By Merilee Dannemann, Columnist – “The next governor must be laser focused on lifting New Mexico out of multigenerational poverty—the driver of all of our societal problems.” I am borrowing that line from a social media comment about the governor’s race.
Triple Spaced Again
Merilee Dannemann is a longtime New Mexico journalist. She has written freelance for many local newsrooms and served as the Taos correspondent for the Albuquerque Journal. Her columns are posted at www.triplespacedagain.com. Comments are invited through the web site.
There’s nothing wrong with being a single mother. But it’s not a sign of greatness either. It’s a circumstance within the normal range of life’s possibilities. In itself, it is not a proof of qualification for anything else – certainly not the highest office in the state.
That’s why it’s worth noting that this has been the leading theme of Deb Haaland’s pre-primary message. She opened her last pre-primary ad with a statement that she’s a successful single mom, as if that was her chief argument to show that she’s qualified to be governor.
A pre-primary news release from her campaign says, “The ad showcases Haaland’s journey defending her family as a single mother – she worked multiple jobs, relied on SNAP and WIC to get through tough times, and accessed healthcare through Medicaid.”
Haaland has significant legitimate qualifications, including being the US Secretary of the Interior and an elected member of Congress, but her ad did not mention these facts and her speeches barely mention them.
Is this why primary voters supported Haaland in such large numbers? Haaland’s major positives include her unique status as a Native American woman, her national experience and her general likeability. And while we don’t know whether individual voters voted more in favor of her or against her opponent, Sam Bregman’s negatives may have included his tougher position on juvenile crime, which had been unpopular with Democratic legislators, and his black hat.
But Haaland did not lead with a strong policy position for New Mexico, and now she is in a completely different race, against the well-liked three-term mayor of Rio Rancho, Greg Hull.
Her plans propose to invest in education, make life more affordable, create a safer New Mexico, and provide access to quality healthcare.
But what’s her plan to enable New Mexico to leap forward to new levels of wellbeing and prosperity? What’s the plan to end that multigenerational poverty?
Her emphasis is on helping people at the lower end of the economy. Increase the minimum wage. Increase the child tax credit. Expand access to treatment for substance abuse and mental health. Make groceries more affordable, though some explaining would be needed to say how. Many of her specific policy proposals are continuations or extensions of programs already in existence or already commonly discussed in Democratic policy circles.
These are worthy goals but they are only part of what New Mexico needs. Her website refers to fixing the roads — badly needed — and establishing a new office to help coordinate services for small business – also badly needed. Other modest pro-business recommendations are buried among the bullet points of her plan proposals.
That’s not enough. New Mexico needs to do much more for its existing businesses and job creators and to support new industries. We need to broaden the economic base so we’re less dependent on oil and gas. We need experts in science and technology close to the governor. And if the Democratic candidate is to win a general election in this state, we need the candidate to be loud and decisive in supporting the business community that employs all those workers and pays the bills.
For the general election, Haaland needs to broaden her message considerably. And the progressive voters who enabled her primary victory need to broaden their understanding of what New Mexico has a right to expect from its next governor.