Lives, like the world in T.S. Eliot's
The Hollow Men, often end not with a bang but a whimper. Same
for political lives.
On June 1, 1974, I was sitting in a
hot tub with Jerry after we'd run 13 miles through the streets of Albuquerque. It was a campaign event. Jerry, who loved running, got to run and campaign simultaneously. And
he shaved eight minutes from his previous best time! Not a runner, I
stupidly bought new sneakers for the event. After a mile or two,
blisters on the tops of my toes were unbearable. I tossed the
sneakers into the back of a truck and ran the rest of the way
barefoot.
I was a young reporter, spending much
of that weekend with Jerry and Clara Apodaca. They reminded people
of the Kennedys, because they were young and liberal and charismatic.
I liked them. Had to be objective in my reporting. But I liked
them.
More recently, I'd been aware Jerry
had serious health problems. Then I heard rumors that Clara wanted
their son, Jeff, to run for Governor. When Jeff ran, I interviewed
him. Engaging guy, although I didn't know how much to trust him.
Now Jerry (or someone) has written an
endorsement comparing far-right Congressman Steve Pearce to Kennedy.
The JFK comparison is silly. Pearce helped found the extremist
“Freedom Caucus” in 2015 and is one of the most extremely
conservative current Congresspersons. (Government shutdown,
anyone?) JFK went to an early meeting of the Americans for
Democratic Action and championed relatively progressive ideas. On
most issues, Lujan Grisham's positions are much closer than Pearce's
to the ones Jeff Apodaca ran on.
Jerry's endorsement claims Pearce is
a moderate, reaching across the aisle to work with Democrats. Half
the time Congressman Pearce can't even work with Republicans. Is
Jerry hallucinating?
Jerry's example of Pearce reaching
across the aisle is that when Jerry called, Pearce answered. (Jerry
says Michelle Lujan Grisham didn't. Her office says Jerry never
called.)
Jeff posed as the Progressive
alternative to Grisham. Now he's getting friendly with her far-right
opponent. Eloquent testimony that he's about ambition, not
conviction.
Assuming your brains aren't addled,
you don't write something like Jerry wrote unless you're peeved that
someone whipped your son in the primary, scoring three times as many
votes; or unless you're desperately ambitious for that same son, who
may want something from Pearce. Either way, it's kind of a sad last
political gasp from someone who once commanded respect.
-30-
[The above column appeared on Sunday, 19 August 2018 in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and on KRWG's website. A spoken version will air during the week on KRWG and on KTAL, 101.5 FM (streaming at www.lccommunityradio.org).]
I started this column with sadness. The sadness deepened as I read the El Paso Times article I wrote about that 1974 half-marathon. Sixty-three of the 70 runners finished the race. I remember running right along with Jerry, listening and watching the folks interacting with him, until my blisters stalled me. Jerry finished in 1:48, I in 1:58. But the old article strengthened my memory of the energy in his campaign for governor.
The evening before the run, we'd been in Taos, where (as I described it in the paper). "Both the towns rally and the race were symbolic of the kind of campaign Apodaca has run.
"He has declined to seek endorsements, and almost intentionally avoided them at times, he says. 'We didn't think that was what we needed to win,' he said Saturday. 'People are reacting against that. What we needed was a groundswell of popular support.'
"In Taos, where the Democratic Committee had endorsed [gubernatorial candidate] Tibo Chavez, Apodaca was greeted enthusiastically and feted by an overflow crowd at Los Compadres.
It was an Apodaca type crowd in a casual, warm, almost homey atmosphere. One man read a poem to the candidate in Spanish, several young pwople joked with him about next morning's marathon, and one local political leader recovering from a heart attack surprised Apodaca and worried his doctors by showing up at all.
"Typically, Apodaca was taking the time and spending his energy on thiskind of rally in a small town. He expects to do well in such areas both in the north and in the south, but he still will have to run strongly in Bernalillo County to win.
"Although he has spoken frequently on issues, he seems to be banking on personal appeal -- as in the Taos rally -- and energy -- like the energy he displayed Saturday morning."
It's ironic, in the context of this blog post, that in 1974 Apodaca said he spurned endorsements in favor of the kind of "groundswell of popular support" Pearce is not seeing across the state. (i'm sure he was exaggerating when he said that to me, but certainly in Taos he wasn't the choice of the County Democratic Committee.) My memory, which may or may not be accurate, is that Jerry was an underdog in seeking the Democratic nomination. He was vigorous and articulate and progressive. I didn't know him well, but I liked and respected him.
In the column I refer to Jerry calling and Pearce responding. The actual words of the endorsement are a little cryptic on that: "I know the new politicians of the 21st
century don’t need my advice. But friends recently suggested I sit
down with both gubernatorial candidates to discuss the concerns I
outlined above. I agreed to but didn’t expect anyone to call.
"I never heard from Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham. I
did receive a call from Congressman Steve Pearce. I was surprised how
open he was and how we agreed on about 80 percent of the issues that
plague New Mexico."He never says he called Lujan Grisham. Her office says he didn't. It would appear that "friends" -- or, more likely, a son who had recently met with Pearce and spoken highly of the congressman -- initiated the connection between Pearce and Jerry Apodaca.
By the way, I left phone messages for Jeff Apodaca, to ask him a couple of questions. I know indirectly that he's been defending his father's endorsement.
While I was working on this column, I also read a Facebook post by Bill McCamley that raises numerous pertinent questions about the elder Apodaca's written endorsement of Pearce:
I was asked by a constituent about my thoughts on former NM Gov Jerry Apodaca endorsing Rep Pearce over Michelle Lujan Grisham. I'd like to share my response, as the reasoning in the Alb Journal column he used doesn't make much sense.
First, I heard his son on the campaign trail numerous times as we were both running for statewide office. He spoke passionately about investing endowment resources in to a stimulus package. While Pearce two weeks ago wrote about investing some of one of our permanent funds in NM businesses, Lujan Grisham has been talking about this exact same solution for months as part of a well thought out job creation plan. Furthermore while Lujan Grisham has been a strong and constant supporter of using some of our Permanent Fund revenues for Early Childhood Education, in May Pearce came out against the idea.
Additionally, during the campaign:
Apodaca supported legalizing cannabis. Lujan Grisham does as well, but Pearce is strongly opposed.
Apodaca supported a $10 minimum wage that would be raised over time. Lujan Grisham supports a higher minimum wage as well, but Pearce voted against raising it in 2007 and 2013.
Apodaca supported equal pay for women. Lujan Grisham does as well, but Pearce voted in 2007, 2008, and 2013 against legislation that would have strengthened regulations enforcing equal pay.
Apodaca supported the NM Health Security Act. While Lujan Grisham doesn’t go as far, she does support the Medicaid Buy-In program to give New Mexicans a true public option for health care. Pearce voted in 2006 to cut Children’s Health Insurance, in 2012 to privatize Medicaid, and in 2017 voted for the disastrous health care bill that would have stripped Medicaid from over 250,000 New Mexicans.
Apodaca supported a $10 minimum wage that would be raised over time. Lujan Grisham supports a higher minimum wage as well, but Pearce voted against raising it in 2007 and 2013.
Apodaca supported equal pay for women. Lujan Grisham does as well, but Pearce voted in 2007, 2008, and 2013 against legislation that would have strengthened regulations enforcing equal pay.
Apodaca supported the NM Health Security Act. While Lujan Grisham doesn’t go as far, she does support the Medicaid Buy-In program to give New Mexicans a true public option for health care. Pearce voted in 2006 to cut Children’s Health Insurance, in 2012 to privatize Medicaid, and in 2017 voted for the disastrous health care bill that would have stripped Medicaid from over 250,000 New Mexicans.
So while Pearce copied one of Lujan Grisham’s proposals, her platform actually comes much closer to the younger Apodaca’s ideas. Therefore, why endorse the person your son agreed with much, much less?
Second, the elder Apodaca mentioned Pearce as willing to “reach across the aisle”. Yet, he referenced no proof that Pearce has ever done this in his political career. So I looked at every bill he sponsored during his four years in the State House. Not one shows a Democrat co-sponsor.
As a US Rep he helped found the ultra right wing “House Freedom Caucus” in 2015. This is the group that works against compromise on immigration and health care while constantly threatening to shut down the government because they want to gut Medicaid. And according to govtrack.us out of 435 House members there were only 30 who co-sponsored Democratic bills LESS than Pearce while he ranked the 8th most conservative member overall.
He has railed against the LGBT community, saying in 2008 they would only get married to fraudulently receive AIDS treatment. In 2014 his wrote in his book that a wife “is to voluntarily submit” to her husband. In 2017 he voted against a bill that would have protected public lands from being sold off to the highest bidder. And while Lujan Grisham has released her tax returns, Pearce has mirrored Donald Trump (whom he supports strongly) in keeping them from the public and hiding who he may be indebted to should he be elected.
So, at what point in his political career has Pearce ever expressed a willingness to work with anyone except hard line Republicans? The answer is none. He has the track record of an ideological hard liner with no will to collaborate with anyone he disagrees with.
I will stick with Michelle Lujan Grisham. Her values will translate to policies that make life better for people here. Pearce’s sure won’t.
By the way, a few days later, at least one hilarious response on Facebook to the column:
By the way, a few days later, at least one hilarious response on Facebook to the column:
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