If the governor had to have a new lt. governor, then surely he should pick his running mate. Inos’s confirmation was also a foregone conclusion. Why would anyone oppose it? Eloy is qualified to be lt. governor and everyone likes him. His geniality is well-known and, well, across the board — even when his party was on a slash-and-burn mode eight years ago. The Covenant Party ran a nasty campaign in 2001. Its standard bearer even threatened to beat up a Variety reporter — in public, during a House session. But Eloy, one of the campaign managers, was above all that and always treated everyone politely.
***
And so there they were last week in the Senate chamber, former lawmakers, including former Senate presidents and House speakers. They came from a different and more optimistic era, those pre-Covenant and TT period followed by the boom of the early commonwealth days when there wasn’t a problem that couldn’t be solved by dumping taxpayer dollars on it.
To remind yourself of their legacy, look around you.
To remind yourself of their legacy, look around you.
***
There was also nothing unusual with the ruling party’s “overwhelming show of force” on Capital Hill last week. As the head of the party in power and in charge of doling out government jobs and contracts, any incumbent governor seeking re-election can always count on a great turnout for his events. I am speaking as someone who, since 1993, has witnessed the rallies of incumbent governors. Guess how many of them won a second term.
***
The GOP will remain a formidable force after its primary next month. Since 1977, it has held open gubernatorial primaries and came out strong on Election Day. The only time its candidate was overwhelmingly rejected by the electorate was in 2005, when it didn’t hold a primary.
But the GOP has learned from that blunder and is now conducting what appears to be a “beauty contest” of a primary. The two factions will not go negative on each other because they’re already looking forward to November and the possible runoff.
The party that, since 1997, has won five of the seven CNMI gubernatorial elections is also poised to come up with a complete legislative slate that is expected to retain control of the Legislature.
Some say that the non-Republicans might “mess” up the open primary. Sure. But they’ve been saying the same thing since 1977 but each time the GOP holds a primary, the party comes together afterward and gets into the business of winning.
But the GOP has learned from that blunder and is now conducting what appears to be a “beauty contest” of a primary. The two factions will not go negative on each other because they’re already looking forward to November and the possible runoff.
The party that, since 1997, has won five of the seven CNMI gubernatorial elections is also poised to come up with a complete legislative slate that is expected to retain control of the Legislature.
Some say that the non-Republicans might “mess” up the open primary. Sure. But they’ve been saying the same thing since 1977 but each time the GOP holds a primary, the party comes together afterward and gets into the business of winning.
***
The problem with blaming elected officials for the mess we’re all in is that it begs the question: Who put them in office in the first place?
***
You’ve got to hand it to NMC’s president. Subjected to a constant barrage of withering criticism, she kept her composure, stayed professional and did the job that had to be done. I don’t know her personally, but I saw how reactionaries — the usual suspects — pushed, figuratively speaking, then-NMC President Ken Wright off Banzai Cliff for having the audacity of proposing new ideas and acting on them, and I must say that I admire Carmen Fernandez’s poise amid all the carping of her critics.
Congratulations to the NMC board of regents for its sensible decision.
Time to move on.
Congratulations to the NMC board of regents for its sensible decision.
Time to move on.
***
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we produced them.”
— Albert Einstein
