{"id":3751,"date":"2008-09-23T13:32:00","date_gmt":"2008-09-23T19:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/09\/c-de-baca-wont-resign-executive-board-backs-him\/"},"modified":"2008-09-23T13:32:00","modified_gmt":"2008-09-23T19:32:00","slug":"c-de-baca-wont-resign-executive-board-backs-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/09\/c-de-baca-wont-resign-executive-board-backs-him\/","title":{"rendered":"C. de Baca won’t resign; executive board backs him"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Bernalillo County Republican Party<\/a> Chairman Fernando C. de Baca won\u2019t resign, and his county party\u2019s executive board voted this morning to back him, setting up a standoff with state GOP leaders who have called for C. de Baca\u2019s resignation. <\/p>\n

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

Several media outlets are reporting on the county party board\u2019s decision to stand with C. de Baca, including 770 KKOB-AM radio reporter Peter St. Cyr, who has audio of an interview<\/a> with county party executive board member Doug Antoon.<\/p>\n

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

Antoon accused BBC News<\/a> of being \u201ca rather very liberal international broadcasting company.\u201d He said the organization was taking C. de Baca\u2019s comment — that Hispanics won\u2019t vote for a black president because, as conquerors, they consider themselves above blacks, who came to America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> as slaves — out of context because of its political agenda.<\/p>\n

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

And, in the interview with St. Cyr, Antoon challenged anyone who has called for C. de Baca\u2019s resignation, including state party Chairman Allen Weh<\/a>, to contact C. de Baca to discuss the situation.<\/p>\n

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

The move by the executive board pits it against Weh<\/st1:city>, U.S.<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place> Sen. Pete Domenici<\/a>, 1st Congressional District candidate Darren White<\/a> and other Republicans who have called for C. de Baca\u2019s ouster but are powerless to force it.<\/p>\n

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

Weh could not immediately be reached for comment. White\u2019s campaign reiterated his previous statement that C. de Baca \u201chas no business holding a leadership position.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Only the county party\u2019s central committee — a larger committee than the executive committee that voiced support for C. de Baca today — can remove C. de Baca.<\/p>\n

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

Antoon pointed out that the county party\u2019s vice chair, Elaine Miller, was quoted by the Albuquerque Journal<\/a> this morning as saying C. de Baca should resign, but Antoon said following today\u2019s meeting that Miller has changed her mind and supports the embattled chairman.<\/p>\n

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

The county party officials decided to back C. de Baca, Antoon told St. Cyr, because it became clear at the meeting that C. de Baca \u201cwas being victimized for something that ran totally contrary to what everyone knows Mr. C. de Baca represents.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

The comments<\/span><\/p>\n

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

The furor is over a Friday blog posting<\/a> on BBC News\u2019 Web site in which C. de Baca was quoted by Jon Kelly as saying, \u201cThe truth is that Hispanics came here as conquerors. African-Americans came here as slaves. Hispanics consider themselves above blacks. They won\u2019t vote for a black president.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

C. de Baca claims the quote was published out of context, and he was speaking in a historical context about his grandfather\u2019s generation. He claims he believes many young Hispanics will vote for Obama. But BBC News and Kelly stand by the blog posting\u2019s portrayal of the comment as referring in general to Hispanics.<\/p>\n

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

In addition, a recording became public today of a separate interview<\/a> C. de Baca conducted with a different BBC reporter in which C. de Baca said this:<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI feel strongly that Hispanics will not support, in my generation and the generation around my age, are not going to support the Democratic candidate for president primarily because there is a strong feeling that African Americans during the civil rights movement took advantage, full advantage, of all the benefits and programs that the government offered, that were supposed to be offered to all minorities. But we were left behind, we were left sucking air, and we resented that ever since the 60s, and I don\u2019t see how a black president is going to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Dems attack<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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

Asked for comment on the situation after C. de Baca\u2019s second comment came to light — the comment about older Hispanics resenting blacks — state Democratic Party Chairman Brian S. Col\u00f3n<\/a> said C. de Baca\u2019s comments are \u201creprehensible and divisive.\u201d Speaking about Barack Obama<\/a>, he said this:<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWhat we\u2019re focused on at the Democratic Party of New Mexico is supporting a candidate who has a plan to bring a change in direction on the issues that matter most to working families: the economy, health care, energy prices and education. After eight years of failed Republican policies, New Mexicans are working hard to elect a president who will put the interest of middle-class families first in Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Meanwhile, state House Speaker Ben Lujan<\/a>, D-Namb\u00e9, released this statement:<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI am outraged that Bernalillo County Republican Chairman C. de Baca chose to cast New Mexicans as racists,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is an insult to the Hispanic community and to all of the voters of New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThis election is too important for divisive politics. We have the opportunity to bring real change to Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> by bringing people together,\u201d Lujan said. \u201cLast week, I was in Espa\u00f1ola, and I witnessed the enthusiasm of nearly 10,000 Norte\u00f1os as Obama took the stage and spoke about issues important to New Mexico\u2019s Hispanic community — strengthening our economy, lifting up working families and improving education. Barack Obama has the ability to bring people together, and he has inspired all New Mexicans by his leadership and call for change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

A prior version of this posting incorrectly stated that only the county executive committee has the power to remove C. de Baca.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bernalillo County Republican Party Chairman Fernando C. de Baca won\u2019t resign, and his county party\u2019s executive board voted this morning to back him, setting up a standoff with state GOP leaders who have called for C. de Baca\u2019s resignation. Several media outlets are reporting on the county party board\u2019s decision to stand with C. de […]<\/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-3751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3751","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=3751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3751\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}