From time to times I ask others to write a message to share with the world. Monte Harm is a very strong man of God and I asked him to write about the dysfunction of New Mexico.
Written By Monte Harms
Why does New Mexico always seem to finish last in the good categories and first in the bad ones? The only exception is putting on the most fantastic balloon fiesta in the world. Why do the citizens accept our continued failure? Is there a problem with a dysfunctional government?
Actually, what some consider dysfunction is often having the wrong politicians in office. The process of how bills are passed and signed goes to the usual channels and is visible to all. Of course, as in our political system throughout America, there are backroom deals made regularly or favors given to legislators who support a bill they might otherwise not.
The statement “elections matter” is no more meaningful than in New Mexico. The Democrats have been in control of the legislature as long as anyone can remember and, on many occasions, have the governorship too. The one obvious question is why so many in New Mexico keep voting them into office when the results of their legislation and agenda put us at the bottom.
There are so many factors that contribute to this. First, and probably the most important one, is that families for generations have consistently voted Democrat. If someone changed that tradition, that wouldn’t go well with their relatives. The family ties to the Democrat Party trumps even their Catholic faith. They would rather keep the family tradition of supporting pro-abortion politicians than follow what the Church says about the killing of the unborn.
The electorate’s desire to vote for Democrats outweighs any problems the leaders may have. The re-election of Michele Lujan Grisham and Tim Keller are perfect examples of this. The extreme pro-abortion MLG was re-elected despite destroying our economy during Covid and had questionable purchases of jewelry, steaks, and alcohol while the rest of the citizens suffered. Grisham even settled out of court on charges of groping a staffer. Mayor Keller’s Albuquerque has had a tremendous drug, crime, and homeless problem that escalated in his first term, but he was easily re-elected.
When all of this is pointed out to the liberals in this state, the usual retort is that it’s not that big of a deal because the Republicans do it too, or it doesn’t matter what party is in office.
What really hurts the conservative cause in New Mexico is silence from the churches, whether it’s abortion, crime, drug use, or any of the other multitude of sins in our society. So many churches hide behind the Johnson Amendment that states they can’t endorse a political candidate. For example, they will categorize the horror of abortion as political, so silence follows. A critical chance to inform them is missed if the congregation hears silence on essential issues. If the pastors don’t think these problems are significant enough, the congregation will often not care.
The local and national media are as vocal about their support for Democrats as the churches are silent about societal problems. Conservatives and Republicans who are pro-life or are against the left’s agenda are usually portrayed by the media as radical extremists, right-wingers, or conspiracy theorists. The press is only parroting what the liberal leaders in this state are saying about anyone who disagrees with their agenda. The Democrats are never portrayed with such rhetoric when they don’t follow the Republican’s agenda. After listening to this for years, it’s ingrained into the voters when they have to decide to vote for an R or D at the ballot box.
Finally, a significant reason for voting for the status quo is that so many citizens only want to concentrate on raising their family, work, or plans for the weekend. Many New Mexicans live their own life and often conservatively raise their children, but this doesn’t translate to the ballot box. It also takes too much time and energy to examine the issues and read and follow the bill through the legislature. The politicians know this, so in New Mexico, the only real negative feedback comes from Republican legislators or a relatively few conservative citizens who are outnumbered. If a Democrat legislator sides with the Republicans on significant issues such as abortion, they seemingly are ostracized and won’t get their party’s support in the next election.
Unfortunately, there isn’t anything on the horizon to shift the way politics have always been done in New Mexico. Until New Mexicans wake up to change this, it will be politics as usual, with the result being New Mexico continuing to wallow at the bottom.
