With his recent $475,000 personal contribution to his Congressional campaign, Second District Democrat Harry Teague is looking to put the nail in the coffin on what has been a hard-fought race against the young and charismatic Dona Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley. McCamley responsed today by holding a press conference to announce that he'd made a campaign contribution of his own, loaning himself $47.50 to fill his gas tank. Your humble blogger is many things, but a mathematician is not one of them. Still, I can safely say that Teague's donation outpaces McCamley's 10,000-fold. Point made.
However, while McCamley was quick to use the size and timing of Teague's hefty personal cash injection to make the point that the former Lea County Commissioner's campaign is both elitist and struggling to keep pace with his own more modestly funded effort, Teague continued doing what he's done this entire campaign--talk to voters about making progress on the issues they care about most.
In something of a concerning move, McCamley called a press conference to announce the $47.50 contribution and also take swipes at Teague's ties to, and funding from, oil executive. Lambasting Teague's money sources, McCamley said 'I don’t have that kind of money,” adding that 'every time you see a Harry Teague commercial, know that you are paying for it every time you buy $4-per-gallon gas'. Closer analysis, however, reveals that there's more to the story than McCamley's criticism would suggest.
While it is true that Teague is a millionaire, who has made much of his wealth in the oil industry, with which he remains close ties, he has also used his money to provide education and health care for his employees and their families. He said as much, claiming 'I provide health care for all of my employees and their families. I offer scholarships to help young people go to college, and I support dozens of causes. I helped create thousands of good-paying jobs as a county commissioner.' Clearly, Teague's comments are in-line with the developing 'real results' theme of his campaign. Whereas McCamley seems content to focus his energies on discussing everything Teague is not, the candidate from Lea County candidate seems focused on talking about what Democratic representation for the 2nd District should and could be.
A source from the Teague Campaign checks in with additional information regarding the long, hard, and undeniably compelling path the Hobbs candidate has taken to success. The fact that he does not revert to this story every time an insult is levied from the McCamley campaign indicates Teague's strong desire to stay focused on the issues that matter most to voters.
If he wanted to, Teague could remind voters that:
- the first time he had running water in his house was when he moved to hobbs when he was 9
- he dropped out of school during high school to work for less than $2/hour when his father, who could not afford health care, fell ill
- he has spent the majority of his career toiling in blue-collar type labor with which McCamley, despite his respectable non-profit work and time on the Dona Ana County Commission, has little personal experience
McCamley has provided this race with important energy and passion. Now, wouldn't it be nice if he took the same intensity to making good on his claim to want to run an issue-based campaign?
Obama Cuts Ties to Wright:
Senator Barack Obama, in an attempt to put further distance between his campaign and his fiery former Pastor Jeremiah Wright, called the pastor's comments given at a recent speech at the National Press Club, 'appalling'. Wright has been criticized for arguing that the United States deserved some of the blame for bringing on the brutal attacks of September 11th, 2001, and that the Federal government had done a good deal to bring on the AIDS crisis disproportionately afflicting black communities across the country.
Obama has had an intimate relationship with Wright for many years. Not only did he attend Wright's megachurch in Chicago, but both of his daughters were baptised by the religious leader. The Obama Campaign, which derives much of its momentum from a message of unity and stated desire to bring divided factions of the country together, has been undercut by the inflammatory tone of Wright's comments. It was this reality that inspired the Illinois to make a highly-touted speech on the role of race in U.S. politics last month, in which he refused to cut all ties between himself and Wright, but also argued that the pastor failed to acknowledge the significant progress the U.S. has made on the issue of race relations over the years.
Obama's comments Tuesday were more pointed. He claimed that 'moving forward, Rev. Wright does not speak for me, he does not speak for our campaign', noting also that Wright's rhetoric 'contradicts everything that I'm about and who I am.'
For his part, Wright characterized Obama's denouncement as disingenuous. He claimed that Obama waspandering to white, working-class voters, and questioned the integrity of his motives in distancing himself from his former pastor. 'If Senator Obama did not say what he said, he would never get elected," Wright offered. Others questioned the timing of Obama's attempt to put space between himself and Wright, claiming that the pastor had not changed his tune in any notable way in recent weeks from what it had been throughout the time he'd known Obama.
Still, looking to close the case and sever ties with Wright's fiery ideas, Obama claimed of the pastor that 'The person that I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago. His comments were not only divisive and destructive but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate." It remains to be seen whether or not Obama's words carry weight amongst the white, blue-collar workers whose votes Obama needs to court to win his party nomination and again against John McCain in November.
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