I like campaign literature because I learn so much about candidates seeking my vote. Yvette Herrell’s recent campaign flyer gave me many reasons why I could not respect myself if I voted for her to represent me. She is not like me. Is she like you?
Herrell brags: “No one has worked harder than Yvette Herrell to fight inflation, protect our military installations and national labs, and keep us safe from crime and open borders.” Her legislative record of 24 proposed bills and resolutions has little or nothing to do with inflation, military installations or national labs, or crime and borders. All have been introduced and referred to committees; none has received a committee vote; all will die in committee when this session of Congress ends. Her hard work will have achieved nothing.
Herrell had no co-sponsors of three bills and one resolution. Of the other 20 bills and resolutions, one of each had a total of five Democratic co-sponsors; most of the rest had a dozen or so Republican co-sponsors, mostly from the far-right. Though she had few followers, she urges District 2 citizens to “vote for proven leadership.”
The bill and resolution were trivial: a name change and a testimonial. H.R. 5829, Las Cruces Bataan Memorial Clinic Act, “designates the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Las Cruces, New Mexico, as the Las Cruces Bataan Memorial Clinic.” The two co-sponsors were New Mexico Democrats. H. Res. 7783, Recognizing military spouses of the United States of America, “recognizes military spouses for their sacrifices and acknowledges their strength and perseverance through difficult and challenging times.” For Herrell, sponsoring trivia is hard work.
Most of Herrell’s hard work was, no doubt, making speeches and casting votes related to her campaign flyer’s five points:
1. Opposed Wasteful Spending That Fueled Rising Cost Of Living. Why does she not oppose all wasteful spending, not just what she claims fueled rising costs of living? Was that spending on bills to fund rebuilding infrastructure, upgrading US productivity in computer technology, improving tax collection on the rich and large corporations, reducing prescription drug costs, and improving health care?
2. Secure the Border and Fix Our Broken Immigration System. What bills to deal with immigration did she support? Were they bills which would violate national laws and international treaties, and national laws, or be unaffordable (she backed Trump’s $25 billion wall)? Does she support family separation?
3. Protecting Our Military Bases and the Jobs The Create. Did any military bases and jobs need to be protected? Which bases? Which jobs?
4. Supporting Energy Jobs And the Education Funding The Industry Provides. Does she mean continued support for and state dependency on fossil-fuel industries? Is she opposed to alternative energy industries? Does she think that climate change is a problem or a hoax?
5. Fully Support Law Enforcement, Border Patrol & First Responders. Does she ignore police misconduct, family separation, and racially different responses to people needing help? Does she believe that criticism or reform are unsupportive?
Do not expect Herrell to work at all, much less hard, to answer these questions. She has a lazy mind which coasts on conservative slogans. She is also afraid to address tough issues which identify her differences from many District 2 residents. She omits her:
Opposition to democratic processes. She believes Trump’s lie that the election was stolen. On Capitol Insurrection Day, 6 January 2021, she voted to reject certified elections results in Arizona and Pennsylvania; she signed objections to certified election results from Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin. She opposes election reforms to prevent more election riots and to establish trustworthy election processes nationwide.
Opposition to abortion rights. She supports bills rejecting rape, incest, and women’s health or life as reasons for abortions. She disregards the religious rights of those who do not share her narrow sectarian views.
Opposition to gun control. She opposes any restriction on Second Amendment rights. She supports unregulated ownership and possession of firearms of any kind, anywhere.
Opposition to amnesty or citizenship for illegal immigrants. She does not care how long, productively, and peacefully they have lived in this country. She does not care whether enforcing the law would separate families or evict citizens born in this country.
Opposition to unregulated public education and public libraries. She wants federal or state governments to limit what schools can teach and what books people can read. She opposes teaching on or reading about racial, gender, ethnic, and identity issues.
The principle underlying Herrell’s announced platform and her unstated positions: help the powerful, hurt the people. She supports the latest Republican effort to fool the American people; the “Commitment to America” is dishonest in every clause. Its first claim is to want what Biden has already achieved, as if he has achieved nothing. Its last claim is to want to strengthen Social Security and Medicare, when it means to privatize the one and shrink the other. In between first and last, smoke and mirrors.
Yvette Herrell’s opponent, Gabe Vasquez, who is Senator Martin Heinrich’s lapdog, has never impressed me; he appears hypocritical and opportunistic. But he is unlikely to be worse.
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