President Trump comes to Rio Rancho for a campaign rally today amid more turmoil in the crucial race for the GOP nomination for the southern congressional seat, turmoil that has embarrassed his Vice-President and cast a shadow over R hopes of taking the seat from Dem Rep. Xochitl Torres Small who scored an upset in '18.

As often happens, social media caused the tempest. Old but stunning Facebook posts from candidate Claire Chase surfaced that denounce Trump as "unworthy" of being President.

The disclosure comes after VP Pence appeared at an August 22 event where he praised the "past, present and future leadership" of Chase, giving the impression that the administration is supporting her over chief rival Yvette Herrell.

You wonder if Chase will be getting any more love from Pence--or Trump--after this politically explosive post on August 30, 2015:

“For all my friends who like Donald Trump, I’m working on a fuller rant than he’s an a**hole unworthy of the office and the power of the President of THE United States,”

And throw another log on this fire:

On September 6, 2015, Chase referenced an article about how former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was eyeing a position as Sec. of Energy if Trump won. She wrote:

“This is reason enough not to vote for Trump, among the other 836,297 reasons not to vote for him."

Whew. Now you have Pence headed for cover:

He of course disagrees with statements like that about the president.

As for what seemed like a Pence endorsement of Chase, there's now this:

This (on Aug. 22) was an official event, and as she’s chairman of New Mexico Oil and Gas, (Pence) was thanking her for her leadership in the past and future on USMCA, as he has thanked business leaders across the country for their efforts on the issue."

Chase's train barely got on the track and it's already in a wreck. Lucky for her she married into the wealthy Chase oil family of Artesia and can write a check to finance her campaign. She may have to judging by the searing comments in pro-Trump Breitbart which broke the story.

CLAIRE'S CRISIS

Chase

Chase will now face a newly emboldened Herrell (as well as Las Cruces businessman Chris Mathys) who will pound her relentlessly over her Trump dissing.

Chase's campaign bungled the push from Pence by failing to scrub her social media accounts before announcing her candidacy and is now trying to contain the damage:

Chase’s consultant Craig Murphy said that she has come around about Trump.“Claire did not support him in the primary, but she voted for President Trump in the general, celebrated his election, supports him now and thinks he has done a great job as President."

Well, as a jacked-up Herrell supporter said: "We heard you the first time, Claire!"

The DCCC also piled on, mocking Chase as it wondered if she is now part of the "Trump resistance."

Herrell and Chase are expected to attend today's Trump rally. Don't look for them in the front row. (Hey, maybe Xochitl will show up. She'd be the lady smiling like a Cheshire cat.)

TRUMP AND NM

The president is expected to reference the strong economy in his pitch to mostly skeptical New Mexicans. The Democratic lean here make Trump's chances of an upset exceedingly unlikely but he does have a case to make on the economy. This is the memo his team could hand him on Air Force One as he heads here.

--Trump has provided a friendly regulatory environment for the booming oil industry in SE NM which in turn has generated billions in state government surpluses that give Democratic lawmakers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pull the state out of the poverty basement.

--Those same polices have stabilized gas prices which are critical to rural New Mexicans. (Keeping in mind the weekend events in Saudi Arabia).

--His corporate tax cut persuaded PNM to roll back a proposed rate increase that saved customers millions.

--The president's consistent support of increased budgets for Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories have been key to stabilizing the economy, especially ABQ where the Great Recession lingered for years in part because of federal cutbacks.

--Trump's controversial border policies are constantly excoriated, but he can argue to swing voters that cutting back on illegal immigration could be helping slow the flow of drugs into a state notorious for its rate of addiction.

--Trump can push back against enviros by noting that his Interior Department agreed to placing a one-year moratorium on oil and gas leasing around Chaco Canyon in NW NM. He could declare that's good for the environment and for tourism.

Those are not arguments often heard in New Mexico where Trump's favorables are in the mid-30's but if pushed they might bump his numbers which could help R's in the southern congressional district and in swing NM House seats.

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

Please note our new email address: newsguy@yahoo.com

E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com)

Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. 

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019