Democracy for New Mexico

Free Video Conference on Open Government and Secrecy

From UNM Today:
University Libraries and the UNM Law Library are sponsoring a video conference in honor of National Sunshine Week at the UNM Conference Center at Continuing Education, Room G, on Monday, March 13, 2006 from 11 AM to 12:30 PM. The free video conference will feature a panel of experts from Washington D.C. to discuss open government, secrecy, and an illustrative video montage.

Titled “Are We Safer in the Dark? An Overview,” the discussion will include conversation about how transparency or the lack thereof can affect the government’s readiness and response to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.

Speakers
Geneva Overholser, holder of an endowed chair in the Missouri School of Journalism’s Washington bureau, will moderate the panel. She is a former editor of the Des Moines Register, ombudsman of the Washington Post and an editorial board member of the New York Times.

Panelists include Thomas S. Blanton, director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University in Washington D. C., and Barbara Petersen, executive director of the Florida First Amendment Foundation, a state coalition that protects and advances the public’s constitutional right to open government by providing education and training, legal aid and information services. For more specific information on the conference and National Sunshine Week, please contact Kathleen Keating at kkeating@unm.edu

UNM Conference Center
UNM conference Center is located at 1634 University Blvd. NE, in the north building of the Continuing Education complex. Seating for the conference is limited to the first 50 participants.

Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu

Sign Up Now For DemocracyFest 2006

From Jim Dean, Democracy For America Chair:
Preparations for the Third Annual DemocracyFest are underway and the agenda is getting more exciting each day. I hope you will join me and progressive activists from across the country in San Diego from July 14 through 16:

https://www.democracyforamerica.com/democracyfest

DemocracyFest 2006 promises to feature some of the best that San Diego and the progressive grassroots movement have to offer. Event, meal and lodging tickets are available for purchase at a discounted early-bird rate until March 15th. Get yours now before the regular prices take effect.

DemocracyFest organizers from DemocracyFest Incorporated and San Diego for Democracy have a fabulous program planned for you -- a weekend where you can trade ideas, learn new strategies, and get energized for the hard political work ahead. It'll be a great celebration in San Diego -- I look forward to seeing you there.

Editor's Note: We went to last year's DemocracyFest in Austin and it was terrific. Excellent presentations, workshops, social events, noted progressive speakers, comaraderie and, of course, Howard Dean. We met grassroots activists DFA Meetup folks from all over the country. We've signed up again for this year's version. Hope many of you will do the same.

Herrera Orders Paper Ballot Machines

From Paul Stokes of United Voters NM:
Mary Herrera has confirmed that she has ordered 500 ES&S Model 100 precinct opscans, two ES&S Model 650 central scanners, and AutoMARK ballot marking  machines. She said she did not know when purchase orders would be placed by the  State.

We can hope that this sets the example for the remaining county clerks  who have not yet ordered equipment for converting to paper ballots.

Editor's Note: A new article by Warren Stewart of VoteTrustUSA called "Paper Ballots: The Times They Are A-Changin,’" discusses the move by New Mexico and Maryland to paper ballot systems.

Galaxies of the Day

After all the political and life struggles of the day, sit back and enjoy a more of things. And then remember that Bush wants to scrap the Hubble. Such a small mind. Such a small heart. Such a shrunken imagination....

Molly Ivins Does It Again: Enough of the DC Dems

Molly Ivins taking in the spectacle at
Dean rally, 2005 Demfest, Austin

She's a natural treasure, isn't she? I don't usually reproduce entire articles here, but in this case I think I must. Do you feel, like me, that Molly is putting into words -- tough and plainspoken words --  what we all feel so strongly and passionately? As Molly says, "Every Democrat I talk to is appalled at the sheer gutlessness and spinelessness of the Democratic performance."

What can we do? How can we organize? What's the best strategy for maximizing our strength and leverage?  As I'm sure you know, this is a conversation that is going on all over the web and on thousands of listserves. What are your suggestions?

Enough of the DC Dems, By Molly Ivins, March 2006 Issue of The Progressive

Mah fellow progressives, now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of the party. I don’t know about you, but I have had it with the D.C. Democrats, had it with the DLC Democrats, had it with every calculating, equivocating, triangulating, straddling, hair-splitting son of a bitch up there, and that includes Hillary Rodham Clinton.

I will not be supporting Senator Clinton because: a) she has no clear stand on the war and b) Terri Schiavo and flag-burning are not issues where you reach out to the other side and try to split the difference. You want to talk about lowering abortion rates through cooperation on sex education and contraception, fine, but don’t jack with stuff that is pure rightwing firewater.

I can’t see a damn soul in D.C. except Russ Feingold who is even worth considering for President. The rest of them seem to me so poisonously in hock to this system of legalized bribery they can’t even see straight.

Molly speaking at 2005 DemFest in Austin

Look at their reaction to this Abramoff scandal. They’re talking about “a lobby reform package.” We don’t need a lobby reform package, you dimwits, we need full public financing of campaigns, and every single one of you who spends half your time whoring after special interest contributions knows it. The Abramoff scandal is a once in a lifetime gift—a perfect lesson on what’s wrong with the system being laid out for people to see. Run with it, don’t mess around with little patches, and fix the system.

As usual, the Democrats have forty good issues on their side and want to run on thirty-nine of them. Here are three they should stick to:

1) Iraq is making terrorism worse; it’s a breeding ground. We need to extricate ourselves as soon as possible. We are not helping the Iraqis by staying.

2) Full public financing of campaigns so as to drive the moneylenders from the halls of Washington.

3) Single-payer health insurance.

Every Democrat I talk to is appalled at the sheer gutlessness and spinelessness of the Democratic performance. The party is still cringing at the thought of being called, ooh-ooh, “unpatriotic” by a bunch of rightwingers.

Take “unpatriotic” and shove it. How dare they do this to our country? “Unpatriotic”? These people have ruined the American military! Not to mention the economy, the middle class, and our reputation in the world. Everything they touch turns to dirt, including Medicare prescription drugs and hurricane relief.

This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one; it is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.

Who are these idiots talking about Warner of Virginia? Being anodyne is not sufficient qualification for being President. And if there’s nobody in Washington and we can’t find a Democratic governor, let’s run Bill Moyers, or Oprah, or some university president with ethics and charisma.

What happens now is not up to the has-beens in Washington who run this party. It is up to us. So let’s get off our butts and start building a progressive movement that can block the nomination of Hillary Clinton or any other candidate who supposedly has “all the money sewed up.”

I am tired of having the party nomination decided before the first primary vote is cast, tired of having the party beholden to the same old Establishment money.

We can raise our own money on the Internet, and we know it. Howard Dean raised $42 million, largely on the web, with a late start when he was running for President, and that ain’t chicken feed. If we double it, it gives us the lock on the nomination. So let’s go find a good candidate early and organize the shit out of our side.

VIDEO: Joe Wilson Whomps Heather/DeLay/Bush in ABQ Appearance for Madrid

Great stuff from Suzanne Prescott. If you missed Ambassador Joe Wilson's visit to Albuquerque to stump for Patricia Madrid's campaign against Washington apologist Heather Wilson, check out Suz's video of his speech at the downtown Flying Star. And when you're done, you might just want to head over to Madrid Campaign's website to volunteer or donate. Aren't you tired of having a politician at the mercy of radicals like Tom DeLay and the Bush administration as your member of Congress?

On March 2, 2006, Ambassador Joe Wilson visited Albuquerque, New Mexico in support of 1st congressional district candidate, Patricia Madrid. He talks frankly about Heather Wilson and her failure to pursue an investigation into the Bush administration's domestic spying operations.  He levels harsh criticism on the current Bush administration, which has jeopardized our rights under the constitution and our democracy.

Click for the video of Ambassador Wilson's speech. (Be patient as it loads. Well worth the wait!)

NM Municipal Election Results

The good news: Democrat David Coss, endorsed by the Santa Fe DFA Meetup group and many other progressive and liberal organizations, will be the next mayor of Santa Fe. Here are the election results for Santa Fe. According to an article in the Santa Fe New Mexican:

Coss, 51, is the first mayor in Santa Fe’s history with a labor union background. He was an officer in the Communication Workers of America when he worked for the state Environment Department. As Public Works director and then city manager under Mayor Debbie Jaramillo in the mid-1990s, Coss helped negotiate the first union contract between the city and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Now the bad news: Republican Kevin Jackson, founding member of the evangelical New Mexico Family Council, ousted incumbent Jim Owen in the Rio Rancho mayoral race. Of course, Owen was very conservative as well, so I guess it's a wash out there on the West Mesa, one right-wingnut replaced by another. I pity the Democrats who live out that way. An Albuquerque Tribune article provides this info on Jackson:

Jackson, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, is active in social groups such as the local Boys and Girls Club. He also founded the New Mexico Family Council, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving "family values."

His wife, Kathy, is a member of the Rio Rancho school board, which grabbed headlines last fall when it approved a policy allowing classroom discussions on alternative ideas about the origins of life, such as intelligent design, which questions Darwin's theory of evolution.

KOAT-TV provides the results of other municipal elections around the state. And local blog New Mexico Matters has a collection of articles from many areas of the state in its Election Roundup.

I'm not familiar enough with these races to provide any commentary but if anyone else out there knows about them, feel free to leave a comment.

Taos Dems Angry About Party Weaknesses

It's clear that core Democrats from many parts of New Mexico and around the nation are displeased with their Party. On any given day there's certainly no shortage of articles and commentaries expressing anger and dismay over the Party's reluctance to take strong stands and work effectively with the grassroots. Don't even mention transparency and responsiveness.

I've covered similar problems that SCC members and rank and file Dems are having with our State Party in a number of posts (see below). Murky expenditures, mysterious bookkeeping, "lost" contracts, weak planning and budgeting, a truncated platform process and a general lack of responsiveness by some officers and staff have been ongoing topics of conversation and activism here in Albuquerque and other parts of the state.

Taos County Dems sounded similar themes at their preprimary convention last Saturday, with delegates offering several impassioned statements about "centrist" Democrats. They also criticized remarks made by State Party Chair John Wertheim that expressed dismay about the Party platform and claimed Party rules are mere "guidelines."

An article in the Taos News covered the convention in detail. Excerpt:

Taos County Democrats met Saturday at Kachina Lodge to choose delegates to their statewide convention. The Democrats who attended also adopted a resolution in support of returning the party to its traditional values.

“This is unprecedented,” said County Democratic Party Chairman Billy Knight, after party members adopted the resolution in the hope that it will be included in their party’s statewide position statement.

The resolution came up for consideration after one of its supporters, Andres “Andy” Vargas, told the group that “many Democrats are worried about the position national Democrats have taken to become more centrist.”

“It’s made the party more right-wing,” Vargas said. We have lost two elections and the (U.S.) Supreme Court … now we have a complete takeover of the supreme court and the government by the right wing.”

Vargas gave two reasons why Taos County Democrats should support the resolution that was still being drafted. The first involved an appearance by John Edwards in Santa Fe to speak to members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union.

Edwards was later tapped by Rep. John Kerry to be his running mate in the 2004 presidential election.

“John Edwards was thrust into the limelight when he was campaigning in Santa Fe and gave a speech to AFSCE members about the two Americas that exist in this country. It put him into the forefront and was the reason Kerry chose him for his running mate,” Vargas said. “The two Americas speech was never mentioned again during the campaign.”

The issue of two Americas — one for the rich, the other for poor people — did not surface again until after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast and the federal government’s response to it laid the two Americas foundation for numerous politicians to build their comments upon.

Knight was angry about a statement made by State Democratic Chairman John Wertheim. Knight told county convention delegates that Wertheim stated recently that he didn’t think the Democratic Party’s rules were a set of guidelines to follow in governing the party.

Wertheim also said that the Democrats’ platform would give Republicans fodder to use in criticizing the opposition party, suggesting the party platform not be used for that reason.

Marguerite Denevan, a delegate from Arroyo Hondo, had a comment of her own about Wertheim.

“We need to let them know what we think of them,” Denevan said.

Delegate Rena Rosequist then suggested the county party draft a letter to Wertheim “telling him that we abhor his gutlessness.” regarding the statement made to Steven Fettig of Los Alamos.

“If you draft it, I’ll take it,” Knight said. “This is what democracy is about. It’s the only way to take the country back from the tyrants we have in office. I’m sick of it and the solution needs to build from the bottom up. It’s been coming from the top down.”

DPNM Chair John Wertheim was quoted in the Albuquerque Tribune back in late October about Party rules being mere guidelines:

Wertheim said the that rules are more like guidelines.

"Nobody in my tenure has thought those were requirements," he said.

I expect that the push for improved Party transparency, planning, fiscal responsibilty, accountability, leadership and communication will continue and grow. Increasingly, Dems are getting vocal about the poor performance of Party leaders and officials, as well as their depressingly gutless positions on many of the issues that matter to traditional Dems.

All of us are pressuring the Party to become more efficient and effective, and to be more inclusive and grassroots-oriented. We're attempting to hold candidates and officeholders accountable to the resolutions and platforms passed by Party governing bodies. We're running for and winning positions within the Party infrastructure. And we're becoming involved with the Party's standing committees. Rest assured, we won't be quitting anytime soon. You never know, we might just get a copy of the Buckman contract after all, if it exists. Miracles happen.

Memory Lane
A list of some previous posts on DFNM about the NM Democratic Party:

Effort to Get Living Wage Resolution to the SCC, 4/22/05
One Dem's View of the SCC Meeting in Socorro on Saturday, 4/25/05
My Take on the SCC Meeting, 4/26/05
SOUND OFF: Remember the Party of the People?, 5/10/05
Governor's Office Responds, 5/18/05
More Coverage of our Party Discussion, 5/26/05
Calling all REFORM Democrats, 9/19/05
We Need More Dems Like This, 9/27/05
What Kind of Party Are We Having?, 10/25/05
Half-Truths, Non-Truths and the Facts, 11/1/05
The Continuing Saga of State Party Politics, 11/2/05
More, 11/3/05
Sound Off: A Party Out of Order, 11/22/05
Dean, the DNC and DPNM Activism, 12/6/05
Dem Loyalists Question State Party's Plea for Donations, 2/12/06
Show Me the Money, 2/16/06

Celebrate International Women's Day 3/8

(Click on image for larger version)

International Women's Day Dinner and Festivities
Wednesday, March 8, 6:00 PM
Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center
202 Harvard Drive SE (map)

Mothers and Others for Peace: Enjoy readings, music, entertainment, and exhibits from women in the Peace and Labor Movement. Music by the Raging Grannies. Sponsored by: District 1199NM National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees and the March 8th Women's Committee. Questions: 505-884-7713.

Editor's Note: There is some confusion about whether the dinner is a potluck or is provided to guests free with a suggested donation. UPDATE: I've learned that the dinner is definitely just a dinner, no potluck. Thanks to Michelle for this heads up.

Music Pick of the Day

Now's the time to get your copy of Folk Songs of the Far Right Wing. Don't hesitate. Act now!