Pubdate: Sun, 08 Oct 2000
Source: Santa Fe New Mexican (NM)
Copyright: 2000 The Santa Fe New Mexican
Contact:  202 E Marcy, Santa Fe, N.M. 87501
Fax: (505) 986-3040
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Website: http://www.sfnewmexican.com/
Author: Mark Hummels

POLL SHOWS NEW MEXICANS ARE WARMING UP TO HIS POSITIONS ON DRUG LAWS,
SCHOOL VOUCHERS

Gov. Gary Johnson's standing with New Mexico voters is on the mend after 
slumping last year when he began crusading for an overhaul of the nation's 
laws against drugs.

A new poll also shows that the governor's position on drug-law reform and 
school vouchers - another of Johnson's signature issues - appear to be 
catching on with voters.

Respondents to the poll also indicated overwhelming support for the death 
penalty but unhappiness with casino gambling on Indian reservations.

And nearly half said they would favor allowing communities to eliminate 
elected school boards to shift authority over spending and curriculum to 
individual schools.

The findings come in a statewide poll commissioned by The New Mexican from 
Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc. in Washington, D.C. The random 
telephone survey included interviews with 422 registered voters in New 
Mexico who said they plan to vote on Nov. 7.

State Republican Party Chairman John Dendahl said the new findings "show a 
movement toward positions that Gary Johnson has been strongly advocating" 
and suggest Republicans need to "redouble our efforts" to elect lawmakers 
who will back the governor's proposals.

"We need to have a Legislature that is willing to take a new look at some 
old problems with an idea that changes need to be made," Dendahl said.

Johnson, a Republican, has been thwarted in many of his legislative 
initiatives by lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

The governor, who has said he won't seek elective office again after his 
term ends, said Friday his new approval rating - along with what appears to 
be a growing public willingness to consider his arguments about drug laws - 
might relate to the work he's done in selling his message.

"A year and a couple months ago, when I talked about (legalizing drugs), I 
might as well have thrown out a stink grenade in the audience. I mean, that 
was the reaction," he said. "Today, I'm being listened to."

At the same time, Johnson has toned down his rhetoric considerably.

While still insisting that the nation's war on drugs is a failure, Johnson 
has backed away from his call to legalize heroin and instead focuses on 
legalization of marijuana and strategies to reduce harm from other drugs.

In the new poll, 14 percent of respondents gave Johnson an "excellent" 
performance rating and 39 percent said his performance is "good." Another 
16 percent gave the governor a grade of "poor."

The ratings are up from a statewide poll in December that found 49 percent 
rating Johnson's performance as excellent or good, with 24 percent 
describing it as poor.

The 49 percent approval rating reflected a drop from a good-to-excellent 
rating of 60 percent in a poll conducted in August of last year. Many 
attributed the decline to Johnson's controversial calls for drug legalization.

The polls have a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Johnson said Friday he has tried to take his drug-law reform talk on the 
road to "every town in New Mexico, for anybody that wants to listen 
certainly, so I've been working hard at it."

He said he still has a backlog of invitations for speaking engagements, and 
he wins converts to his cause at every event.

"If you hammer away at it enough - and I've got a couple more years (as 
governor) - at least I don't think that people will think it's unreasoned," 
Johnson said.

In the poll last week, 47 percent said they agreed that "money is being 
wasted on trying to enforce drug laws and that the money would be better 
spent on treatment programs for drug users." Forty percent disagreed and 13 
percent were undecided.

The poll in December did not ask that same question, but did find 76 
percent of respondents stating they opposed Johnson's "position on drugs."

Diane Denish, chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, said she wishes 
Johnson would "put some money behind prevention and treatment" instead of 
merely waging a speech campaign.

"He hasn't put money into treatment and prevention. He's just mostly talked 
about legalization," she said.

Another of Johnson's pet issues that appears to be gaining ground in public 
sentiment is school vouchers. Nearly half of voters surveyed last week said 
they support government vouchers that would allow parents to pay tuition 
for their children to attend private schools.

The question registered 48 percent in favor, 42 percent opposed and 10 
percent undecided. In a poll last December, just 39 percent supported 
school vouchers while 50 percent opposed them and 12 percent were undecided.

"I think people are coming to grips with what vouchers represent, and that 
it really is a no-lose," said Johnson, who contends competition among 
schools for students will raise standards and achievement.

Carla Lopez, president of the Santa Fe Board of Education, said support for 
vouchers comes from people wanting a "quick fix to a very complicated 
issue" that private schools and vouchers will not solve.

"I don't think that people understand that private schools are not opening 
their doors wide to every child, are not equipped to handle every child, 
which is absolutely required of public schools," she said.

"People want the public schools to be fixed today and it's a long process."

In what may be a reflection of frustration with schools today, nearly half 
- - 46 percent - of those surveyed said they would support "allowing 
communities to eliminate elected school boards and permit each school to 
make its own decisions on how money should be spent and what the students 
should be taught."

Lopez said the question itself likely confused people. "Which part of the 
question are you saying yes to?" she asked.

She said she can't imagine how hundreds of autonomous schools would be 
better-equipped to deal with the many complicated issues now handled by the 
central administrative offices. "I just don't see it."

Others, however, found the survey results exciting.

"These numbers confirm that New Mexico voters are ready to support real 
systemic education reform, and that makes it safe for policy-makers to 
support bolder solutions now," said Fred Nathan, executive director of 
Think New Mexico.

The Santa Fe-based think tank led the charge this year to enact full-day 
kindergarten legislation and will be lobbying next year for 
decentralization of public schools.

"If we are going to demand more accountability from schools and principals, 
then we also need to provide them with the tools and resources to do their 
jobs," Nathan said.

"That means control of their budgets, hiring and curriculum."

One aspect of Gov. Johnson's political legacy that isn't winning praise is 
the arrival of Indian casinos in New Mexico. Soon after entering his first 
term in office, Johnson signed compacts with tribes to allow casinos.

Last week's poll found 55 percent of respondents think the development of 
casino gambling on the reservations has been a bad thing, while only 33 
percent think it has been a good thing, and 12 percent are not sure.

Guy Clark, executive director of the New Mexico Coalition Against Gambling, 
said opposition to the casinos increases as more and more people see the 
problems gambling has brought.

"The casinos cause a lot of economic damage and social injury, and the 
longer it's with us, the more obvious all that becomes," Clark said.

"So people are just becoming more aware of the drastic pain inflicted by 
the level of compulsive gamblers and the business failures that it's causing."

Johnson insists that New Mexico opened the door to other forms of gambling 
long before his tenure as governor and that he was forced to allow Indian 
casinos under terms of federal law.

Yet many see Johnson as the man who brought widespread gambling to the state.

"It will be one of the issues that he will have credit and blame for when 
he leaves office," Denish said. "I think it's had some positive effects for 
the Native Americans, but I think it's had a negative impact on the economy 
as a whole."

Now that casinos are established, they generate enough money to create 
their own political clout and protect their interests, Clark said.

"I've called them the 800-pound gorilla up in Santa Fe," he said of casino 
interests.

"They just throw their weight around," Clark added. "If you're running for 
office and having trouble raising money and somebody comes along with a 
$5,000 or $10,000 contribution, that makes a good friend."

The poll also found strong support for the death penalty in New Mexico.

Sixty-five percent said they support it, while 25 percent were opposed and 
10 percent were undecided.

Voters were then asked whether they would favor abolishing the death 
penalty if a prisoner could be sentenced to life in prison without any 
possibility of parole for capital offenses. Under such a scenario, 41 
percent would favor abolishing the death penalty, 47 percent would keep it 
in place and 12 percent were undecided.

Johnson said Friday he does not think an assurance of life in prison is 
sufficient for people convicted of capital crimes.

"If you have committed murder," he said, "I happen to believe that you 
should pay for that with your own life."
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager