Measuring Success
By FRANK BOND '66
aybe at the end of the journey, the measure of a productive life is simply that of being a good citizen, to have returned to your community as much as you received, maybe more. That success is measured in many ways: the young man from a modest background, disappointed early in not finding a position in medical school, who turns to coaching college women's soccer with great personal satisfaction and success; the former fashion model from a privileged educational background, who turns to medicine later and dares to be different as an oncologist by treating old men for prostate cancer with risky radio active seed implants. One's success is visible every Saturday, the other's goes unnoticed except by the grateful patient. They have their own personal struggles, yet they both enrich our communities. I begin by acknowledging the value of commitment and passion in all productive endeavors.
Politics is supremely visible. Inherent in politics is the very notion of citizenship, of participation in a vibrant democracy. The cynics among us mistrust all politicians. For those of us who have had the privilege of holding office, it has also been a means to represent our community in limited ways. We occupy special positions to voice opinions and sometimes to change forever the way our communities function.
At Colorado College the notion of being a political candidate never crossed my mind. I was a Spanish language major with an expectation to be a teacher. Yet those four undergraduate years may have had a far more fundamental impact on my political life than is immediately obvious. Presented with a myriad of educational opportunities, I recall daily bits and pieces from the history, literature, science and humanities courses. The educational foundation is the ability to think critically and to draw from many resources the means to achieve a solution. You will not find a really successful politician who does not read, grapple with ideas and dare to step forward. Colorado College unwittingly nurtured those qualities in me and others.
By the time I was 33 I found myself elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives. Two years later I was elected the Republican Whip. For a number of reasons I stepped away from politics for eight years. I returned as a campaign manager for U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici's 1984 campaign. My first run statewide fell woefully short in the 1986 Republican primary for governor. Through these years, however, I served on the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission, the New Mexico Public Broadcasting Commission and as chairman for several years of the New Mexico Commission on Higher Education. In 1990 I succeeded in taking the Republican primary for governor to learn by the end of the fall elections how really brutal the political wars are in our state when I lost to a very popular former two-term governor. I had to face the present political reality, as all politicians do, of the single issue demagogues from the left and the right.
Former U.S. Sen. Everett McKinely Kirksen of Illinois once said apocryphally, "in other states you may earn your bachelor's or master's degree in politics, but New Mexico is where the Ph.D.'s are awarded."
Remarkably graduates from Colorado College of my era have had quite an impact in New Mexico politics. With me from the class of 1966 are District Judge Joe Caldwell, formerly a Taos district attorney; District Judge Jim Blackmer, formerly an assistant U.S. Attorney; and from the class of 1967, former lietenant governor and present District Attorney, Mike Runnels.
The political races and positions have forced me to face the complex issues of a basically rural, relatively poor, complex state. At the same time my travels down virtually every paved road have introduced me to people from all parts of the state, and consequently all of New Mexico is now my community. History will judge the qualities of citizenship, but the ride has been rewarding personally.
A former New Mexico state representative, Frank Bond currently is a Santa Fe-based attorney.