Why the country’s first Latina governor might be Mitt’s best veep pick.
From The Daily Beast
Unless you happen to live near vast stretches of sand, sagebrush, and adobe, chances are you have no idea who Susana Martinez is. That’s a pity, because she may be the boldest, savviest vice presidential pick Mitt Romney could make. Consider Romney’s vulnerabilities. He trails Barack Obama by as many as 56 percentage points among Latinos.
Women prefer the president by roughly 20 points. Conservatives still distrust him, and populists in both parties suspect that he’s a vulture capitalist who likes to fire people. New Mexico’s Martinez, the first Latina governor in U.S. history, would solve each of these problems, or help as much as any running mate conceivably could.
Within minutes of meeting me in Santa Fe one morning last month, she is speaking fluent Spanish, reminiscing about the .357 magnum she acquired at age 18, and describing her family’s mom-and-pop security business back in El Paso. A scout from Boston would have been very pleased.
(snip)
Even though some initiatives have fallen short, she has managed to cut spending by roughly $150 million without raising taxes, scale back the state workforce by more than 5 percent, ease environmental regulations, preserve tax breaks designed to attract large corporations, eliminate redundant taxes on small businesses, and increase local control over public schools by opting out of No Child Left Behind.
“She’s been well-received in the state, but she has not come out a commanding winner in her battles with the Democratic legislature,” says Christine Sierra, a politics professor at the University of New Mexico. “So the jury is still out.”
Read much more here.
From The Daily Beast
Unless you happen to live near vast stretches of sand, sagebrush, and adobe, chances are you have no idea who Susana Martinez is. That’s a pity, because she may be the boldest, savviest vice presidential pick Mitt Romney could make. Consider Romney’s vulnerabilities. He trails Barack Obama by as many as 56 percentage points among Latinos.
Women prefer the president by roughly 20 points. Conservatives still distrust him, and populists in both parties suspect that he’s a vulture capitalist who likes to fire people. New Mexico’s Martinez, the first Latina governor in U.S. history, would solve each of these problems, or help as much as any running mate conceivably could.
Within minutes of meeting me in Santa Fe one morning last month, she is speaking fluent Spanish, reminiscing about the .357 magnum she acquired at age 18, and describing her family’s mom-and-pop security business back in El Paso. A scout from Boston would have been very pleased.
(snip)
Even though some initiatives have fallen short, she has managed to cut spending by roughly $150 million without raising taxes, scale back the state workforce by more than 5 percent, ease environmental regulations, preserve tax breaks designed to attract large corporations, eliminate redundant taxes on small businesses, and increase local control over public schools by opting out of No Child Left Behind.
“She’s been well-received in the state, but she has not come out a commanding winner in her battles with the Democratic legislature,” says Christine Sierra, a politics professor at the University of New Mexico. “So the jury is still out.”
Read much more here.
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