{"id":3645,"date":"2008-08-29T14:45:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-29T20:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/08\/new-mexicans-react-to-mccains-surprise-vp-pick\/"},"modified":"2008-08-29T14:45:00","modified_gmt":"2008-08-29T20:45:00","slug":"new-mexicans-react-to-mccains-surprise-vp-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/08\/new-mexicans-react-to-mccains-surprise-vp-pick\/","title":{"rendered":"New Mexicans react to McCain’s surprise VP pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Top New Mexico Republicans were quick today to praise John McCain\u2019s<\/a> selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin<\/a> to be his running mate. <\/p>\n

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

\u201cI think she\u2019s a great pick. She\u2019s a governor of an energy producing state and has a reputation as a reformer,\u201d U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson<\/a>, R-N.M. said in an interview. Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> also pointed out Palin\u2019s experience in business and raising children.<\/p>\n

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

Allen Weh<\/a>, chairman of the state Republican Party, said in a news release that Palin \u201chas proven herself\u201d by beating an incumbent governor in the 2006 primary.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cAmong her many talents, she has further demonstrated that she\u2019s a fiscal conservative and knowledgeable on the issues of oil, gas and energy, all subject matters absolutely relevant in this election,\u201d Weh said. \u201cWhile we congratulate Barack Obama<\/a> on being the first African-American nominated for president of the United States<\/st1:country-region>, we look forward to the distinction of Sarah Palin being elected in November with John McCain as the first woman vice president of the United States<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Palin is the second vice presidential candidate to represent a major political party in the nation\u2019s history. She referenced Hillary Clinton<\/a> during the introductory speech<\/a> she gave today in Ohio<\/st1:state>, pointing out that Clinton<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> made 18 million cracks — representing the number of votes she received — in the glass ceiling. Today, Palin said, \u201cIt turns out the women of America<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place> aren\u2019t finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Wilson<\/st1:city> made headlines in June, shortly after her primary loss to Steve Pearce<\/a> in the U.S. Senate race, for authoring a letter published in the New York Times<\/a> stating that sexism contributed to Clinton<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s loss to Obama in the Democratic primary.<\/p>\n

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

Asked today to comment on that dimension of McCain\u2019s selection, Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said Palin \u201cis in a generation of women, and we\u2019re both in a generation of women, who didn\u2019t have to open the doors the first time, but have benefited from opening opportunities for women.\u201d She pointed out that Palin was a point guard on her high-school basketball team, and said, \u201cThe generation before didn\u2019t have the opportunities we\u2019ve had as young women.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish<\/a>, a Democrat, criticized McCain\u2019s selection in a news release, saying it is \u201cdifficult to see what Gov. Palin contributes to the Republican ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cShe attributes a large part of her experience to being the part-time mayor of a town of 9,000, has no foreign-policy experience and provides no balance to McCain\u2019s ticket,\u201d Denish said \u201cThe Republicans failed to select someone with the experience and ability to step up and fill the presidency, should the need arise.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Denish also called Palin a supporter of Bush-Cheney policies and said she \u201cisn\u2019t going to change the fact that the Republican ticket is offering more of the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Was Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> considered?<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>The surprise pick of Palin, a woman and Westerner, raised questions about whether McCain considered other women, including Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, to be his running mate. Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has been doing a great deal of campaigning for McCain since June, appearing on television news shows and hosting campaign conference calls. Some, including U.S. Rep. Tom Davis<\/a>, R-Va., have suggested Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> might make a good running mate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

During today\u2019s interview, Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> wouldn\u2019t talk about whether she discussed the possibility of joining the ticket with McCain or any members of his staff and whether she was vetted for the position.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI don\u2019t have any comment on that. I think that Gov. Palin is a great choice and a great complement, and I\u2019m very glad that Sen. McCain chose someone to be his vice president who is an outsider with executive experience,\u201d Wilson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> said.<\/p>\n

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

During an interview in Las Cruces<\/st1:city> earlier this month, McCain said if Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> were interested in a job in his potential administration \u201cshe would get every consideration.\u201d He said she has \u201ca very compelling r\u00e9sum\u00e9\u201d but \u201cloves it in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI know that Heather would prefer to stay in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>,\u201d McCain said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Top New Mexico Republicans were quick today to praise John McCain\u2019s selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate. \u201cI think she\u2019s a great pick. She\u2019s a governor of an energy producing state and has a reputation as a reformer,\u201d U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M. said in an interview. Wilson also pointed […]<\/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-3645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3645","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=3645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3645\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}