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Sunday, December 06, 2009
Denish Deftly Deflects GOP Barbs During Foray to D.C.
FOR THE RECORD: This column published in the Sunday Journal misquoted Lt. Gov. Diane Denish on the number of New Mexico businesses aided by a state program. The column should have quoted Denish as saying that, during her tenure as lieutenant governor, the state adopted "microlending capital access that’s created opportunity for 1,800 businesses."By Michael Coleman
Journal Washington Bureau
New Mexico Lt. Gov Diane Denish took her gubernatorial campaign on the road last week and found a warm reception at the Democratic Governors Association's winter meeting in Washington, D.C.
The Hobbs native, who is all but certain to win New Mexico's Democratic nomination for governor in 2010, snagged one of just three speaking slots at the group's national luncheon on Wednesday. DGA Chairman Brian Schweitzer of Montana told the audience Denish is among the Democrats' best bets for keeping the party's gubernatorial winning trend alive in the West next year.
Later that evening, at the New Mexico State Society holiday party near the U.S. Capitol, Denish mingled with the bipartisan crowd and even seemed to impress some Republicans.
Joshua Baca, a former staffer for Heather Wilson and an active Republican voice on Facebook and Twitter, informed his followers that he chatted with Denish at the party and said even though he's a Republican, he found her to be a "nice, cool lady."
Republicans back in New Mexico, however, have not been so charitable.
Scandals involving state investments during Gov. Bill Richardson's tenure have given the GOP potent ammunition with which to attack Denish although her relationship with the larger-than-life governor has not always been harmonious.
Denish is counting on New Mexicans to view her independently from Richardson and whatever questions might linger over his administration.
"People in New Mexico are going to vote for me on my merits, my experience — on what I think is a unique relationship because of my lifelong history as a New Mexican and small businessperson," Denish told me after her speech in Washington last week.
A couple of days before her Democratic Governor's Association speech, the state Republican Party sent out a news release pegged to a column I wrote about Denish in March 2008.
At the time, Richardson had just endorsed Barack Obama for president and speculation was soaring about his chances for leaving the governor's office early to take a job in an Obama adminstration.
Denish told me at the time that she was ready to become governor early, if necessary. Despite a sometimes trying relationship with Richardson — remember how she once complained about the governor poking her in public and their high-profile spat when he rejected her security detail request? — she thought he would support her in 2010.
"I've been a good, loyal soldier and we've worked well together," Denish said.
That "loyal soldier" phrase came back to haunt her some last week.
The Republican news release accused Denish of attempting a disingenuous "balancing act" between appearing loyal to Richardson while distancing herself from the administration's ethics problems.
Harvey Yates Jr., the Republican Party of New Mexico chairman, told me Friday that he doesn't know if Denish herself is culpable for any corruption in state government. But he said at the very least she must have been aware of some of it and did nothing about it.
"Someone would have had to be either extremely naive or mendacious in order to avoid speaking out about corruption at some level," Yates said. "I've attempted to give her the opportunity to list those circumstances where she has seen corruption and said no. She has not taken that opportunity."
Currently, there is no clear Republican front-runner to challenge Denish. GOP candidates include Albuquerque businessman Doug Turner, former GOP chairman Allen Weh, Doña Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez and state lawmaker Janice Arnold Jones.
Naturally, the somewhat wonky Denish is more eager to discuss her campaign platform — job creation, the economy, education, health care, etc. — than scandals, but she didn't duck. Denish has already declared that neither she nor her office has been involved in any improprieties, but she acknowledged that Republicans will make ethics a part of their campaign.
She didn't seem to regret describing herself as Richardson's "loyal soldier" 18 months ago, explaining that she is proud of their record of accomplishment together.
"In the last eight years we've been able to do some important things," Denish said. "We began with the requirement for accountability in education, improving people's pay, microlending capital access that's created opportunity for 1,800[corrected] small businesses."
The lieutenant governor also downplayed recent reports that she and her staff allowed federal stimulus money to pay for work on such things as Christmas cards.
"There were clerical mistakes that maybe should have been looked at a little more closely before making payment, but we passed all the audits, the state audit and federal audit and went through many checkpoints," Denish said. "Where there were questions we reimbursed the state."
Republicans will seize on that and other ethics issues to diminish Denish in the run-up to next year's election.
But she said New Mexicans are looking for a "new day and new way" — and most importantly someone who can lead the state through these challenging times.
e-mail: mcoleman@abqjournal.com
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