New Mexico Dems have been waiting for someone to step up to the plate to take on Sen. Pete Domenici. Tom Udall’s name has been bandied about, as has Rick Homans. But a blast from the recent past may beat them all to the punch — Patricia Madrid.
According to an inside source, the former New Mexico Attorney General is considering a run against Sen. Pete Domenici. In her last run for office, she fell to Rep. Heather Wilson by less than 900 votes.
So why would Madrid be considering a run for Senate? There are actually some very real reasons why it would be worthwhile.
Read the reasons under the fold. Crossposted at New Mexico FBIHOP, MyDD and Daily Kos.
For one, Madrid is an established personality in New Mexico. She won a statewide election — twice — for Attorney General, and narrowly lost a tough election to Wilson. I’m guessing that nearly everyone in New Mexico knows Madrid.
For another, she has a large donor base. She raised $3.3 million for last November’s race. She proved she can raise the money. I’m sure the DSCC would pitch in a large amount of money to any credible candidate who was willing to take on the 74-year old senior Senator. And his warchest, $540,000, isn’t exactly an unbeatable number. Tom Udall has more in his warchest without raising money so far this year.
Obviously, from her run in November, Madrid wants to be in Washington. And she does need a job… Perhaps a job in the US Senate, goes the thinking.
But the number one reason Madrid may be considering a run is that she, and many, feels Domenici is vulnerable. With the recent Iglesias scandal and a number of other things (is his age getting to him? That hawkish position on Iraq isn’t looking so good right now, etc.), he is no longer the unbeatable legend he once was.
Madrid even weighed in on political interference into court-goings on back in March. Madrid alleged Domenici and Wilson also have involved themselves in the probe of the state treasurer scandal. So she has been paying attention, and she knows Domenici is vulnerable.
There are still those who believe that Domenici is as unbeatable as he was two years ago. I believe his reputation has been damaged, and there isn’t any sign of the current US Attorney scandal going away. And also for those who believe Domenici is unbeatable, you just have to say three words. George Allen; macaca.
I’m not saying Domenici has any racist remarks ready to come from his lips. What I am saying is that one moment, George Allen was the unbeatable incumbent, a frontrunner for the Republican Presidential nomination. The next moment, he was embroiled in a fight for his political career with Jim Webb; a fight that he ultimately lost.
Or if you want another example, how about Conrad Burns (who is actually three years younger than Domenici). Again in a YouTube moment, Burns was caught resting his eyes, cementing the image of an over-the-hill Senator, too old to serve. Of course, Burns also insulted firefighters and referred to taxicab terrorists.
I’ll say it once again, because it is that important — Domenici has the big ol’ scandal target on his back. When you get that scandal target on your back, people start looking closer into things they might have let go before.
Considering all of this, it’s surprising Madrid is the only one rumored to be expressing real interest in taking on our senior Senator.
Sure. But I have serious reservations about her. I think Udall, Albuquerque mayor Martin Chavez and obviously Bill Richardson would be much stronger candidates. For me its not even so much that she lost, Heather Wilson is a seasoned politician and that’s excusable.
But its how she lost that gets me. I am one of those who thinks she was a victim of Youtube. She had that race won and when she couldn’t answer that question, a pretty standard question, that’s the difference between a 900 vote loss and a 900 vote victory.
But perhaps Madrid could “inspire” a stronger challenger, or several stronger challengers, to emerge.