Democracy for New Mexico

R.I.P., Pilgrim

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 1922 — 2007

New York Times Books on his death.

Kurt Vonnegut quotes:

Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why.

I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can't see from the center.

I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.

Every passing hour brings the Solar System forty-three thousand miles closer to Globular Cluster M13 in Hercules— and still there are some misfits who insist that there is no such thing as progress.

We could have saved the Earth but we were too damned cheap.

Here's what I think the truth is: We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial, about to face cold turkey.

I have wanted to give Iraq a lesson in democracy—because we’re experienced with it, you know. And, in democracy, after a hundred years, you have to let your slaves go. And, after a hundred and fifty years, you have to let your women vote. And, at the beginning of democracy, quite a bit of genocide and ethnic cleansing is quite okay. And that’s what’s going on now.

A poem written by Mr. Vonnegut called Requiem, has these closing lines:

When the last living thing
has died on account of us,

how poetical it would be
if Earth could say,

in a voice floating up
perhaps
from the floor
of the Grand Canyon,

It is done.
People did not like it here.

More

https://www.vonnegut.com/
https://www.vonnegutweb.com/

Dem State Party Chair Candidate Brian Colón Hits the Labor Trifecta

I'm pleased to see that three of the biggest unions in New Mexico have decided to endorse Brian Colón for Dem State Chair. They're certainly on the right track in my book. Brian has been running a spirited campaign for the Party's top elected office based on the goals of making the Party more active, transparent and inclusive. He's been criss-crossing the state, reaching out to Dems in rural and urban counties alike, generating lots of positive buzz along the way.

Mr. Colón spoke at our March DFA-DFNM Meetup, and has managed to build quite a head of steam for his campaign among the grassroots community and, from what I'm hearing, Dems of all stripes all over New Mexico. He comes across as honest, innovative, energetic, likeable, approachable and hardworking -- just the qualities we need in a Party leader at a time when it's so important to unite and build a modern Party infrastructure that will work effectively for the 2008 election and over the long haul. I get the clear sense that everyone will have a seat at the table if Brian Colón is leading the Dem Party. And we'll all have plenty of work to do!

Here's the press release from the unions on the strong support for Colón in the labor community:

In an unusual move, three of the largest unions in New Mexico have endorsed Brian Colón to be the Chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico.  The unions are the American Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, and the Communication Workers of America.

While all three unions are non-partisan and do support some Republicans around the state, historically the Democratic Party is where working men and women have found their strongest allies.  As a result, all three unions believe it is important to be involved in helping to select the leader of the Democratic Party.  All three unions have numerous members and allies expected to attend the State Central Committee meeting in Las Cruces on Saturday, April 28, where the new DPNM Chair will be elected.

Colón represents a new generation of progressive, pro-worker, pro-economic growth Democrats who are commited to issues like increasing the minimum wage, expanding health coverage to all New Mexicans, reigning in abuses by payday lenders, guaranteeing the opportunity for a good education to all, fighting off privatization and corruption of government services, and ensuring equal opportunity for all.

The following are contacts for each union:

AFT:  Christine Trujillo, 239-0871
AFSCME:  Carter Bundy, 463-8499
CWA:  Robin Gould, 690-9584

Editor's Notes: See our previous post on the race for DPNM Chair. If you're interested in learning more or getting involved in Brian Colón's campaign, you can contact him here: (505) 270-2154 or bsc4dpnm@yahoo.com. Click to download a campaign flyer.

Democratic Party State Central Committee (SCC) members are elected at the County Party level. The Democratic Party of Bernalillo County will hold its elections this coming Saturday, at 10 AM, at Manzano High School in Albuquerque. The election for State Party Chair will occur at the the Democratic Party of New Mexico's SCC Meeting to be held in Las Cruces on April 28th.

I Want Some Earth Democracy, Don't You?

Go watch.

Another View On Unfair Apportionment in Taos County

This post was submitted by Claudia Kuhns of Colorado:
I have been following the precinct elections and the county re-organization in Taos County both this year and in 2005.  It is appalling that the gains in organization and equality have been obliterated by one group of so-called Democrats cheating to get their man elected as county chair. It is even more appalling that this appears to have been done with the complicity of the state Democratic Party which has not even followed its own rules in apportioning precinct representatives as well as allowing election fraud in some precincts while disenfranchising citizens in other precincts. Is there really any democracy in New Mexico?

This seems to follow the same pattern of oppression by some members of the Democratic Party in New Mexico in 2004 when an outrageously exorbitant fee was established for a recount in the Presidential election. This fee was established by then Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and Governor Bill Richardson, both Democrats. It has since been statistically proved that there were gross irregularities in a significant number of precincts in New Mexico. The stopping of the recount was subsequently ruled illegal by the New Mexico Supreme Court.

More recently in the CD 1 race Patricia Madrid narrowly lost to Heather Wilson.  Again democracy was thwarted as no recount was done. In many states the narrow margin in this race would have triggered an automatic recount. One wonders why Ms. Madrid conceded so quickly.

Where are the real Democrats in New Mexico? Is the Democratic Party being run by Republicans in Democrats' clothing?  Sure sounds like that might be the case.

Claudia Kuhns
Executive Director
The Public Integrity Project
Be the Change USA

Editor's Note: See our previous posts on this topic here, here and . This post was submitted by Claudia Kuhns. Guest blogs such as these provide an opportunity for readers to express their opinions on political topics and do not necessarily reflect the views of DFNM. If you'd like to submit a post for possible publication as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link in the upper left-hand corner of our main page.

Vote Now: MoveOn Town Hall on Iraq

Last night's MoveOn Virtual Town Hall on Iraq featured the Dem candidates for president answering questions on the Iraq war submitted by MoveOn members. Voting is now in progress for viewers to weigh in on how the candidates did. If you didn't get a chance to participate online live, you can watch video of the entire event or segments on each candidate, listen to highlights, download a podcast or read transcripts before voting. MoveOn will release the results of the vote tomorrow.

(Updated) Join the Kerrys at Santa Fe Borders This Saturday (and Rally at Miles Park)

UPDATE: Sen. John Kerry will also be speaking at the environmental rally from 1:00-3:00 PM at Franklin Miles Park in Santa Fe on Saturday, April 14, that's part of the Step It Up climate action campaign. See the Insight New Mexico blog and our previous post on City of Santa Fe events for more info.
****************

From John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry:
We hope that you can join us on Saturday, April 14 at the Borders Bookstore at 5:00 PM where we will be speaking about our recently released book This Moment on Earth and signing copies. The bookstore is located at 500 Montezuma, Suite 108, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Tickets for this event are available at the door beginning at noon on Saturday.

The environment, and the movement that grew up to protect it, is under attack -- concerted and purposeful. Yet the need for solutions to pressing environmental problems grows more urgent each day. A myriad of environmental problems are occurring in the world today, from contamination of the air and water supply to human-induced global climate change.

We have spoken with people from all over the country to see how these issues unite people across ideological, geographic, and cultural lines. We found a vibrant coalition of people and communities deploying ingenuity, technology, and sheer willpower to save the world they live in. Our new book, This Moment on Earth, celebrates their tremendous efforts.

This book grows out of a long-held passion we've both had about this movement. Throughout the last three decades, we have both dedicated ourselves to improving our environment -- from joining efforts to fight acid rain, to fighting for United States participation in the Kyoto accords, to helping to raise the profile of green building efforts in Pittsburgh and elsewhere. We feel passionately about this issue and hope this book sparks a new national dialogue about our planet and the steps we must take if we are to preserve it for future generations.

Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you on Saturday, April 14.

Sincerely,
John Kerry
Teresa Heinz Kerry

Gov. Richardson Already Backing Homans to Run Against Heather?

I sure hope not. After all, a Democratic Party convention and a primary are supposed to be the vehicles for selecting Party candidates -- not elected-official fiat. But Heath Haussamen is reporting that an unnamed source is leaking that Gov. Bill Richardson has "pledged his support" to the primary candidacy of current Economic Development Secretary, Rick Homans (left), to take on Rep. Heather Wilson in New Mexico's First Congressional District in 2008.

If true, I predict that Democrats all over CD1 will be raising their voices in protest. We want to select our candidates -- not have them forced down our throats by Party bigwigs, ala what was seen by many as a blatant push for Richard Romero over Miles Nelson by Richardson in the 2002 CD1 Dem primary. In fact, that's one reason why so many relative newbies have been running for (and winning) Party office at both the county and state levels of the Democratic Party, and getting involved in nuts and bolts activism. We're tired of all the Party's power being in the hands of a few elected officials and power brokers. As DNC Chair Howard Dean has said many times, we want the Party to be built from the bottom up, not the other way around.

Other names are being discussed as Dem possibilities to run against Heather, including former City Councilor Eric Griego and current NM Rep. Jerry Ortiz y Pino. And Haussamen reports today that current Albuquerque City Councilor Martin Heinrich (right) is also "seriously leaning" towards a bid to win a chance to take on Heather Wilson in CD1. Haussamen quotes Heinrich directly on this. Believe me, if Heinrich were to enter the race he'd have massive support from rank and file Dems in the District. Homans, on the other hand, doesn't even live in the District and would have to move here to be a candidate in CD1. Would that be seen by local Dems as carpetbagging and manipulation of the race by Santa Fe powers that be? You betcha.

Besides his active role in pushing the proposed Spaceport America near To or C, Homans is perhaps best known for successfully suing the City of Albuquerque to get rid the city's campaign donation limits while running for Mayor in 2001. Rah -- here's the guy who worked hard to bring MORE MONEY into the political process, while most every other Dem was working to get big donations out of elections. The results of his suit? One big one was that Mayor Marty Chavez raised and spent record-breaking amounts of money to win his mayoral races. He did it by heavily courting monied interests, including the sprawl development bunch, with no holds barred. You can experience the consequences all over the city.

Also consider Homans' past experience as Vice Chair of the pro-sprawl, anti-labor Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. He's also the former publisher of the New Mexico Business Weekly, as former chairman and CEO of Starlight Media Group.

THIS is who Gov. Richardson is allegedly backing at this early date in the process? Tell me this can't be right. Then again, recall that Homans was one of Richardson's main issues honchos when he ran for Governor in 2002, and he's reportedly very close with Rick, who's a long-time champion of cutting taxes for the biz community and generally offering generous accommodations to that sector.

For all I know, Homans might make a formidable candidate in NM-01, but I urge the Governor to refrain from leaking his opinions on a favored candidate until the proper Dem Party processes play out. We want a primary race, not another annointing from above. If Homans is the right person for the job, let him earn it by succeeding in the Dem Party convention and primary contests. We don't want or need a thumb on the scale, at this early point in the race or beyond.

Many of us have been encouraged by Gov. Richardson's initiatives of late, as well as what he's been saying and doing on the presidential campaign trail, so it's especially disappointing to learn of this leak about his alledged pledge to support Homans. Let's hope he pledges instead to let DEMOCRATS select a candidate for CD1 without interference from above. And DCCC, beware.

Evidence of Unfair Apportionment Formula Used by DPNM for Taos County Precincts

Above graphs and story submitted by "Taos County Democrat":
What's wrong with this picture? Note that the apportionment formulas used by the Democratic Party of New Mexico to determine representatives to the Democratic County Central Committee meetings in Bernalillo and Santa Fe Counties produced fairly even results, and a fair share of representation per Dem voter to every precinct. However, in Taos County, the State Party used a different formula that produced very uneven results, with significantly more representatives per Democratic voter in some precincts and significantly less representatives per Democratic voter in others.

In Taos County, representation ratio, RR values, vary from 1:26 to 1:94, and the distribution of the uneven results breaks clearly along ethnic lines. Additionally, the under-represented precincts are where high populations of non-Hispanics constitute an equal or majority portion of the Democratic electorate for that precinct.

The apportionments in Bernalillo and Santa Fe Counties conform to the Proportional Representation Rule of the State Party, while the Taos County apportionment does not:

RULE 17. PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION
The policy of the DPNM is to preserve equitable minority representation at all levels of the convention and meeting processes, and to that end committees and delegations to conventions shall be selected, insofar as reasonably possible, to represent proportionally any vote. Except as otherwise provided in these rules or in rules governing a National Convention there shall be no automatic delegates to any convention. -- Rules of the Democratic Party of New Mexico

The State Party is arguing that it assigned a CCC member to every precinct to ensure that all precincts would be represented. Representation is not the issue. It is PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION that is the issue.

For example, Taos County Precinct 09 (Arroyo Hondo) was apportioned 10 CCC representatives and Taos County Precinct 31 (El Valle) was apportioned "1" CCC representative. El Valle has a 26 average Democratic vote to factor, while Arroyo Hondo has an 879 average Democratic vote factor.

If the Democratic Party of New Mexico's precinct apportionment of CCC members for Taos County was a proportional representation of the average Democratic vote for Taos County Precinct 09 (Arroyo Hondo), that precinct would have been apportioned 34 CCC members (879 ÷ 26).

While the State Party is arguing that they were merely assuring representation from each precinct, they actually radically disenfranchised the larger Taos County Precincts in the process by a factor of 3 to 4. The result is in direct opposition to the State Party's own rule.

What's so democratic about a State Democratic party that argues against proportional representation of democratic voters? Easy answer ... nothing. If the Republicans would have done this there would be a revolution.

Editor's Note: Previous posts on this topic can be found here and . To submit a guest post or other information for possible publication on DFNM, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link in the upper left-hand corner of the main page.

(Updated) Tonight: MoveOn's Virtual Presidential Candidate Forum on Iraq

UPDATE: A message from Richardson for President: Governor Richardson's portion, taped before he left for North Korea, will discuss his "New Realism" plan to end the war in Iraq. You can hear Governor Richardson online and broadcast at Air America Radio tonight. Could you go to a local MoveOn event to talk to people about the Governor's straightforward plan to end the war? Governor Richardson's plan to end the war is available online - it might be helpful for you to print out copies to take to the event. If you can make it tonight, we'd love to hear about it - leave your comments for us here and we'll put some up on the blog tomorrow.

From MoveOn.org PAC:
We're organizing three “Virtual Town Halls” to hear from 2008 Presidential candidates on the issues MoveOn members say are most important: Iraq, health care, and energy. On April 10th, at 8:00 PM MDT, we're focusing on Iraq.

MoveOn members are asking candidates the tough questions about their Iraq plans, and we're gathering in living rooms from coast to coast to hear the answers directly. Then we’ll talk together, and the next day, all MoveOn members will vote on who we think will do the best job in Iraq. It's a personal audience with the people who want our support, our time, our money, and eventually our votes.

Host your own, or join a Virtual Town Hall house party near you - enter your zip code .

How the Virtual Town Halls Will Work:

• Presidential candidates were invited if at least 10% of surveyed MoveOn members said they would like to hear what he or she has to say.

• MoveOn members voted to determine the questions that are put to the candidates. 

• Right after the virtual town hall meeting, MoveOn will survey its members to see which candidate they believe will do the best job of leading us out of the war in Iraq. Voting will go on until midnight PST on Wednesday, April 11.

• MoveOn will make the results of the support survey public on Thursday, April 12.*

• MoveOn will encourage its members to support their favored candidates’ campaigns by volunteering and contributing money.

* The results of this survey will not constitute the organization’s endorsement of a candidate. MoveOn may decide to hold an endorsement vote later in 2007.

MoveOn’s Role in Previous Campaigns:
Historically, MoveOn support has generated large contributions of members’ volunteer time and money to favored candidates. In the 2006 mid-term elections, MoveOn members contributed $27 million, made 7 million get-out-the-vote phone calls, organized 7,500 house parties, and held 6,000 in district campaign events. 

How to Participate in the Virtual Town Hall:

• MoveOn members will gather at house parties on April 10th to hear the candidates speak via an Internet based audio broadcast. They will also be able to see a map of all the parties participating and enter comments, some of which will be displayed during the intermission.

• The event will also be broadcast, with commercial breaks, on Air America XM Satellite Radio (channel 167).  It will be re-broadcast without commercial breaks on all Air America local affiliates during the following dates and times:

o Wednesday 4/11           8:00 PM - 10:00 PM ET      
o Saturday 4/14               10:00 AM - 12:00 PM ET   
o Sunday 4/15                  8:00 AM - 10:00 AM ET

Donate to Eastern NM Tornado Relief

From NM Voices for Children:
Our friends at Community Action New Mexico have created a relief fund for the victims of the tornados that recently destroyed and severely damaged homes in eastern New Mexico. Some of the hardest hit areas were home to low-income New Mexicans, who may have been under- or uninsured. Community Action New Mexico reports that in the Clovis area alone some 80 homes were lost and another 500 severely damaged.

The Community Action Tornado Relief Fund has been established at Wells Fargo, and contributions can be made at any of the Wells Fargo branches in New Mexico. If you'd rather donate food or other items, call the Community Action in Tucumcari (505-461-1914), or in Clovis (505-769-1094). You can find out more about Community Action New Mexico and their tornado relief effort here.