Marc Schenker: Palin tells Obama to stop kowtowing to the Mexican President

In a piece posted at the Examiner today, Marc Schenker commends Governor Palin for taking Obama to task for his recent kowtowing to Mexican President, Felipe Calderón. He writes:

In an appearance on Fox News’ new Justice with Judge Jeanine (Pirro, that is) program, Palin was asked about her thoughts on the Mexican president and his refusal to take responsibility for the drug-cartel catastrophe in his own country. Calderon has a long and repulsive history of shifting the blame to America for his country’s faults, which is why the question directed at Palin was so appropriate and relevant. A couple of examples of the Mexican president’s blame-America moments included last year, when he wrongly demeaned Arizona’s anti-illegal immigrant law, and just last month before his White House visit, when he told El Universal newspaper that the fault of the Mexican drug cartels is really America’s, because of its appetite for drugs.

Calderon is clearly and fully partaking in a bash-America policy to distract from his failures to provide better security as Mexican leader. His repulsive attitude can be compared, for instance, to Obama blaming his loss of one-half of Congress to “negative” campaigning from the GOP, when it can really be explained by his push for widely unpopular legislation like Obamacare, just to name one. In short, it’s an attitude of scapegoating something else instead of owning up to your own faults, which is always an attitude that must not be tolerated due to its sheer intellectual dishonesty.

Palin accurately branding Obama’s reaction to Calderon as “kowtowing” is very apropos since Obama’s own behavior verifies his kowtowing. Take for instance the way that Obama agreed with Calderon on basically everything and failed to criticize him during their joint news conference from a few days ago. And this coming after the fact that Calderon’s country’s idiotic law made it possible for ICE agent Jaime Zapata to be killed (Mexico has the cojones to actually ban American agents from carrying guns on them while in Mexico!). Perversely, Obama seems to assume that making sure he does not dare offend the “mighty” Mexican leader and his third-world country is more important than looking out for fellow Americans. Mexico is the US’ second-largest export market, so Obama seems to be kowtowing to Calderon to ensure that does not get endangered. However, the US has more leverage against Mexico when you consider all the US taxpayer money it gives Mexico in the form of aid. With that leverage, Obama shouldn’t kowtow, but yet he does, because he’s the apologist-president.

Palin was right on the money with this basic principle. The US shouldn’t kowtow to Mexico (even under Obama) because of all the harm that Mexico does the US with all the illegals coming across the border and raising hell. This raising hell is reflected in illegal alien crime, the stealing of US jobs, and also the increased costs to American taxpayers of providing services to these aliens. A secure US-Mexico border helps the US more than it does Mexico, which is why Calderon has been so impotent in doing anything about the drug cartels. After all, all the aliens who enter the US take money out of the US when they send home remittances to help prop up a shabby Mexican economy.

You can read the article in it's entirety here.

Martinez Up 12 Points in New Mexico

Susana Martinez appears to be running away with the New Mexico governor's race. The latest poll from SurveyUSA has her up over Diane Denish by 12 points. Ed Morrissey writes at HotAir:

New Mexico’s Lieutenant Governor, Democrat Diane Denish, figured that she could just follow outgoing Democratic Governor Bill Richardson into the top spot without too much trouble, but it hasn’t exactly worked out that way. First, her campaign made a couple of missteps, including one doozy where Denish aired an attack ad against Susana Martinez that featured a teacher who later turned out to also be the wife of a kidnapper that Martinez had prosecuted. Denish then had Barack Obama campaign for her, who endorsed her while mispronouncing her name.

That adds up to disaster, and Survey USA captures it clearly:

In an election for New Mexico Governor today, 10/15/10, Republican Susana Martinez defeats Democrat Diane Denish 54% to 42%, according to this latest exclusive KOB-TV poll conducted by SurveyUSA. Martinez’ advantage is even stronger among voters who tell SurveyUSA they have already returned a ballot.

Martinez is at or above 50% among both men and women, young and old, upper income and lower income. Denish leads among Hispanics and Native Americans, but not by enough to overcome Martinez’ 2:1 advantage among whites. Denish holds just 71% of Democratic voters; 27% defect. Independents break Republican. Among the handful of New Mexico voters who think health care and education are the most important issue in the election, the Democrat leads. But among the majority of voters who think the economy is the most important issue, the Republican leads.

Martinez leads in all age demographics, in the two income demographics, in the two general regions used by Survey USA, and among those who have already voted and those who have not yet voted. Among those who have already cast ballots, Martinez leads by 24 point, 60/36, which means that each day that passes, Denish has less time and more ground to make up. It’s a vicious cycle for the Democrat, who needs a huge gamechanger but may not have enough time even if one arrives, thanks to early voting.

How did Martinez get so far ahead? Richardson’s administration has had a dark cloud over it for some time regarding corruption, and that obviously doesn’t help his second in command. Martinez beats Denish on the top issues as well. While Denish has a significant lead in health care (58/40) and an overwhelming lead on education (73/22), Denish trails badly on the top issues of this cycle: the economy (41/57), federal deficits and spending (14/83), and immigration (32/61).

This race appears over, and it looks like Republicans will get New Mexico back. That may have some impact on the House races as well, perhaps especially Steve Pearce.

My relatives in the state are ecstatic. After putting up with Bill Richardson for so long, they finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I will add that the election isn't over just yet, therefore those I know who are volunteering for this campaign are still working very hard and plan to do so until the last minute.

I have an exit question... How happy is Christine O'Donnell that Obama is going to campaign for Chris Coons?

Sarah Palin Fights Corruption Again with Martinez Pick

(Susana Martinez, future Governor of New Mexico)

Saturday, Governor Palin announced her support for Susana Martinez in the GOP primary race for New Mexico Governor. Heath Haussamen gives a little overview of the race:

Martinez is in a five-way Republican primary battle. Many analysts believe the race is down to Martinez and Allen Weh, who has been able to outspend Martinez nearly 3-1 because he’s pumped $1 million of his own money into his campaign. Martinez, however, has raised more money from individual donors than Weh or any other candidate in the race.

My mother lives in New Mexico and was very pleased when I talked to her about Governor Palin's endorsement of Martinez. She, being a very big fan of Governor Palin and also currently supporting Susana Martinez, thought it was nice to see the two world's collide. She also attended the rally at the Albuquerque Marriott on Sunday morning and enjoyed seeing the governor give a "great speech" yet again. My mother got to see Governor Palin during the 2008 Presidential Election when the McCain campaign stopped over in New Mexico. Living in San Diego, I still have yet to see her give a speech or attend a political event she is involved with.

Tip for SarahPAC: A rally for Carly Fiorina at the Oceanside Pier Amphitheater with Governor Palin would be a great event. It's near Camp Pendleton (lots of Marines... Marines love the Guv.) and it's located in North County which is the more Conservative area of the county. It is the site of the last Tea Party I attended. I'm just throwing that out there, and now I digress...

Anyway, I had a long conversation with my mother about why she was supporting Martinez. One of the biggest issues in New Mexico, as it was in Alaska, is political corruption. After Bill Richardson's stint in that governor's chair, New Mexico is in dire need of clean leadership. Their problems are rooted deep and seem to be widespread. They need someone that has a record as an anti-corruption crusader, as Susana Martinez has.

From the Martinez Campaign website:

Corruption

Public Officials Will Be Held to Account and Integrity in Government Restored

There will be no higher priority in a Martinez Administration than rooting out corruption in Santa Fe and instilling confidence on the part of the voter and taxpayer in their state government. The waste, fraud and abuse of public funds and taxpayer dollars will cease and those involved in exploiting New Mexico citizens will be confronted head on when I am governor.

Identifying and eliminating corruption will require real, substantive changes in the Roundhouse with the first being, Diane Denish no longer serving in state government. Recently and in response to news that the U.S. Department of Justice would not prosecute the Richardson Administration, Lieutenant Governor Denish responded, “It’s good news for New Mexico.” (Release, Diane Denish, 8/27/09)

Denish’s comment was especially troubling because the U.S. Attorney for New Mexico believed “pressure from the governor’s office resulted in the corruption of the procurement process” and pointed out that the lack of indictments “should not be interpreted as exoneration of any party’s conduct in that matter.” (NM Independent, 8/31/09)

The truth is that “pay to play” has become commonplace and part of everyday business in Santa Fe under Diane Denish’s watch and no one believes that “it’s good news for New Mexico.”

A powerful government without checks and balances is ripe for corruption. That’s why I believe we need a smaller government that is open and transparent. As governor, I will support opening conference committees to the public and will use my prosecutorial experience to end “pay to play” in state government.

Here is a clip of Susana Martinez answering a question from a listener to a New Mexico talk show on the topic:


I can see why Governor Palin chose to endorse this candidacy. She, herself having such a strong record of cleaning up corruption and taking on the crooked establishment. Susana Martinez is also pro-life and a very strong advocate of the second amendment, but I think her record as a corruption fighter probably won over Governor Palin the most. The governor's Facebook statement indicates as much:

"I’m proud to endorse Susana Martinez for governor of New Mexico. Susana is a strong pro-family, pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, pro-development fiscal conservative who’s going to fight the corruption that’s plagued her state and bring transparency, accountability, and renewed fiscal vitality to New Mexico.

As a tough district attorney, Susana fights for justice everyday in this promising, beautiful state. Her unwavering commitment to bring justice speaks to her determination and strength of character.

As governor, Susana will lead New Mexico to a new economic vitality based on free market reform that cuts out the cronyism, invites competition, reduces taxes, cuts waste, and creates jobs – all while identifying and rooting out the corruption that has taken hold for too long in this state which deserves so much better!"

Another stellar pick from Governor Palin for this primary season. I sincerely hope this puts Susana Martinez over her competitor. No offense to him, considering I don't know much about the guy, but I understand the need for a strong, anti-corruption, Conservative for the job. Susana Martinez is the person for the job.