By DIANE DENISH
Corner to Corner
© 2023 New Mexico News Services
President Biden returned to New Mexico recently for the third time since becoming president.
I was thrilled to support the president and attend a private event soon after his arrival in Albuquerque. As is usually the case, there was a wait for the president to arrive. The welcome downpour didn’t dampen our enthusiasm. Folks were looking forward to giving him a warm welcome unlike the recent “welcome” editorial in the Albuquerque Journal.
For context, the editorial consisted of a 1,000-word litany of complaints with specific reference to immigration, delay of FEMA payments after the Northern New Mexico fires, and clean energy initiatives. The editorial concluded with an outrageous suggestion that Biden pardon the twice-impeached, three-times-indicted former president.
Rather than a litany of complaints, many less than fact-based, the welcome should have included some thanks for President Biden’s many successes, including funding under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and its many benefits to New Mexico.
The editorial might have included a simple thanks for the $1.55 billion dedicated to clean energy, which has so far created 170,600 new jobs nationally, including in New Mexico. Or perhaps thanks for helping to reduce methane leaks to improve the health of New Mexicans and reduce global warming.
The editorial complained about red tape, but no thanks for the FEMA payments recently made – $14 million – and the $50 million more in process, all of which were reported in their own paper on the day of the editorial.
Perhaps the editorial could have acknowledged the president’s continued effort to address immigration even though hamstrung by Republicans who have blocked reform in every administration including George W. Bush’s. Meanwhile the humanitarian crisis at the border becomes more dire.
And there was no mention or thanks for the CHIPS and Science Act, which the president promoted, passed and signed. This act directly benefits the semiconductor industry by restoring crucial American manufacturing and creating new jobs. This act will help grow and retain New Mexico’s semiconductor industry in which thousands are employed.
So much for the way in which the “Welcome Back to NM, Mr. President” could have truly been a welcome.
In contrast, I wanted to share another perspective of how the president brought hope and optimism to New Mexico.
In his remarks, the president acknowledged his old friend, former U.S. Sen. Fred Harris, who was in the crowd. He told a story of his first days in the Senate when his wife and daughter were killed in a tragic car accident. He contemplated leaving the Senate to care for his sons. Harris was one of a handful of senators who rallied around to support him during a time of immense grief and sadness.
Randi McGinn, the host, thanked the president for appointing New Mexican Deb Haaland as Secretary of Interior. Later in his remarks he took pride in the work they had done together protecting millions of acres.
Don Schreiber, a rancher from northwest New Mexico observed, “I was struck by his relentless optimism and his pointing to the IRA and the critical way it helps New Mexico with plugging and cleaning up of orphaned and abandoned wells.”
Many others wanted to know Sen. Harris’s thoughts. Someone asked Harris if the president was still the “same old Joe”. His response was “Better. More experienced, more confident, more optimistic.” When I asked Harris directly, he replied. “Inside and outside, he made me feel he knows what he is doing and that he firmly believes things are going to turn out all right.”
Harris wasn’t the only one who left feeling hopeful. Thanks, Mr. President, for bringing your relentless optimism to New Mexico – again!
