NM-01: Darren White and the Hackneyed Fear Game

It's easy to tell when Dem candidates and positions are gaining strength -- it brings out the fearmongering on the right-wing side. The fruitcake wing of the Repubs has nurtured a tradition of fearmongering for decades, stretching from the commie-pinko obsessions of the McCarthy days to the Bush II era rants of "you're either with us on everything or you're an unpatriotic terrorist." The vast majority of Repub candidates have used fear tactics to try and get votes and smear their opponents during the last 7+ years, but recent evidence is compelling that the jig is up.

Fear-eliciting, lie-based sloganeering repeated endlessly for years eventually loses its power, especially when it runs up against reality. Like when the massive scope of law breaking, domestic surveillence by the NSA is brought to light by news media like the Wall Street Journal, certainly no bastion of liberalism.

Dems on the Move
Democratic turnout in this year's presidential primaries and caucuses has been about double that of Repubs, sometimes more. Independents and moderate Repubs have been crossing to the Dem side in droves. Just the other day, Dem Bill Foster defeated Repub Jim Oberweis by a margin of 53%-47% to capture former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert's seat in Illinois -- with support from across the political spectrum in a district that's been solidly Repub for many years. How did Foster do it? By speaking out boldly against retroactive immunity for telecoms that illegally spied on US citizens, and by defending the Constitution and the rule of law.

Oberweis relied on the familiar Repub fear strategy to try and attack the patriotism and security credentials of Foster and Dems in the U.S. House. He used all the usual hit language on Foster -- you know the entire tired script by now. It didn't work. Foster won in the Illinois special election on a platform of protecting our individual liberties against those who would compromise them and endanger our democracy. In a strongly Republican district.

What Does This Have to Do with New Mexico?
Turns out Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, the probable Repub Congressional candidate in NM-01, is already unsheathing the same kind of fearmongering against Dem Martin Heinrich that didn't work for Oberweis in Illinois. White's latest fundraising letter breathlessly offers this truth-challenged proclamation:

My likely Democrat opponent...is opposed to the Terrorist Surveillance Program and has used the issue to drum up support for his candidacy among extreme left-wing groups. He believes that we should not immediately intercept calls from known terrorists and has even gone so far as to attack middle-of-the-road Democrats who support this bipartisan bill. I believe his position on the Terrorist Surveillance Program clearly demonstrates that his views are out-of-step with common-sense New Mexico values.

As usual, local blogger Joe Monahan employs his "some unnamed people say" approach to push the notion on behalf of his cronies that Democrats "in the game for awhile" and "political pros" are worried about Heinrich's candidacy:

Heinrich's supporters (those who have been in the game awhile) fear he will be unable to grow out of his liberal base and White will take the prize in the moderate district. White's first strike is on territory--foreign intelligence--that is friendly to the Bernalillo County Sheriff ... Also, the political pros are writing the early line on possible character vulnerabilities that could be used against the two contenders ... R's see Heinrich and his acolytes as thin-skinned and ready to lose their cool. That ought to wake up the operatives :).

Funny, I haven't noticed anyone at recent Party and candidate functions spinning these kinds of concerns about Heinrich. On the contrary, rank and file Dems have been incredibly upbeat about the chances of turning New Mexico's Congressional delegation completely Blue this year. Not only will we have strong candidates like Heinrich and Udall up and down the ticket, but NM Repubs seem more intent on muddying each other than in articulating any clear and reasonable messages.

As you may recall, the last few weeks have been rife with accusations being made by NM Repubs about vote-buying and threats of smear campaigns being orchestrated by the camps of fellow Repubs Darren White and Heather Wilson. Common sense my eye. Chaos and crises are what I see on the Repub side. There seems to be real panic setting in, and for good reason.

Hungering for Change
Clearly, voters are tired of the cynical politics of fear, smear and distortion that Repubs are clinging to with growing desperation. You can see it in the success of Barack Obama and Jim Foster. You can see it in the massive turnouts for Dem primaries and caucuses. You can see it in the willingness of Dem candidates like Heinrich to speak the truth about what's going on -- with no holds barred.

The politicos of both parties who use vehicles like Monahan's blog to spread their anonymous, negative hackery represent yesterday's news, yesterday's power blocs, yesterday's tactics. Their underhanded "warnings" -- aimed at undermining the galloping momentum for change so evident among voters of many political leanings -- are increasingly falling on deaf ears. The voters have learned a lot during the past eight years of Bush-Rove-Cheney-White style politics. For one thing, they've picked up on the folly of voting against their own interests as they watch our health care system, schools, infrastructure, environment, economy and civil liberties go to hell in a handbasket. The fearmongers are losing their edge.

Heinrich and True Patriotism
Genuine patriotism comes from deeply held beliefs, not focus group tested sloganeering. As Martin Heinrich says,

"... I stand with the American people who say fear mongering is not acceptable. Not acceptable from George Bush, not acceptable from Karl Rove and not acceptable from Darren White. I agree with Bill Richardson that we can keep our country safe without resorting to unconstitutional, warrantless wiretaps. I support a strong FISA that authorizes our intelligence community to intercept the communications of foreign terrorists, not American citizens minding their own business."

Heinrich puts the Constitution first

To see our previous coverage of the 2008 NM-01 Congressional race, visit our archive.