OPINION: NM Dems continue to shoot their own state in the foot

Well, no one is going to accuse Melanie Stansbury of being a stateswoman after her performance at last week’s joint session of Congress.

The second full-term congresswoman from Albuquerque landed a key spot at the March 4 joint session, perched along the center aisle of the U.S. House of Representatives as President Donald Trump entered the chamber, unescorted by any Democrat, as is the tradition.

Stansbury didn’t reach out to introduce herself to Trump as he walked by. She didn’t pass him a note about an issue affecting New Mexicans. She didn’t even make an attempt to shake his hand. Instead, she stood along the center aisle holding a makeshift sign reading, “This is Not Normal.”

Her choice of words was odd and confusing. Was she referring to Trump or was she being self-descriptive?

Stansbury may have raised her profile among fellow Democrats that night, but how did her behavior help New Mexico?

Stiffing the president of the United States has become a troubling and foolish trend among New Mexico’s top elected Democrats.

Back in October, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich was gracious to come to the Journal campus for an endorsement interview.

During the interview, I asked our senior U.S. senator if he had ever met Trump. Heinrich responded that he and Trump had been in the same place at the same time. I then asked if he had ever spoken with Trump. Heinrich said he had not, even though Trump had been president for four of the nearly 12 years Heinrich had served in the Senate at that point.

How does not ever speaking with the president of the United States serve the citizens of New Mexico? Wouldn’t it be nice if just one member of our all-Democrat congressional delegation could get Trump on the phone or meet with him at the White House if the need arises? The progressive base may revolt at such validation, but the average New Mexican would have no problem with one of our elected leaders communicating with the leader of the free world and arguably the most influential person in the world.

Heinrich has stayed true to form, not attending Trump’s second inauguration in January nor his March 4 address to Congress.

Then, there’s Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller.

Keller thought it was funny when he appeared on Comedy Central in April 2021 to poke at Trump over a security bill from the city in connection to a Trump rally in Rio Rancho in 2019. The bogus and unprecedented $211,000 bill for police protection and barricades came up again in October when the Trump campaign sought to rent the Albuquerque Convention Center for a rally.

The city turned the Trump campaign away, citing scheduled maintenance on a water line that runs to the convention center. But as City Councilor Dan Lewis pointed out, that routine maintenance could have been performed any time.

As a Journal letter writer noted, the political snub ended up actually working to Trump’s advantage.

“You see, by doing that, the mayor caused him to hold his rally at the Sunport, which allowed him to have many more people at the rally, which I am sure resulted in many more votes for him,” Irene Causey wrote in December. “It was certainly a beautiful sight to see the huge plane come to a soft stop with the Trump name emblazoned across the side of it. Were the rally held Downtown, people would not have been able to witness that awesome sight. So, it would seem that the mayor’s little ploy backfired.”

Antagonizing the nation’s chief executive proved costly for New Mexico in Trump’s first term. You may recall that Albuquerque in 2020 was one of five finalist cities for the headquarters of America’s new Space Force. The Journal Editorial Board argued hard and repeatedly to have Space Command’s HQ located in Albuquerque, noting the opportunity to tie together many of New Mexico’s unique technological assets, including military bases, national labs, research universities, private aerospace enterprises and a one-of-a-kind Spaceport. The long-term impact of having the unified combatant command in Albuquerque would have paid huge dividends to our state’s economy for decades.

Most unfortunately, the U.S. Air Force announced in January 2021 in the final days of Trump’s first term it had chosen Huntsville, Ala., for headquarters of U.S. Space Command. In an Editorial Board meeting with Keller shortly after the announcement, Keller conceded, “We never really had a chance.”

Well, why the hell not? Could it be because of the steady flow of hostility that flows out of our elected leaders toward Trump? Don’t antics like those we’ve too often seen from top Democrats hurt our chances of federal and private investment?

The more New Mexico Democrats disrespect President Trump, the more likely their citizens — 46% of whom voted for Trump — will be left out of any Golden Age of prosperity that ensues as Democrats shuffle leadership deckchairs on the lost Titantic of New Mexico.

If there are any statesmen left among our congressional delegation, now would be an opportune time to stand up and achieve some bipartisan results for the sake of New Mexico. Otherwise, it’s going to be a long four years in the wilderness if New Mexico Democrats can’t learn to stow the hostility and put their state above their party.