{"id":730144,"date":"2019-11-25T09:31:27","date_gmt":"2019-11-25T16:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=730144"},"modified":"2019-12-16T08:34:22","modified_gmt":"2019-12-16T15:34:22","slug":"look-for-lujan-grisham-to-get-vp-consideration-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2019\/11\/look-for-lujan-grisham-to-get-vp-consideration-next-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Look for Lujan Grisham to get VP consideration next year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Michelle
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. (Office of the Governor)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

COMMENTARY: <\/strong>Michelle Lujan Grisham has an impressive r\u00e9sum\u00e9. As governor she\u2019s been highly visible by pushing New Mexico into national debates on hot topics like vehicle fuel efficiency<\/a> and free college tuition<\/a>. She isn\u2019t afraid to take strong stands on issues when doing so will anger conservatives and sometimes even the progressive wing of her own party<\/a>. She\u2019s a female person of color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And she appears to have boundless energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For all those reasons, there\u2019s a good chance she will end up on the successful Democratic presidential candidate\u2019s short list for vice president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hesitated for awhile to write this column. New Mexico\u2019s last governor got lots of buzz in political discussions about vice president. The two governors before her ran unsuccessfully for president. The falls of Bill Richardson<\/a> and Susana Martinez<\/a> were swift and painful to watch, and no positive mark for New Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to be clear, this column is no endorsement of Lujan Grisham for vice president. I don\u2019t endorse. While I like some things she\u2019s done as governor, I have concerns about others, including the way she has treated some employees \u2014 especially her firing, via proxy, her first education secretary, Karen Trujillo<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But timing can mean everything in politics. Lujan Grisham\u2019s star appears to be rising at the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The white men seeking the presidency, in particular, would be wise to consider a Latina to round out the ticket. A large swath of the Democratic Party is justifiably fed up with white men holding all the top jobs. The ticket needs to motivate people of color and their allies to vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others will obviously be on the list. Some are presidential candidates like Kamala Harris, Juli\u00e1n Castro, Pete Buttigieg and Cory Booker, assuming they don\u2019t win the nomination. There are also former candidates like Beto O\u2019Rourke. All will likely get a close look that includes considering the followings they built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the winning campaign will also be wise to consider less-known politicians who could bring fresh energy to the national stage that could shine through next November\u2019s election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Lujan Grisham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s a loyal foot soldier for the Democratic Party. She appears regularly on national television<\/a> to promote the party line and is well-versed on the issues. At 60, she brings the wisdom of her years and the energy that\u2019s rare in a politician of any age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choosing the right running mate usually doesn\u2019t help a presidential candidate much, but choosing the wrong partner can be disastrous. Lujan Grisham\u2019s years in the U.S. House and the Roundhouse make her a fairly known candidate. She\u2019s skilled at delivering a powerful anti-Trump message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know if Lujan Grisham wants the job, but my assumption is she has a strong sense of duty to the Democratic Party\u2019s vision and would have to consider the possibility if approached. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, there\u2019s little talk about Lujan Grisham joining the ticket thus far. Even Twitter mentions are few<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That could work in her favor. While candidates duke it out to win the party\u2019s presidential nomination, she\u2019s focused on making changes in New Mexico while building the state\u2019s reputation \u2014 and her own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many variables and a lot of months before this is sorted out, so anything is possible. But it\u2019s likely discussions about Lujan Grisham will increase as the 2020 election approaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a good chance New Mexico\u2019s governor will end up on the successful Democratic presidential candidate\u2019s short list for vice president.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":672887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,10],"tags":[3301,3318,107,116],"class_list":["post-730144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-2020-election","tag-michelle-lujan-grisham","tag-roundhouse","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730144","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=730144"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":735798,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730144\/revisions\/735798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}