Martinez passes on high-profile speech for legislative work

Gov. Susana Martinez, who burnished her rising national star with a well-received speech at the Republican National Convention last summer, will skip a similar opportunity this weekend in Washington.

The governor, initially billed as one of the star attractions at the Conservative Political Action Conference that convenes Thursday, Friday and Saturday in D.C., has instead decided to pass on the big gathering of GOP movers and shakers. Martinez’s spokesman, Enrique Carlos Knell, said the decision was strictly business.

“The legislative session ends that weekend, and then we start the bill signing process,” Knell told me in an email.

That’s true, but it must have been some temptation for Martinez. Yes, the 60-day session wraps up next weekend and no, Martinez doesn’t want to seem disengaged in the final hours of the Legislature. But under state law, she has 20 days to sign or veto legislation. It seems she could have jetted to D.C. Friday night or early Saturday morning, delivered a red-meat speech to the party faithful and been home in time for a late dinner.

After all, a high-profile invitation to speak to a roomful of the nation’s most influential conservatives is pure political catnip to most Republican elected officials and pundits. The governor is frequently mentioned as a star in the Republican Party, but it remains unclear if the former Dona Ana County prosecutor has any grand political ambitions.

Last summer, some in the national media kept suggesting that Martinez — a conservative, pistol-packing, bilingual, Hispanic female — would be an intriguing vice presidential choice for Mitt Romney. But Martinez never gave the impression she was anything more than flattered to be mentioned. She had a good reason to rule herself out of the running, citing her responsibilities to her developmentally disabled sister.

And unlike most politicians who say they wouldn’t accept the number two spot on a presidential ticket (Bill Richardson comes to mind), Martinez actually seemed kind of believable. If Martinez’s goal is simply getting re-elected as governor in 2014, skipping CPAC makes sense. If she wanted to woo to the national GOP power structure, not so much.

Then again, maybe she figures there’s still plenty of time before 2016.

Despite Martinez’s modest maneuvering on the national political stage — or maybe partly because of it — an intrigued media continues to tout her as a big-time contender. Most recently, a Politico article included Martinez in a group of “Republican governors sure to duke it out in the 2016 presidential primary.”

The article was about the Affordable Care Act, often referred to as “Obamacare,” and how various Republican governors would implement the new law. The article divided the governors into two groups — ideological purists and pragmatists.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, South Carolina’s Nikki Haley and Rick Perry of Texas were among the purists, while Martinez, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and John Kasich of Ohio were among the pragmatists.

“The rollout of the health care law will continue to be prime testing grounds for the future of the Republican Party in the runup to 2016,” the article said, noting that Martinez is a leading pragmatist because she is among the Republican governors who have agreed to set up state-based health care exchanges and expand Medicaid

“I didn’t support Obamacare. But it’s the law of the land,” Politico quoted Martinez as saying in her State of the State address in January. “The election is over and the Supreme Court has ruled. My job is not to play party politics, but to implement this law in a way that best serves New Mexico.”

Whether that will best serve her political career remains to be seen. Martinez has expressed zero interest — at least publicly — in running for president, although she is planning to run for re-election as governor. Meanwhile, the seeming lack of national ambition isn’t stopping national media and GOP pundits from including her in speculation about 2016.

“I could see a scenario where (Obamacare pragmatists) get attacked from the right,” former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told Politico. “I could also see a scenario where they can carve out a position that they’ll always do what’s fiscally responsible for their state. It’s just impossible to war game it at this point.”

E-mail: mcoleman@abqjournal.com. Go to ABQjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.