Shendo Endorsement Retraction

Deplorable Insinuation Drops Shendo from Contention:
Last week, the blog endorsed the campaign of Benny Shendo, Jr., in its bid to become the Democratic nominee in the race to replace outgoing Congressman Tom Udall. That endorsement is now fervently retracted.

Early this week, while speaking at a forum of candidates in Farmingston, Shendo insinuated that New Mexico Public Regulation Commissioner Ben Ray Lujan, who is the front-runner in the third district race, is homosexual. While Shendo's motives in doing so remain less than clear they can't be good.

First, if the motive was to play upon the fears of moderate third district Democratic voters, such as Hispanic Catholics, who might otherwise be inclined to support Lujan, in hopes of turning them away from the Commissioner's candidacy by portraying him as having questionable social values and practices, then it is certainly ignoble at best, and deplorable at worst.

Lay aside the fact that a person sexual orientation has absolutely nothing to do with their ability to lead and deliver results for a constituency at any level, and this is personal character assault politics at its worst. Quixotically, Shendo had positioned himself as the candidate of progressive change in the crowded thirst district race- he now most certainly has retracted any claims on that desirable conjecture.

Secondly, if Shendo's motive was to portray Lujan as incapable of understanding the familial situations of most third district voters because he is not engaged in a same-sex relationship (Lujan, by the way, is involved in what he calls a 'committed' relationship with a member of the opposite sex), he is still way off base. Those folks in same-sex partnerships are, of course, equally aware of the concerns, joys, and challenges that come in the face of any relationship, and the tide of public discourse and thought is coming more and more into alignment with this notion, though there remains substantial work to be done, as Shendo's insidious remarks make painfully clear.

With Shendo's huge misfiring, the 3rd district loses the viability of what had been its most progressive and appealing candidate. New Mexico blogger Joe Monahan got it right this morning when he said that many of the progressive, liberal leaning voters who would have constituted Shendo's small but devoted base heading into the primary would now detract from the campaign. Speaking personally, that certainly holds true, and I will now back Ben Ray Lujan in his bid to become the next Congressman from New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District.

More importantly though, right now, I feel saddened that we have not transcended the personal attacks of sexual orientation in our politics. Still, this painful realization makes abundantly clear the significance of the progressive movement and its battle to ensure that every person across this country has the ability to be treated with dignity, respect, and make good on their potential.