Richard Romero and Miles Nelson, who want the Democratic nomination to oppose Rep. Heather Wilson in November, debated at UNM’s Continuing Education Center Monday evening.
It was tempting to see Romero as Kerry, Dr. Nelson as Dean.
Dr. Nelson was strong, ideological and dynamic. Sen. Romero was reasonably strong, but none of the rest. He talked practical politics. However, Romero did not get lost in nuance. Nor did he waffle. So the Kerry comparison doesn’t work.
The debate contained a surprising confusion. On health care, Dr. Nelson said he favored a single-payer system. Sen. Romero said he agreed with the goal, but that it might be impractical. He said that the Clintons’ single-payer proposal boomeranged, leading to the takeover of the House by Republicans of the Gingrich persuasion.
But the Clintons did not propose single-payer. Theirs was a complex scheme that employed private health insurors.
And nobody, not even Dr. Nelson, pointed that out.