Pearce Pushing or Pulling Out?

While the race for state GOP chair is flying under the radar of many other bloggers there is a melodrama developing within this contest. Allen McCulloch of Farmington is quietly putting together a coalition of supporters for his run for the chair and it is no secret Steve Pearce has expressed interest in the job. The addition of John Padoven (hasn't been active in New Mexico since the late 70's) in the race raises some questions for many astute Republican observers. There is also speculation that Earl Greer of T or C might be making a run as well. Padoven is the only candidate to announce officially that he is a candidate.

It seems everyone is waiting to to see what will the self described "very conservative" Pearce do. Apparently Steve Pearce met with a group of county chairmen and other state central committee members this week to discuss their concerns for his candidacy. One of those concerns was how long would Pearce, if elected, serve as chair? It is also no secret Pearce is interested in running again for his seat in congress that is soon to be occupied by Harry Teague. Paraphrased in the email is Pearce's response:

he is looking at running for office, however he also acknowledged the work that needs to be done to unify the Party and that this cannot be done in just one year. He was not definitive in his answer to this question but I sensed that he was aware of the concern.

Party unity also came up in discussion with Pearce.

he was very adamant on the need to bring our party together - he stated that he has no hard feelings toward Heather and would not publicly attack her - he will be meeting with her tomorrow - he did say that he does not support taking our party to the left which he says Heather advocates, but does believe in compassionate conservatism - he is not a one issue politician and believes that we need to bring conservative Democrats back into the fold as well as the independent vote - he believes that in order to do this we need to get back to our core values and redefine who we are - this does not mean to exclude people who are not lock step in every issue - public bashing of other republicans is something that we cannot continue to do

So Congressman Pearce is meeting with Congresswoman Wilson today. What will be discussed? It is my premonition that we will hear Pearce's official announcement soon following this meeting. Pearce is correct in his assessment of bringing back conservative Democrats (Hispanics) but he is wrong in his approach. He is sounding like all "very conservative" Republicans that lost the last two elections but are still advocating a return to our conservative roots.

Pearce also states that we need to redefine who we are; how can we redefine who we are when we have the same old failed leadership and ideals guiding the party? We can't return to our core conservative principles and redefine who we are at the same time. I am enthused to hear him advocate that the party needs to quit eating its own, something I've seen and experienced. Hopefully the local party gets his message.

Congressman Pearce is a good man. I was a loyal and faithful supporter of him since he first ran for congress back in 2002. I would support him if he does decide to run for congress again but not for state chair. He might be an overly ambitious man, his decision to run for senate makes this evident. He is part of the "very conservative" wing of the party that has failed to deliver in leadership.

While I think he intends to lead as a compassionate conservative, his record in congress shows otherwise. The party needs to move forward with some new blood and ideas. Congressman Pearce should do the right thing and allow candidates who are committed to serving a full term and are open to new ideas run for chair. A Pearce candidacy will only widen the great schism and hamper any future success Republicans hope to accomplish.