Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller has announced he will not appear at a media event in New Mexico today with President Joe Biden. Citing a COVID infection, the mayor is effectively dodging a political bullet by snubbing the least popular president since Jimmy Carter.

If unwittingly, Keller joins presidents of Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, who also rebuffed a visit with the embattled president this week.

Snubbing the leader of the free world isn’t usually a smart political move. But with a sub-40 approval rating and an economy racked by record inflation and skyrocketing gas prices weighing on the president, Keller may not be as bad at politicking as he has been at governing.

The Gavin Newsom of Duke City isn’t known for missing a media appearance. But these are extenuating circumstances for Democrats.

The fully-vaxxed and boosted mayor is reportedly “experiencing symptoms” and working remotely in isolation. His office announced he “will not be attending upcoming public events,” including Biden’s visit to New Mexico. 

Biden is in Santa Fe to present the state with a Publisher’s Clearinghouse-sized check and to apologize for the U.S. Forest Service starting the largest fire in state history. In the polished parlance of Biden himself, it’s a pretty big deal. According to Daniel Chacon of The Santa Fe New Mexican, this will be the first time a sitting president visited Santa Fe since John F. Kennedy visited the state capital in 1962.

There will be speeches, handshakes, and too many photos for any Democrat who wants a future in politics.

Keller’s absence may be the smartest move of his political career.

Keller is a young politician with a Hollywood smile and a 30-point re-election victory recently under his belt. He has ruled over the Los Angelization of Albuquerque with a limp wrist from the Woke left, painting rainbow crosswalks and Tweeting about sunny baseball games while crime and homelessness spread like cancer across his city. Voters did not care, because the look of the man–blond hair, blue eyes, fit, and always smiling–proved more important than the policies.

That was last year. Biden’s follies could be excused as first-year coincidences. Now, Democrats are facing an electoral backlash not seen since Barack Obama 2010 shellacking. If Keller wants a political career beyond the mayor’s office, a thousand photos of him shaking hands with the most unpopular president since Jimmy Carter could haunt him.

Assuming Keller is telling the truth about his COVID infection, rest assured he is praying–not to get well soon, but in thanks. Potentially infecting the (also uber-vaxxed) president could be just as politically damaging as a photo opp.

The media headlines would not be forgiving (“ABQ Mayor Infects President With COVID.” Social media would be brutal (“Killer Keller Poisons POTUS.”)

Hats off to the mayor for his political genius. Whether intentional or coincidental, he seized the moment and very well may have saved his career.

Maybe in his self-quarantine he’ll come up with a plan for rampant crime and homelessness in Albuquerque.

Expect more such conveniences from Democrats as the election nears.

Conspiracy Corner is a recurring column that
reads between the lines of news events in New Mexico.
The insinuations made herein may not be true, but they might not be false.