{"id":862,"date":"2006-11-10T16:55:00","date_gmt":"2006-11-10T22:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/11\/pearce-seeks-high-gop-leadership-position\/"},"modified":"2006-11-10T16:55:00","modified_gmt":"2006-11-10T22:55:00","slug":"pearce-seeks-high-gop-leadership-position","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/11\/pearce-seeks-high-gop-leadership-position\/","title":{"rendered":"Pearce seeks high GOP leadership position"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Two days after he won almost 60 percent of the vote in his bid for re-election, U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., announced he wants to be vice chair of the GOP conference<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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

That would make Pearce the fourth most powerful Republican in the House.<\/p>\n

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

In a letter Pearce plans to send to colleagues Monday, he wrote that he can lead the GOP to \u201crefocus and refine its message so it resonates once against with the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cLet\u2019s not kid ourselves. Two days ago, we endured a crushing defeat that compels us to look deep within ourselves,\u201d Pearce wrote. \u201cAs many pundits have commented, the American people did not vote for Democrats, they voted against Republicans. They did not vote against our values or our policies, however. They rejected us \u2013 and our message.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Pearce said the \u201chostile mainstream media\u201d was partly to blame, but the GOP had to take most of the credit.<\/p>\n

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

\u201c\u2026 we talked too much about the wrong things in the wrong way. As a result, the American people stopped listening to us,\u201d Pearce wrote. \u201cWe must reconnect with them quickly and effectively or risk even heavier losses in two years, which would decimate our ability to impact the direction of our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Pointing out that he won re-election in a district with a Democratic majority, Pearce said he can help the GOP \u201clay the foundation for a new majority.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cTraveling thousands of miles through a district that is larger than the state of Pennsylvania<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, I have earned a reputation for listening to my constituents while articulating a clear agenda of strong family values, accountability, and responsibility,\u201d Pearce wrote. \u201cIn this Democratic district, I work constantly to convey my strong convictions and unbending principles in a manner that builds consensus across the political spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThe American people believe in limited government, low taxes, a secure border, and safe communities,\u201d Pearce wrote. \u201cIt\u2019s time to resume our conversation with them regarding how we plan to achieve these goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Pearce, who already has a reputation for ignoring the media, wrote that, like former President Reagan, the GOP must now \u201cgo over the heads of the media to reach the hearts of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

The letter indicates that Pearce\u2019s strategy over the next two years is to take on the Democrats, and perhaps to hold firm on ideological issues like the war in Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> while refining how that is conveyed to the public.<\/p>\n

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

Pearce, by losing more than 40 percent of the vote in this week\u2019s election to a rookie opponent who spent less than $150,000, showed himself vulnerable in two years to an attack from a strong Democratic challenger.<\/p>\n

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

His response will set the stage for a war. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two days after he won almost 60 percent of the vote in his bid for re-election, U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., announced he wants to be vice chair of the GOP conference. That would make Pearce the fourth most powerful Republican in the House. In a letter Pearce plans to send to colleagues Monday, he […]<\/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-862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862","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=862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}