Jan. 11—Don’t be so blue — it’s not a red state yet.
That was Democrats’ message to supporters Saturday morning who gathered in front of the Roundhouse under a flag at half-mast for President Jimmy Carter.
“For my fellow submariner and president — if you could just give him a moment of silence, please,” said Beach Beauchamp, a Cold War-era veteran and the main event organizer for the “Not Going Back” Freedom Rally, thrown by the Democratic Party of Santa Fe County.
The speakers at rally were a mix of elected officials and advocates, who focused in their speeches on defining a new Democratic approach in the wake of losses in the November election and President-elect Donald Trump’s coming inauguration in a little more than a week. Some common points were maintaining hope within the party, forward-looking policy and — despite the largely older crowd — youth involvement.
“Do not let them try to take our patriotism from us,” Beauchamp said. “Because we are true Americans. My motivation for organizing this event is deeply personal. My son and his fiancee, both active-duty Air Force, are our future.”
Freedom and the armed forces were common themes throughout the rally.
“Isn’t it just a great place to live?” asked Henry Roybal, chair of the county Democratic Party. “Not only in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but also in the United States of America, where we’re free, and we have our own independence, and we can make choices when we need to.”
Roybal’s father Henry Isidro Roybal, a Vietnam veteran, died at the beginning of the year.
“I think we need to speak with people with a different perspective,” Roybal said. “We need to ourselves remind of the sacrifices that have been made in order for our country to be free.”
Speaker Cam Crawford was one of the youngest in attendance in the crowd of about 70 people. Crawford is a firefighter and substitute teacher who is heavily involved with Young Democrats of New Mexico.
“I’m 23 years old and I still have a lot of life left to live,” he said. “I don’t really have any other choice but to be hopeful. There are 2 million New Mexicans who are counting on us to stay engaged. They can’t afford for us to roll over and play dead just because we lost a close election. There’s too much at stake.”
Crawford talked about the bright spots for Democrats, such as Vice President Kamala Harris winning more than 70% of the vote in Santa Fe County, the electoral victories of U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich and Rep. Gabe Vasquez and the election this year of the first-ever majority female state Legislature.
“Even though we lost a really close election, we’re not going to cry over spilled milk. We’re going to keep going and push forward,” Crawford said.
Crawford discussed past Democratic policy wins in New Mexico such as legalizing cannabis and legal protections for abortion rights, and hoped-for future ones such as expanding Medicaid eligibility, holding the oil and gas industry accountable for wells and improved clean air and water regulations.
“I just got off a 72-hour shift at the fire department,” he said. “So take a break from this national fire that we’re all on. And then come back into the fight whenever you’re ready because we need you.”
State Rep. Tara Lujan, D-Santa Fe, called Crawford “the future.”
“We need more people,” she said. “We need more youth. We need more voices like him.”
The call to action for youth was a message repeated throughout the rally, despite the relatively small number of young people at the rally.
“It’s probably because as young people we’re doing, like, two or three different jobs, so priorities are shifted,” said Kai Torres, 31, who was invited by Crawford to the event.
“Some of these older people are … retired,” she said, “so they’re able to do these events more.”
Wearing two signs reading “Affordable housing for teachers,” and “Rent control” was Grace Mayer, former president of Santa Fe’s teachers union.
“We can’t get young people to come and stay here because they can’t live here,” Mayer said. “Rents are anywhere from, like, $1,800 to $3,000. If you get a place that’s a reasonable $1,200 or 1,500 a month, within three years, they’re priced out. So we need to really take a look at it and see what the state and the Legislature can do.”
Mayer said the city has “opportunities” to increase affordable housing at the midtown campus.
“The City Council is just selling us out,” she said. “Selling out the middle class for … somebody to make a buck.”
District 1 City Councilor Alma Castro spoke about the importance of the event in showing Democrats’ strength and unity across ideological lines.
“If there’s anything that we can do better, it’s reach across that aisle, talk to folks and really come to common ground,” Castro said. “And there’s nothing in this new administration that is going to change that. We know how to be good people. We know how to take the high road, and we will continue to do that.”