Colbert, NPR and A High-Level Endorsement

Expect more jokes about New Mexico when former Gov. Gary Johnson appears on the popular Comedy Central TV show “The Colbert Report” on Monday.

Johnson, a two-term Republican governor and Libertarian candidate for president, also appeared on the show in 2010 and focused on his support for legalizing marijuana.

During that visit, host Stephen Colbert introduced Johnson as the former governor of New Mexico, saying, “I assume (that) makes him the current governor of old Mexico.”

Johnson reminded Colbert that New Mexico is a U.S. state.

On the Airwaves: New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez had her own spot in the national media limelight this week. The first-term governor was profiled in a NPR report that described her as “arguably the most popular Republican governor in the country,” with a New Mexico approval rating of 66 percent in a February Rasmussen poll.

That report, however, emphasized that some New Mexico Hispanics express serious discontent with the nation’s first female Hispanic governor. Thirty-three percent of Hispanics in the state say they “strongly disapprove” of Martinez’s work, the NPR profile said, citing the Rasmussen poll. The report said 58 percent of Hispanics support Martinez.

The report cited Martinez’s repeated push to repeal the 2003 law that allows issuance of driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants as a likely factor behind the disapprovals.

Rumsfeld for Rick: Republican 3rd Congressional District candidate Rick Newton says his campaign has the endorsement of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld is a two-time secretary of defense who served under Presidents Gerald Ford and George W. Bush. Rumsfeld, who lives near Taos, also served as an Illinois congressman.

Rumsfeld “is one of our country’s more consequential leaders in modern U.S. history (and) I am proud to have his support,” Newton said in a statement.

Newton said he consulted the strategist of the 2003 Iraq invasion on issues ranging from New Mexico job creation to government over-regulation.
— This article appeared on page D1 of the Albuquerque Journal