KOB's coverage of Gov. Martinez's speech at the RNC
Posted at: 08/29/2012 9:51 PM
| Updated at: 08/29/2012 11:03 PM
By: Chris Ramirez, KOB Eyewitness News 4; Danielle Flores, KOB.com
New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez addressed the Republican National Convention Wednesday night.
She shared her personal story of struggle, and encouraged Americans to choose Mitt Romney this November.
Gov. Martinez began by talking about her childhood in El Paso, living poor, but with parents who encouraged her to work hard to find success.
She told the nation that her parents started their own security guard business, and at first, she was the only employee.
"I carried a Smith and Wesson .357 Magnum...that gun weighed more than I did," Gov. Martinez said. "My parents grew that small business from on 18-year-old guarding a bingo to more than 125 people in three states.
Martinez also spoke about her time as a district attorney and her commitment to protect children and root out fraud. "When I was a young prosecutor, I got called to testify against my boss. I could have backed down, but I didn't. I stood up to him and he fired me for it."
Half way through the speech, she turned the attention away from herself and onto Mitt Romney.
"There is one candidate in this election who will protect that dream," she said. "One leader who will fight hard to keep that promise of America for the next generation."
Romney strategically asked Martinez to speak to night as part of a strategy to sway Latino and female Democrats to his side of the ballot box.
The other featured speaker Wednesday night was former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, an African-American woman. Having two minority women on the stage was no accident by the GOP.
KOB Eyewitness News 4 interviewed Senator John McCain to get his opinion on how important the Hispanic vote is for the party.
"The Hispanic vote is very important, particularly in states like mine - Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada," he said. "We have a lot of work to do, including why there is high unemployment amongst Hispanic and young women. We've got to plan to get those jobs from them and get them a place in our economy."
One topic Gov. Martinez did not mention was the immigration issue, which some might expect to hear from a border governor.
> Gov. Susana Martinez's full speech at the Republican National Convention
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