New Mexico’s governor, Susana Martinez, the first female Hispanic governor in the United States, added her story to the theme running through the Republican Convention of fulfilling the American dream, that in America everything is possible.
Growing up in a border town, her parents taught her to never give up and to believe that her future could be whatever she wanted it to be. Success, they taught her, is “built on a foundation of courage, hard work, and individual responsibility.” Despite what some would have us believe, “Success is not built on resentment and fear.”
Her father had been in the marines and a sheriff, her mother an office assistant, and they decided to start their own security business. They didn’t have much money, but they believed in the American dream!
Governor Martinez got quite a reaction from the crowd when she told about her involvement in the business when, at 18, she guarded the parking lot at the church bingos with a Smith & Wesson 357 magnum. Her parents built their business to 125 employees in three states. There was help along the way, but they were the ones who took the risk, and “they built it!”
Her parents also taught her to have the courage to stand for something. She became a prosecutor and stood up for the victims of child abuse. She stood up against the district attorney when called to testify against him, and was fired; then ran against him and defeated him by a landslide. The governor expressed her fear that some of our leaders lack the courage to stand up; that today we have politicians who have no real plans and who only stand up when they want to blame someone else. She said that she wasn’t saying that because there is a Democrat in the White House, and in fact, she used to be a Democrat herself (see “I’ll Be Damned – We’re Republicans”).
With so many people out of work, and our debt out of control, this election needs to be about those issues, she contends. She contrasted her tenure as the governor of New Mexico with Obama’s presidency. She had inherited the largest structural deficit in state history and turned that deficit into a surplus (without raising taxes) – with a legislature controlled by Democrats! In contrast, Obama promised to bring us together, cut unemployment, pass immigration reform in the first year, and cut the deficit in half in his first term. He hasn’t even come close, and there hasn’t been a budget passed in three years.
She concludes with her endorsement of Mitt Romney. They had different starts in life, different paths to leadership, and different cultures, but they both have shared in the promise of America. Success is the American dream and not something to be ashamed of or demonized.
“There is one candidate in this election who will protect that dream, one leader who will fight hard to keep the promise of America for the next generation. And that’s why we must stand up and make Mitt Romney the next President of The United States!”
Jackson Liberty Letter 