The two said they are prepared to face a primary if there are other GOP teams seeking the party’s nomination.
“Whoever loses, we hope, will support the winner in the primary,” said Palacios during the press conference held at their As Lito campaign headquarters.
Former Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente, currently a member of the House, earlier submitted to the GOP his intent to run as governor, but Variety learned that he may reconsider.
Another Republican, former Gov. Juan N. Babauta, has selected Galvin S. Deleon Guerrero as his running mate and announced that they are seeking the GOP nomination.
‘For the people’
Former GOP president Tom Pangelinan said the Heinz-Arnold ticket is “for real change and new ideas.”
Pangelinan will be the team’s campaign manager.
Rep. David M. Apatang, R-Saipan, who was Hofschneider’s running mate in the 2005 general elections, also endorsed the new ticket.
“They care for the people, they are for the people and they will work hard for the people,” Apatang said. “It is an exciting ticket.”
Apatang is retiring from politics once his term ends in Jan. 2010.
The Hofschneider-Apatang ticket lost to the Fitial-Villagomez tandem by just 84 votes.
Hofschneider said times are tough but he and Palacios are ready to face the challenges.
“Over the years, we have squandered our good fortune with short-sighted government policies, designed more to win elections and important constituent groups and less and less to serve the public interest. This approach has brought us close to ruin and revealed deep fractures in our community,” said Hofschneider.
“It is time for the people of the commonwealth to come together to build a community that recognizes the value of hard work and rewards based on performance…. With these tough times come opportunities. There is no shortage of wrongs to right, and the list of needs grows longer every day. On this point, the CNMI is no different from communities around the world reeling from a contraction in global economic activity,” he added.
Palacios, for his part, said their goal is to build a coalition among the different political groups in the CNMI.
“To my colleagues across the political spectrum, in different political parties, those independents, and to my colleagues in the Republican Party — I extend a hand — join us in building a coalition of broad-based support, strong enough to work through the challenges ahead,” he said.
Economic agenda
The two said there is no magic formula to instantly lift the CNMI’s economy from a deepening slump.
But with right government policies, they believe that it can be accomplished in time.
“There is no magic bullet. There is only hard work and good ideas, and the will to create an environment in which these critical components can be applied unimpeded by self-interest and self-dealing,” said Hofschneider.
“There will be hardships and many sacrifices along the way, but Arnold and I believe that we can achieve this vision if and only if we pull together. We believe this economy can be rebuilt with the right mix of ideas, hard work, the cooperation and full participation of our entire community and let’s not forget optimism. Arnold and I are optimistic that we can turn things around for the people of the commonwealth,” he added.
Palacios said their team will come up with a more detailed economic agenda in the coming days.
The two said reviving the local tourism industry through enticing more international carriers to serve the Saipan route, maintaining a stable and affordable power supply and creating jobs for the local people are their top priorities.
“We must restore the confidence of the people in our government,” said Hofschneider.
The two said their goal is to create an environment where locals would want to stay in their own homeland.
