Wilson to Announce Run for Domenici’s Seat
Written by Sam on October 5th, 2007
The Associated Press has learned Congresswoman Heather Wilson intends to seek the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by fellow Republican Pete Domenici.
Wilson made the decision yesterday after meeting with her family and notifying her staff.
A senior adviser to Wilson says she’s calling supporters around New Mexico this morning to tell them of her decision.
I took some time to read up on Heather Wilson and look over her voting record. Overall, I am pretty satisfied with her as our candidate. I think she is our best hope for keeping the seat in Republican hands and will be a reliable vote in the Senate on most issues.
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The Club for Growth would disagree with you:
http://www.clubforgrowth.org/2007/10/heather_wilsons_economic_recor.php
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Didn’t she barely squeak a win by the skin of her teeth in her own district in 2006? Pickins’ must be pretty slim if this is your best hope.
Isn’t she a crook, too?
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I think NM is one of those places where you bite the bullet. We can’t afford a fillibuster proof Dem majority next time around.
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She’s been continuously re-elected in a Democrat-leaning district for several terms now. She’s one of the DNC’s top targets every cycle and yet continues to win. This past year, she defeated the popular (if not all that bright) state AG in a horrible year for Republicans. The fact that she’s won “by the skin of her teeth” for so long is a testament to her strength -not weakness- as a candidate.
Is she my favorite candidate? No. Do I think she’s a strong conservative? No. But Mark’s right- sometimes we have to bite the bullet, especially when we are faced with a 60-seat Dem majority in the Senate.
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If you guys are complaining about her then she must be either a) a moderate Republican. b) centrist or c) Liberal Republican!!
But look–Both the Dem and Republican parties are starting to look so much alike, that in eight years, you may end up voting Democrat because they are the more “conservative party”!!
Anyway, it is about time that the party’s switch their roles again.
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for a blog that states its who point of existance to be to say that moderate republicans aren’t more winnable then real conservatives, this is pretty weak.
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Actually–it depends on the local electorate. There are places where a moderate Republican can win over a more conservative one and their are places where it switch. Then there are places where winning as a republican is next to impossible(but it happens sometimes).
Why are you concerned about how “conservative” she is? Sometimes conservative ideas work in some situations, sometimes liberal ones.(Sometimes neither!!) What one should be concerned with is would she contribute to the nation, the state and her constituents in the most beneficial manner.
The concern of “will she keep my team in power” or “Help my team maintain a filibuster proof minority” is forgetting the main reasons why she should win and reduces to simplistic notions of “us” against “them”,
Forget that crap–focus on the Big picture and present workable ideas. That will bring the missing voters to the booths for you.
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wow, interesting how you guys skip over Bush killing health care for all those kids….
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Interesting how you use rhetoric such as “killing health care for all those kids” when in fact he favored the program, and growing it moderately, not using it as a vehicle for socialized medicine as the Democrats have done. Actually, not interesting at all, pretty typical.
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I think you’re partly right, Chaotiform, on eschewing the “us vs. them” mentality. I think it leads to some very unhealthy divisions in our government. Conflict breeds more conflict until pretty soon the two parties, each self-assured of their own righteousness, sees the other party as the enemy, rather than just the loyal opposition. Then they put all their efforts into beating the other guy, rather than caring about the country.
Nevertheless, I’m not a conservative for my health. I’m a conservative because I truly believe, with all my heart, that small government, lower taxes, and individual liberty combined with traditional values are the best things for our country. If you disagree, that’s fine. But how can I bring myself to compromise on what I consider to be the only correct course for our country? How can we follow a “bi-partisan” course of action that’s only going to water down and in some cases negate the ideas we have?
Sorry liberal Democrats, but you’re wrong- flat wrong. And if you’re in power for too long, you will hurt our country immensely. And I’m sure our liberal friends will say the same thing about us. American politics IS a competition- not just of ideas, but of candidates too. We have to compete, and sometimes it gets ugly. Our system creates an “us vs. them” mentality that is inescapable, even for the most bi-partisan among us.
Some political dude told once told me this: “In the Olympics, second place gets the silver. In politics, second place gets your ass on the couch while the guy who beat you makes policy.” You may call this “simplistic”, but it’s why we compete so ferociously.
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Oh, and Chaotiform is right about how our support of certain candidates must depend on the local electorate. In an earlier post about Rudy, I wrote that politics will always be a balancing act between political idealism and cold, hard reality… or something like that.
Well, Rep. Wilson probably isn’t our “ideal” candidate. But what’s the reality? She’s our best chance to keep a seat we desperately need. She’s a seasoned campaigner running in a swing state that tilts left in what will be another awful year for Republicans. And as far as philosophy goes, I find her to be sufficiently conservative (but my fellow bloggers are welcome to disagree on that one).
Now, contrast this to our friend “Sen. Grahamnesty” over in S. Carolina. That state is conservative enough to elect someone more conservative than Graham next year. I doubt they will, but supporting a primary challenge would be neither unrealistic nor unfeasible. As Chaotiform said, it depends on the local electorate.
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A filibuster proof democrat majority would be the best thing for the republic.
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A filibuster proof (party A) Congress with (Party A) owning the white house tuns my stomach!!
Better if the parties have to wrestle over the issues instead of one ignoring the other.
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So Langley, what exactly is wrong with socialized medicine? You have never had to go to the emergency room without insurance have you? Too bad you didnt get the $650 ambulance bill, forget about the hosptial stay or procedures, how does a middle class family pay for that if little billy breaks his arm and gets burned?
We can spend $10 billion a month on a war, but not that much over 5 years the healthcare of children? Get your priorities together, healthy kids = healthy economy = healthy nation.