Susanna Martinez: New Mexico's First Tea Bagger Candidate and Repeat DUI Offenders' Best Friend
In a bizarre twist, the New Mexico Republican gubernatorial race has a tea bag party heroine, Sarah Palin, endorsing the increasingly right-wing Martinez. Since she can't keep up with Allen Weh on TV and the millions he's loaned himself, Susanna Martinez has summoned the polarizing, political entertainer that is Sarah Palin. Even more bizarre, is the fact that months ago, the Martinez campaign publicly proclaimed they did not seek the Palin endorsement.
In December, a Martinez spokesperson told reporters Martinez would not seek the endorsement of Sarah Palin nor attend her book signing in Roswell. [Blog, Steve Terrell, Roundhouse Roundup11/19/09] Politics makes strange bedfellows as none of the GOP candidates previously wanted to get anywhere near the polarizing Palin. Martinez knows, now, that in order to win the primary, a gimmick or shakeup is needed- she is so desperate for votes that she is courting the ultra right-wing of her party. This strange twist of fate is quite similar to the very gimmick of John McCain asking Palin to be his running mate.
Unfortunately for New Mexican's, that gimmick means running on a platform that is so far from the mainstream, it even makes most Republicans cringe. In her drastic attempt to win her primary, Susana Martinez is abandoning everyday New Mexicans for the far right, tea-bagging wing of the Republican Party. We should not be surprised because Palin and Martinez have a lot in common. They're both insider politicians with no real record of accomplishment to run on, and they both live or die by meaningless sound-bytes that make the nightly news.
We look forward to watching these two characters campaign together, it would make for some interesting YouTube videos - that's for sure. And if this wasn't bad enough, yesterday a group of New Mexico sheriffs challenged Dona Ana District Attorney Martinez to explain why she broke a pledge not to offer plea bargains to DWI offenders. According to records maintained by the non-partisan New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts, Martinez has let more than 1,000 felony DWI offenders (fourth offense or more) plea bargain instead of pushing for maximum penalties, breaking her own campaign pledge.
We cannot allow someone who will fall back on such a promise to have a chance to lead our State.
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In 2004, then candidate Martinez said “We will not plea bargain a DWI case” and went on to say “We don’t pretend it is a first or second offense just to move the court docket along.” [Las Cruces Sun-News, 9/5/04]
However, public records show Martinez has allowed more than 1,000 felony DWI offenders (fourth offense or more) to take plea bargain agreements over the past ten years – including more than 700 since making the campaign pledge.
Rio Arriba Sheriff Joe Mascarenas: “Maybe some politicians break campaign pledges and think nothing of it, but a broken promise on something as serious as felony DWI offenders is simply not forgivable. Susana Martinez should explain why she broke her campaign promise and gave these dangerous felons a pass.”
Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano: “Susana Martinez is running as a tough prosecutor, but a quick look at her record shows that she’s been misleading the voters. As a Sheriff, I see the death and tragedy caused by DWIs every day, so I know we need a Governor who takes these felony offenses seriously.”
“We need a Governor who is committed to being tough on DWI offenders, not a politician who says she’ll be tough and then turns around and lets more than 1,000 repeat offenders take the easy way out. It’s clear that Susana Martinez is all hat, no cattle.” said Rene Rivera, Valencia County Sheriff.
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