and someone has to make money from them.

Irony, not sarcasm.

I myself live in New Mexico, and I sincerely hope Ronchetti is very soundly defeated. I think his presence on TV is going to help him far more than it should. I don't happen to own a TV, haven't since I moved to this state in 2008, so I've never seen him on the air, lucky me.

People often check off a name that is familiar to them, without paying any attention to who the candidate actually is, or what they stand for. A very New Mexico example is that in 2014 the Democrats in New Mexico selected Gary King as their candidate for Governor, mainly because Gary's father Bruce had been Governor some years earlier. Simple name recognition.

I did not vote for King in the primary, but for the candidate I honestly thought best qualified. Who that was doesn't matter any more.

In modern times.



People's memories are short and much of the damage done by a very brief Republican majority in NM are still being repaired.

Ronchetti's palling around with DeSantis and Youngkin and their dictatorial styles has led to a very strong distaste for him being anywhere near any government position with me personally.

but she's been a decent Governor so far. In my opinion.

I've only lived here since 2008, and there is a LOT I like. I'm in Santa Fe, and I just love the clear skies. We also have lots of science fiction writers all over the state, and since I'm something of a science fiction person that's a distinct plus.

I think the effectiveness of Biden compared to Trump is, of course, because Biden wants to accomplish things for America and Trump cares only about himself. However, I can’t dismiss the fact that Biden has years of experience in government. He knows how the system works. He’s seen it; he’s done it. My parents voted for Kennedy, but after his assassination they knew things would move through Congress because LBJ had been a master politician for decades.

All of this is a roundabout way of saying that experience counts. Ronchetti’s got nothin’. He’d be learning on the job. If he weren’t a Republican, I’d feel this way. But he is a Republican. He’d be led by the nose by the Republican powers that be. I don’t like him; I do think Lujan Grisham has accomplished some good things. But, importantly, he has no government experience.

Lord, I hope he loses.

By the way, I’m in Santa Fe. We moved from Ventura County in California in 2018. Our daughter got her PhD from Wisconsin as she got a job offer from a startup here. We wanted to be near her and her husband. There is much to like-including that the state is blue.