Compromise now a four-letter word for some in NM politics

In 2020, amidst the throes of a global pandemic and an economic shutdown, the most important issues for some of New Mexico’s political operatives are not contact tracing, or vaccine access, or jobs or unemployment assistance.

They are removing people from public office or privatesector jobs who happen to know the importance of collaboration and working across the aisle.

And they use emotion-tugging issues to make their points. One was a 1969 state ban on abortion that’s moot (unless the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision). Another was a nonbinding congressional resolution to express opposition to a fracking ban that’s moot by design.

The hyper-partisan focus on each must make the over 140,000 New Mexicans who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus so relieved. Who cares where your rent payment or next meal is coming from? There are political axes to grind.

The first issue took center stage during the primary election, as progressive groups banded together to take out five moderate Democrats they said were out of step with Democratic voters. Voters agreed in four of those races and ousted Sens. John Arthur Smith, Mary Kay Papen, Clemente Sanchez and Gabriel Ramos. And in one fell swoop, the state Legislature lost more than half a century of experience, compassion and the recognition you can’t spend what you don’t have. There were myriad reasons why they were voted out, but a theme was that in 2019 the four voted against repealing the abortion ban — a point hammered home by their opponents.

The second issue came to a head last week when state Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce and Republican legislative floor leaders Rep. James Townsend of Artesia and Sen. Stuart Ingle of Portales were joined by oil and gas executives to do their best Red Queen impersonations and demand the head of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association’s executive director. Ryan Flynn’s sin? He said publicly that U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, a Democrat, has “stood up to those in her party who want to completely ban fracking.”

(Psst: This is what we call old news. Torres Small made the Feb. 22 Albuquerque Journal when she vocally opposed a federal fracking ban by New York Rep. Alexandria OcasioCortez. It’s also called a no-brainer. Torres Small’s district includes the oil-and-gas rich Permian Basin.)

However, as we learned from our first example, single-issue blinders can marginalize cooperation and compromise, especially during campaign season. Obviously many in the GOP are backing Torres Small’s opponent, Republican Yvette Herrell, for Congressional District 2 and are upset NMOGA has worked with Democrats. But as one Journal letter writer points out, “perhaps they should consider (state government is) dominated by Democrats.”

We are living in perhaps the most contentious political climate of our lifetimes. And while it might not play well on a ball cap or bumper sticker, we should remember in democracy there is give and take. You pick your battles, and you work with those you might disagree with. That doesn’t mean you have abandoned core principles — it means you are a pragmatist who tries to build consensus for the greater good.

With serious problems facing our state and nation and 11 weeks until the election, here’s to voters demanding candidates move past ideological platitudes to what they want done and how they’ll do it — including working across the aisle.