack White as a puppet for the president — something they\u2019re already doing — Cole said voters in the 1st District know it isn\u2019t true. <\/p>\n

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

\u201cThey\u2019re looking for somebody who will do the right thing, whose character they can trust,\u201d Cole said. \u201cHe won\u2019t be somebody\u2019s partisan puppet.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Cole said the 2nd District race between Tinsley and Democrat Harry Teague<\/a> is also \u201ca very competitive situation.\u201d Republicans have an edge in the race in part because the district\u2019s current representative, Steve Pearce<\/a>, is on the ticket as the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate, he said.<\/p>\n

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

Noting the fundraiser hosted by Newman, Cole said he\u2019s impressed that the Republican Party has united after a hotly contested primary in the 2nd District.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI like the way things are coming together, but we expect to have to run a very vigorous campaign there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

\u2018Ground Zero for American politics\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Cole said one issue that\u2019s been a hot topic in the state\u2019s congressional races and across the nation — energy — is one on which the GOP has the advantage. White and Tinsley favor expanded drilling for oil in addition to what Cole called \u201can all-of-the-above policy\u201d that includes increased use of nuclear energy, \u201cclean coal,\u201d wind, solar and other alternative technologies.<\/p>\n

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

Polls have shown that the majority of Americans side with Republicans in wanting more drilling for oil, and some Democrats are beginning to come around to that position.<\/p>\n

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

Cole also said the presidential race — another hotly contested battle in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> — will help determine what happens in the congressional races and all down-ballot races. He reiterated what has become obvious from the attention New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> is receiving: The state is \u201cGround Zero for American politics this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know anyplace else that\u2019s this competitive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is working to ensure GOP victories in two tough House races in New Mexico. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., was in New Mexico this week to help raise money for and promote the campaigns of 1st District Republican candidate Darren White and 2nd District GOP hopeful Ed […]<\/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-3566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3566","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=3566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3566\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}