Torres Small

Welcome back. Here's what's happening. . .

That fence southern Dem Congresswoman Xochitl Torres Small is sitting on when it comes to the impeachment inquiry of President Trump is getting increasingly uncomfortable. She is one of only a handful of House D's who have not given their support of the inquiry. Torres Small now faces the question of whether to change her mind in the face of the newly announced defiance of the inquiry by the White House.

Torres Small is in a true swing district and will face a stiff Republican challenge from the winner of the 2020 GOP primary. The President's defiance presents both a matter of law and politics that will be difficult for her to ignore. Even if she gets off the fence and parts with the White House, she steps into a pro-Trump briar patch. You can call that Xochitl's Choice.

On Thursday, Torres Small flipped and said she now backs the impeachment inquiry:

Torres Small said a lack of cooperation from the administration leaves her no choice but to support an impeachment inquiry into the actions of President Donald Trump.(she) had been criticized by members of her own party for her refusal to take a stand on the inquiry. And Republicans are using the issue in their campaign to unseat her, staging a “Stop the Madness” rally outside of her office in Belen

A #2 HAWK?

In Santa Fe, the Wall-Leaners are wondering who will be the new vice-chair of the Senate Finance Committee in the aftermath of the passing of Senator Carlos Cisneros who had held the post.

Gallup Senator George Munoz is a name heard frequently. He's been a fiscal hawk during his service on the committee and would be right at home sitting next to fellow hawk and committee chairman John Arthur Smith. The senate's Committee on Committees will make the decision at the next legislative session, but by then the vice chairman deal should have been cut.

It's quite an important position because the Governor is already at odds with the committee on a number of big ticket items. The gulf between the two could grow or diminish depending on who is selected for the #2 spot. Also, that senator would be in line to succeed the 78 year old Smith.

REPLACING CARLOS

As for the Cisneros seat, not much has changed. One of the Capitol Gators says Caroline Buerkle of Taos, a top aide to the Guv, is not going after the seat. State Rep. Bobby Gonzales and Taos nonprofit executive Kristina Ortez are two names that seem to be at the top, with maybe Gonzales higher. The four county commissions in the northern district will send names to MLG who will make the selection to fill out the rest of the Cisneros term.

SERNA STRIKES

Serna

Santa Fe County District Attorney Marco Serna made the smart move and moved to the ideological center (e.g. anti-Green New Deal) in the Dem race for the northern Congressional seat that is crowded with liberals. Now in a new digital ad he attacks Valerie Plame, one of the leading liberals in the contest whose catchy ad of her driving a sports car drew wide attention.

Some people drive fancy cars and want us to believe they are a female version of  James Bond. They think they can impress us with make believe lies that happened over a decade ago. . . The truth is people of the third district want to elect someone to Congress who knows our issues, understands our values and fights hate crimes and anti-Semitism.

Plame

That anti-Semitic reference is based on Plame's retweet of an article widely seen as attacking Jews. She apologized. Serna quotes former Santa Fe Mayor Sam Pick as saying Plame's apologies ring "hollow." The problem is the Serna ad spells "hollow" on screen as "hallow."

In contrast to Plame's estimable driving skills in her racy car ad, Serna is shown in his doing some impressive horseback riding. It's Old School vs. New School.

And if we made any spelling errors in this congressional report, just send them to Valerie. We're sure she'd be glad to correct them.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019