Susana Martinez makes lots of sense as a potential running mate for the eventual Republican nominee. She’s a Latina in a party that struggles with Hispanics and women, a former district attorney in a moment when the public yearns for security and a conservative who got reelected in a blue state last year with 56 percent of the vote.
In practice, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association has become a punch line among some GOP elites in D.C. She’s gotten a reputation within corners of the consultant class as Palinesque: gaffe-prone, not intellectually curious, and not up for the rigors of a national campaign.
Making it in Santa Fe is not the same as making it in Washington. New Mexico’s population is, after all, just 2.1 million.
— The latest setback for any future aspirations Martinez might have came yesterday when the tape of a police officer’s belt recorder was released publicly. The governor sounds intoxicated as she speaks with the cop about a noise complaint in her hotel room and a report that bottles had been thrown from the balcony. The officer then discusses what to do about her with a security guard from the Eldorado Hotel and Spa.
“Honestly, you know, I’ve only really been working here for like a month and a half,” the guard tells the cop in the exchange around 1:30 a.m. the Sunday before last. “So this actually is my first run-in with this sort of thing. … I would never expect the first time to be the governor. I really don’t know what to do in this situation because I can tell that she’s … kind of …”
“Inebriated,” the cop finishes.
“Yes,” the guard replied.
Susana Martinez stands in front of a state map of drunken-driving deaths during a news conference in Albuquerque on Dec. 7. The incident in question happened Dec. 13. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras, File)
The governor’s office told local press that it was snowballs, not bottles, thrown from the room. And her office said yesterday that she only had a drink and a half. Apologizing for telling a police dispatcher not to send officers, the governor told the Albuquerque Journal last Friday that she was “absolutely not” drunk during the episode. Listen to the 4-minute audio here.
— Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, both sons of Cuban immigrants, are obviously in the top tier of the GOP contest. But if the nominee is looking for a Hispanic from the west to join the ticket, Nevada Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval might be a safer bet, especially after this hotel episode. The former federal judge was also easily reelected last year.
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