Biden Visits Albuquerque

The Vice President visited Duke City Monday to help raise money for Representatives Martin Heinrich and Harry Teague. We know that this worked oh so well for Obama's efforts with helping governors back east, so it is apparent why this strategy is continuing. Our executive electees are now in the business of raising money and support constantly for governors, representatives, senators, and the like instead of, I don't know, maybe running the country?

The cost of the luncheon was $1000-a-plate. Meanwhile, the foreclosure rate continues to climb along with the unemployment rate, and food banks are starting to feel the crunch just as much as any other part of the economy. But I don't imagine the participants of this luncheon would feel inclined to leave $1000 where it might really matter - say with Roadrunner Food Bank, Joy Junction, or other such charities.

To add insult to injury, it is not just the Representative from our OWN district who were on the fundraising wagon yesterday. No, Teague also joined in the money-raising. Now, don't we elect people to represent us? Doesn't it seem reasonable, then, that these people should be more concerned about catering to our interests, raising money from us, and not to other people outside our district? Harry Teague should be down in the southern part of the state, as Ryan Cangiolosi (New Mexico's GOP executive director, in case you didn't know - I certainly didn't until today) was quoted by the ABQ Journal. And I agree. The same goes for all politicians. Mayors should campaign and fundraise in the cities where they are running, governors in their states, and presidents in their countries for crying out loud! Representatives and senators need to do the same in their districts. How would YOU feel if the candidate you voted against won because of support from outside the area they will be representing? That person is not representing YOU, they are using you as a means to accomplish their objectives, nevermind what their job is.

Why did Teague attend this? Because the southern district has a largely conservative base that on the whole does not agree with his principles and the way he intends to vote. If he is going to win the Congressional race in 2010, he is going to need support from outside the 2nd Congressional District. Is this the kind of man you want representing you, if you live in his district?

Furthermore, I was astounded that while legitimate protesters outside this luncheon did receive a nice large picture in the paper, the only mention of them in the article itself came in the form of an insult made by Biden at Republicans in general.

-- For the record, not all people protesting this mishandling of government are Republicans - it is simply a convenient label. "Oh, those darn Republicans got in the way of progress again." --

Biden said: "I know what Republicans are against, I haven't figured out what they're for."

I find it fairly straightforward. Republicans are for keeping to ways that have worked, and keeping government small. People are at their core resourceful; if you turn a problem over to a caring person - not an agency, not a committee, and certainly not a government program - they will find a way to get it done, get it done well, and get it done within the budget. This becomes even more true if you add an incentive. This is the core of free market capitalism, and a part of the core of conservative, Republican values. Republicans value hard work, traditions, and family, and individuals guided by laws and by some kind of religion - or failing that, an internal moral code of conduct. It is the idea of "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps", making your own way in the world, do-it-yourself. Yet it is also a sense of family and community, of neighbors watching out for one another and helping each other back up on their feet when hard times come. Republicans are actually a very accepting people as a whole, with a live-and-let-live creed - don't get in their face about something, and as long as it isn't immoral, unethical, or illegal they don't really care.


Unfortunately, there was a quite sad note to this whole ordeal - Sgt. Brian Lindley was wounded in a car crash while taking part in the official motorcade for Biden. The actions of the woman who caused the crash - whether they came from ignorance, apathy, intoxication, or anger - are deplorable and completely unacceptable. My thoughts and prayers are with Sgt. Lindley for a speedy recovery.

-Daine