NM-Sen: Chavez Town Hall Provides Glimpse of Campaign Themes

Last week, the Marty Chavez for U.S. Senate campaign conducted a live online "town hall" with Mayor Chavez (right). It was obvious from listening to what Chavez had to say -- and what some of his obvious supporters typed into the comments screen -- that two of his main campaign talking points in the early going will be that "Udall cut funding for Los Alamos National Labs" and that Marty is proud to be a "native son" with longstanding Hispanic roots in New Mexico.

Of course Chavez also hit on this election cycle's mainstream Dem themes during the online event -- bringing the troops home from Iraq, providing universal access to health care, promoting renewable energy and finally getting rid of the incompetence and dishonesty of the Bush administration. Those are givens, where the devil is in the details and the real test comes if and when the candidate gets to Washington to reveal them. After all, anyone can say anything or promise anything during runups to elections, and they do.

But in trying to communicate distinctions between himself and primary rival Rep. Tom Udall (NM-03), Chavez has been focused on suggesting that Udall won't do a good job of representing the interests of New Mexico. Why? Because Udall voted recently against sacrificing more money to fund the on-its-last-legs plutonium pit nuke weapon mission of Los Alamos -- preferring to push a new mission of renewable energy development for the labs to increase their chances of survival. And because Udall wasn't born here in the state. Chavez spent the early minutes of the town hall describing his family's origins here and his experiences growing up in state.

Udall's Roots and Popularity in NM
Using this kind of spin against Udall is problematic at best. Udall is one of the most popular political figures in the state -- across the board -- and his family has pioneer roots that go back a long way. He has a distinctly Western sensibility -- reserved, low key and statesmanlike. While representing New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District, he's had strong support from Hispanics, Native Americans and Anglos alike.

As discussed by David Roybal of the Albuquerque Journal, "Elected attorney general in 1990, Udall got more votes than any other Democrat in a statewide race. In 1994, only Court of Appeals candidate Richard Bosson collected more votes. Democrat Jeff Bingaman, in his successful re-election bid for the U.S. Senate that year, got nearly 30,000 fewer votes than Udall." Contrast these results with Chavez's performance in his only state level race -- for Governor in 1998 -- when he lost to Repub Gary Johnson by a margin of 55% to 45% statewide, and by 58% to 42% in Albuquerque's Bernalillo County, where he lives.

Udall and Zia Pueblo members celebrate ribbon cutting for Ojito Wilderness Area

To the Left or Repub-Lite?
Even though Chavez continues to try and advance the notion that Udall is "too far to the left" for New Mexico voters, he isn't delineating how he significantly differs with Udall on the majority of the positions he's discussed so far. Does that make Chavez "too far to the left" too? Just asking. So far, on paper, the primary foes don't look that different in terms of their public expressions on major issues. However, in reality we all know that Chavez operates in Republican-lite land much of the time -- especially in terms of being what he calls "pro-business" and what others often call "in the pocket of big donors and sprawl developers." Since he doesn't want to dwell on that orientation much, at least in the primary race, Chavez will apparently stay with the lab cuts and native son mantras for now.

Green or Greenwashed?
Another theme he hit on a lot during the town hall had to do with his "green" achievements. Even though many see a number of Marty's claims in this area to be mostly "greenwashing" -- given his never-ending support for sprawl development and roads through where he wants them to go -- he likes to list off all the awards and top ten listings the city has received during the Marty years. He's been working on that front for some time now, building up resume material for his now abandoned 2010 run for governor. Again, what candiates look like on paper and how they operate in the real world is often at odds. Granted, Chavez has done some good things in this area, but they've often been offset by his actions to promote unlimited growth policies. For example, it's a positive thing to push for water savings, but that effort loses its luster when you are supportive of fast and furious growth that adds thousands of new users to the system.

Chavez may well encounter more problems in this area as time goes on. For instance, he boasts about his role in securing a new supply of drinking water for Albuquerque from the Rio Grande via the San Juan - Chama watershed. If he supports funding for expanded plutonium pit production and other nuke weapons work by Los Alamos labs, there's a real danger that radionuclides and chemicals used in such processes may travel into the Rio Grande and pollute Albuquerque's primary drinking water source. It's hard to have it both ways.

Regardless, it will be difficult indeed for Chavez to trump the reputation and achievements of Tom Udall and his family relatated to conservation and the environment, stretching back to Toms' dad Stewart and his Uncle Mo. The family's green credientials are impressive and long-standing, with an innovative environmental record that goes back to the 1960s and continues to this day with Tom, as well as cousin Mark, who's running for U.S. Senate in Colorado.

Fit for the Senate?
Not every native son (or daughter) has the right qualifications, skills and persona to be a strong and effective Senator, no matter how deep their roots go. After all, a Senate gig is primarily a collaborative and collegial post, where gaining the respect of your fellow Senators, working well with others and negotiating honestly and personably over time are necessities for success. Udall has been known for operating in this manner for years, earning high marks from almost everyone he's worked with both inside and outside the government.

Marty, on the other hand, is known for being relentlessly stubborn about getting his way, lousy at negotiating with people whose opinions differ with his, pushy to the point of rudeness in trying to advance his agenda and prone to avenging perceived slights along the way. I can't see his personal traits and habits being a good match for those valued in the U.S. Senate.

In a campaign visit up to Farmington last Friday, Chavez himself drew attention to his pugnatious style:

"I tend to get done what I say I'm going to do. I'm a bit of a bulldog in that regard. I believe strongly once you've made a decision, unless something unusual pops up, you stick to it and you stay on it like a laser. It tends to get done."

Chavez, who describes himself as being "pretty hard-headed," believes he can beat Udall during the primary.

We'll see, especially as the campaign trail brings out more of the nitty gritty in the candidates' personas and styles, as well as a deeper comparison of their records in the real world.

The Marty Chavez for Senate campaign just launched its new website, and celebrated the grand opening of its Albuquerque campaign office Saturday morning. has the story. A new , one of the founders of the Draft Udall movement, looks at another aspect of Marty's campaign website.

Rep. Tom Udall officially filed the necessary papers this past Friday to run for U.S. Senate and will formally announce his candidacy sometime over Congress' Thanksgiving recess.

To read our previous coverage of the 2008 U.S. Senate race in New Mexico visit our archive.