{"id":498,"date":"2006-08-24T07:34:00","date_gmt":"2006-08-24T13:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/08\/dendahl-challenges-richardson-to-admit-2008-presidential-run\/"},"modified":"2006-08-24T07:34:00","modified_gmt":"2006-08-24T13:34:00","slug":"dendahl-challenges-richardson-to-admit-2008-presidential-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/08\/dendahl-challenges-richardson-to-admit-2008-presidential-run\/","title":{"rendered":"Dendahl challenges Richardson to admit 2008 presidential run"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Republican gubernatorial candidate John Dendahl is challenging Gov. Bill Richardson to \u201cstop lying about\u201d his intent to run for president \u201cand respect New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> voters by being up front with them.\u201d <\/p>\n

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

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has said repeatedly he hasn\u2019t decided whether he\u2019ll run in 2008 and must first focus on being re-elected governor; meanwhile, he has continued to make appearances at all the places 2008 contenders show up.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThe voters aren\u2019t stupid,\u201d Dendahl said in a news release. \u201cTheir towns are struggling with flooding. Their schools are failing, and violent criminals are let out to run loose in our communities. Yet our governor is usually nowhere to be found unless you look out of state. What in the world is he up to out there?\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Dendahl claims Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has told \u201cmany people\u201d he is running for president, but provided no proof. He claims Richardson<\/st1:city> makes excuses for being out of state, such as campaigning for other Democrats, and said \u201cRichardson<\/st1:city> doesn\u2019t seem to understand or care that his first responsibility is to the people of New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIt\u2019s time the man came clean with New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> voters,\u201d Dendahl said. \u201cAll they\u2019re getting are the winks and nods one expects from a government rotted to its core.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cRichardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has every right to have national aspirations,\u201d Dendahl added. \u201cBut the neglect and the corruption are getting worse as his travel schedule increases. We would likely never see him if he were re-elected, except on television somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Dendahl gives Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> a lot of credit for being responsible for the state\u2019s woes (and, conversely it would seem, its successes, and there have been many of both during his tenure). Some of that is fair, and some is not. It\u2019s true that Richardson<\/st1:city> was in Iowa<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> instead of immediately visiting Hatch after the devastating flooding there. But it\u2019s also true that the state proceeded with its disaster declaration despite his absence. Richardson<\/st1:city> asked President Bush to declare a federal disaster about as quickly as did leaders in Texas<\/st1:state> after flooding in El Paso<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

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

That was the important stuff. He didn\u2019t make a ceremonial visit to Hatch until a week after the flooding, but that was less significant than the money.<\/p>\n

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

Let\u2019s not forget that an Albuquerque Journal analysis several weeks ago found that former Republican Gov. Gary Johnson was out of the state more often than Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

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

Dendahl is right that, if Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> is re-elected, he may be in the state much less as he campaigns for president. I know of a few legislators who are excited about this prospect, thinking they\u2019ll be able to accomplish more without him here.<\/p>\n

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

I don\u2019t like that attitude. The struggle of the executive and legislative branches is part of what ensures good government.<\/p>\n

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

The executive is one of three branches of government. Though he tries, the reality is that Richardson<\/st1:city> can\u2019t do a whole lot without legislators and, even when Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> is in the state, it\u2019s the cabinet secretaries and their employees who are doing most of the work of the executive branch. Governors make final decisions, but technology is such that Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>\u2019s treks out of state haven\u2019t seemed to slow the business of state government much.<\/p>\n

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

The voters know it. They don\u2019t seem to be concerned that he is spending some of his time on a potential presidential run, judging by the governor\u2019s newly announced 65 percent approval rating.<\/p>\n

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

At the same time, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> does have a duty to travel the state, meet with constituents and learn about issues, because he does make final decisions on legislation and executive-branch issues. I\u2019ve watched this governor wear out his staffers for years with his tireless work pace. He has a lot of energy. But much more will be required if he runs for president. Can he stay involved in the state\u2019s affairs once the 2008 campaign season heats up?<\/p>\n

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

I suspect we\u2019ll find out. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republican gubernatorial candidate John Dendahl is challenging Gov. Bill Richardson to \u201cstop lying about\u201d his intent to run for president \u201cand respect New Mexico voters by being up front with them.\u201d Richardson has said repeatedly he hasn\u2019t decided whether he\u2019ll run in 2008 and must first focus on being re-elected governor; meanwhile, he has continued […]<\/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-498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498","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=498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}