Opinion

In 2016 Donald Trump was the most popular candidate in the Republican Primary while spending nearly the least amount of any candidate. At the same time, Jeb Bush was spending the most of any candidate and was among the least popular candidates. News pundits explained the disparity between Trump’s brash behavior and celebrity status. I believed there was more to the story and why it is important today.

Donald Trump was a celebrity and understood how to get earned media (news coverage vs. paid advertising). As a casino owner, he understood the importance of data mining, obtaining as much information on individuals as possible and tailoring a message to them. The message can be delivered by direct marketing (letters and postcards), and casino upgrades, but the most important is social media outreach.  

According to Politico, Hillary Clinton and her allies raised $1.2 Billion verse Donald Trump and his allies raised $600 million. Clinton outspent Trump in every category except digital and online advertising. In that one category, Trump outspent Clinton by almost five to one. Add earned Big Media to the mix, and Trump won the election.

Imagine the dismay of Big Tech and Big Media in the days after the 2016 election when they realized their industry inadvertently assisted in the election of Donald Trump. Donald Trump made a fool of the lot. They would not be played the fool the second time, and they weren’t.

We have read many of the same national headlines for the past year regarding High-Tech supporting democrats and liberals. They are… “Google Pushes Conservative News Sites Far Down Search List”, The multiple ways Twitter censored conservatives, Here’s Your Proof That Facebook Discriminates Against Conservatives.

High-Tech is not alone in the treatment of conservatives; the National Media ignored Biden’s failings while embellishing Trump’s.  Insisting that the Hunter Biden Laptop is fake is a trap. So is insisting that it is real, Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say, Study shows media reported 150 times more negative news about Trump over Biden

Despite New Mexico’s media declaring themselves independent and moderate (The Albuquerque Journal editor stated, “as a moderate,” it is hard to choose between Vasquez and Herrell), they are anything but moderate. The reporting or lack of reporting of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of young women and the blackmailing of powerful people is an example of New Mexico’s newspapers protecting Powerful Santa Fe Democrats.

New York media conducted in-depth investigations of Jeffrey Epstein (he had a residence in New York). One NY Times Headline read, The Day Jeffrey Epstein Told Me He Had Dirt on Powerful People. While New Mexico’s newspapers are silent (Epstein had a residence in New Mexico similar to Pedifile Island in the Caribbean) despite NM Governor Richardson being named in court proceedings in New York. Albuquerque Journal did not even report that a Jeffrey Epstein “statue” was installed in front of Albuquerque’s City Hall in the middle of the night. Santa Fe Democrats in high office with New Mexico’s newspapers kept Jeffry Epstein’s sexual abuse of young New Mexican women and the blackmail of his “Powerful People” hidden from the people of New Mexico.

Elon Musk has uncovered the censorship of conservatives and the government’s manipulation to silence opposing viewpoints on Twitter. New Mexico’s Independent voices are covering the news that is not reported here in New Mexico. Whether it is Dinah Vargas of Off the Cuff, John Block of the Piñon Post, and D. Dowd Muska with No Dowd About It. Mary Alice Murphy was one of the first in New Mexico to publish an online newspaper. Her Grant County Beat publication now rivals the printed newspaper in Southwest New Mexico.

Being an Independent Voice in New Mexico, where the Santa Fe Democrats have the power to punish dissenting views, is risky. Each of them, including myself, can share stories where the Santa Fe Democrats have taken or attempted to take a pound of flesh for an unfavorable news story. Support these Independent Voices with a donation, a subscription, or becoming an advertiser. We need more New Mexicans to hear the truth.

Miserable to watch a team struggle as a group of individuals

I completed every project stringing together a thousand projects in my career. Not one construction defect claim (we did have warranty callbacks) nor any severe injuries (we did have a few cuts, abrasions, and broken bones) in those forty years. A few of those projects were internationally recognized. Before we turned a shovel of dirt, we built our professional construction team. Otherwise, my record would have been that I started one construction project in my career.  

The early lessons in my career

I moved a couple of hundred miles from home to work on a construction project at eighteen. I was amazed that men on the project could have more than heated arguments during the day and drink and gamble at the casinos at night. There was animosity between the men, but it never got in the way of getting the project built and having a good time.

I was a Resident Assistant at Hawley Hall during my last year at Oregon State University. RA’s had little authority and plenty of responsibility; there were fifty young men on my floor. I kept the peace and everyone safe while they focused on graduating and growing up. I learned how to encourage behavior rather than punishing rule breakers.  It was a successful year, with no injuries, suspensions, or probations. I remember when the fifty young men began referring to me as “my RA.” Not the fourth-floor RA.

At twenty-three, I was assigned to oversee Ronny Farmer and his crew of ironworkers on the company’s 35-million-dollar project. I ensured they had what they needed (material, equipment, and information) to accomplish their job, and they put up with me being a recent college graduate. It was not until they heard that Billy T, the carpenter general foreman, told me, “You know the best crew on the project are the carpenters.” I responded with, “no, there is no better crew than Ronny’s,” that I earned the respect of the Ironworkers.

A year later, the project manager promoted me to general superintendent. The project had a year to finish, fifty men on the payroll, and I was stuck with Billy. Billy wanted my job and undermined my efforts to complete the project. He got my job and later complained about the responsibility of the position. Billy taught me a valuable lesson; there are worse things than being down a critical team member.   

We started Britton & Rich Construction when I was twenty-eight, with two pickup trucks and a few tools. We looked at every competitor as a threat and an enemy. Five years later, we split up, and I was on my own. By then, I understood I had competitors, not enemies. I joined Associated Builders and Contractor, and my fellow members and I worked together to improve the construction industry with apprenticeship programs and safety courses. My competitors made me a better contractor.

A team of construction professionals versus a bunch of construction workers

As a young project engineer, I watched our 70-ton truck crane operator and three laborers place concrete. The crane operator stopped the hook over the full 1.5 cyd concrete bucket at the back end of the concrete truck; the laborer hooked the bucket, and the operator began lifting and swinging the bucket seventy feet and down twenty feet to the water tank foundation. As the bucket reached the vertex of swinging, the laborer pulled the line releasing the concrete. The bucket continued the swing back to the concrete truck. Meanwhile, the empty concrete bucket was now full. The empty bucket sat down at the concrete truck and was un-hooked; the full bucket was then hooked. This happened every minute for several hours. It was as graceful as Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire dancing. Allen Bradford’s company operated that way, from the operator and laborers to the C Suite.  Allen’s company in the 1970s set the standard for Heavy / Industrial Construction on the West Coast. We were second to none, including Kaiser, Bechtel, Jacobs, and Guy F Atkinson, to name a few.

I left Allen’s company and moved to Portland, Oregon, to be closer to Marion. I hired on with an old-time construction company owned by two brothers. It did not take long to understand that this company was in trouble. During my first week, there were hushed discussions that a worker holding a tagline had been killed when the crane boomed into a high-voltage power line. Ralph, and Henry, blamed each other for any mistakes, and that behavior continued to the laborer in the field. The company culture: keep your head down, do what you were told, and don’t make waves. Despite the culture, I spoke up when I had concerns when a subcontractor or client was taking advantage of them. My concerns were dismissed, and Ralph, Henry, and I parted company. I heard later that the subcontractor cost them tens of thousands of dollars, and the client cost them their company.  

Whether in sports, business, or politics, you build your team first. Together you establish the goal and develop the plan. You execute the program and make the necessary adjustments to achieve the goal. Allen did and shared the successes. Ralph and Henry did not; they lost their company, and everyone lost their jobs.

Without the lessons I learned as a young man, I would never have had the success I did in construction or politics. I look forward to seeing how our team does this January 2023.  

Host, “To the Point with Mick Rich.” 2018 Republican nominee for U.S. Senate (NM). Founder & CEO, Mick Rich Contractors. Husband, father, grandfather. Read more from Mick rich at MickRich.substack.com.

Opinions expressed by Piñon Post contributors do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the publication or its editorial staff. Submit an op-ed to the Piñon Post at news@pinonpost.com.