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In New Mexico, Trump Fails to Enchant

Ruben Navarrett Jr. on

SAN DIEGO -- Never mind Texas. Don't mess with New Mexico!

Apparently, it's the Land of Enchantment you have to be careful with if you're a demagogue running for president who portrays Mexico as corrupt and Mexicans as predators.

If you're peddling insults and intolerance, you might want to steer clear of those parts. Latinos make up as much as 48 percent of the state's population, and politics there has more sting than a bucket full of scorpions.

For New Mexicans, the toughest decisions often come down to a choice not between red and blue but between red and green. While it has a Republican governor, the state is solidly Democratic. Most people know who they're going to vote for, and the only unanswered question is what kind of chile to put on their enchiladas.

My father's family comes from New Mexico. My grandparents were married in the southern part of the state, where two of my uncles were born. I still have cousins who live there. And I've covered political happenings in the state -- from nearby vantage points such as Arizona, Texas and California -- for nearly 20 years.

And so I wasn't at all surprised when Donald Trump's appearance at a campaign event in Albuquerque was disrupted last week by activists who oppose his message. There were protests inside the arena and rioting outside. Protesters clashed with police, waved Mexican flags and destroyed property.

 

Let's be clear. There's no defending violence and mayhem. The protesters were out of line.

Still, what I find appealing is that -- in a country where many Republicans who a few months ago were declaring "never Trump" are now embracing the businessman as their party's nominee -- New Mexicans aren't going to play that game. They're standing their ground.

It starts at the top, where Republican Gov. Susana Martinez refused to appear with her party's presumptive presidential nominee. Last month, she called Trump's plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and make Mexico pay for it unrealistic and irresponsible. Four years ago, Martinez said much the same thing about Mitt Romney's plan for illegal immigrants to "self-deport."

Martinez spared herself from having to spend an afternoon with Trump by claiming she was "really busy" and "focused on what is going on here in New Mexico."

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Copyright 2016 Washington Post Writers Group

 

 

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