Beware the scary, bad boogeymen
Get ready for the Battle of the Boogeymen in New Mexico. I knew it was coming a couple of weeks ago. I saw in Democratic gubernatorial candidate Michelle Lujan Grisham’s latest campaign finance report that she had taken $11,000 from George Soros and the same amount from his son.
Soros, of course, is the Hungarianborn billionaire hedge fund manager who has contributed millions to Democrats in recent years. He spends most of his days beneath the seas in his nuclear submarine, stroking his white cat and plotting the end of truth, justice and the American way. Or so some would have you believe.
Republican Steve Pearce’s campaign this week sent a fundraising email warning of the Soros menace: “He’s not just any far-left billionaire. He is one of the 30 richest people in the world. He spends over $20 million in a single year to influence American elections.”
Funny how Republicans will scream “Class warfare!” when liberals bash billionaires but are quick to turn on rich folks who donate to Dems.
Pearce’s letter included several “shocking” things about Soros, including a quote attributed to him, “The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.” That’s from Soros’ 2006 book The Age of Fallibility: Consequences of the War on Terror. To put it in context, he was criticizing George W. Bush’s policies. His next sentence was, “This is a harsh — indeed, for me, painful — thing to say, but unfortunately I am convinced it is true. The United States continues to set the agenda for the world in spite of its loss of influence since 9/11, and the Bush administration is setting the wrong agenda. The Bush agenda is nationalistic: It emphasizes the use of force and ignores global problems whose solution requires international cooperation.”
Lots of people who aren’t Hungarianborn billionaires agreed with that.
By Thursday, the Republican Governor’s Association “Rapid Response” effort sent an email blasting Lujan Grisham for taking Soros cash. (The response wasn’t that rapid. They quoted my story about campaign finance reports published more than a week before.)
“Desperate to stand out in a crowded Democrat gubernatorial primary field, Michelle Lujan Grisham is looking for assistance from one of America’s most infamous radical left-wing billionaires, George Soros,” the email said.
Well, it’s true that Lujan Grisham is the shortest candidate. But I don’t think she’s that “desperate to stand out” in the Democratic primary. She was already well out in front in the money race — and still would be even without the Soros money.
“In her campaign for New Mexico’s highest office, Lujan Grisham is now cashing checks from a far-left billionaire who has spent decades backing candidates who will support his radical antijobs agenda.”
I’m disappointed they didn’t quote from Soros’ new book, Destroying Jobs: My Plan to Kill America. (In case anyone is wondering — and you never know what people fall for in these perilous times — that’s a joke. There is no such book.)
A Las Cruces Democratic Party activist who forwarded me the Pearce letter about Soros, commented, “Pearce doesn’t mention his buddies the Koch brothers, who operate Koch Industries, the second-largest privately owned company in the nation and have used their wealth to fund and influence libertarian and conservative causes.”
I don’t know whether Pearce actually is “buddies” with the Koch Brothers, Charles and David. But they do indeed give lots of money to the GOP — $10,000 to the state Republican Campaign Committee just last year and nearly $9,700 to Gov. Susana Martinez and her PAC for her 2014 re-election. And yes, the Democrats did have a proverbial cow over that, just like Republicans are giving birth to bovines over Soros.
But even if the Kochs give Pearce twice what Soros gave Lujan Grisham, something tells me they won’t be the biggest boogeymen for the Dems. That honor will go to President Donald Trump. Every vote Pearce has taken and every statement he’s made supporting Trump will fly back at him in Dem attack ads no matter who is the nominee.
All the recent Soros chatter reminded me of a conversation I had with the late John Dendahl years ago. Dendahl, who was state Republican Party chairman, was frothing over Soros one day. I said, “Come on, John. You used to like Soros when he was giving money to help Gary Johnson’s drug-law reform.” Dendahl chuckled. “I used to like him even more that time I went skiing with him. He’s a pretty nice guy.”