Democracy for New Mexico

Required Reading: Single Payer Health Care the Only Solution

This concise New York Times op-ed says it all. It's written by David U. Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler, professors of medicine at Harvard and co-founders of Physicians for a National Health Program. Let's hope our legislators read it before they decide to go down the same unworkable path that other states have traveled to utter failure to provide effective universal coverage. Excerpt:

The “mandate model” for [health care] reform rests on impeccable political logic: avoid challenging insurance firms’ stranglehold on health care. But it is economic nonsense. The reliance on private insurers makes universal coverage unaffordable.

With the exception of Dennis Kucinich, the Democratic presidential hopefuls sidestep an inconvenient truth: only a single-payer system of national health care can save what we estimate is the $350 billion wasted annually on medical bureaucracy and redirect those funds to expanded coverage. Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Edwards and Mr. Obama tout cost savings through computerization and improved care management, but Congressional Budget Office studies have found no evidence for these claims.

In 1971, New Brunswick became the last Canadian province to institute that nation’s single-payer plan. Back then, the relative merits of single-payer versus Nixon’s mandate were debatable. Almost four decades later, the debate should be over. How sad that the leading Democrats are still kicking around Nixon’s discredited ideas for health reform.

Here's what you can do right now to help New Mexico's legislators see the light on health care coverage:

From The Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign:

Urge Your Legislators to Co-Sponsor the Health Security Act! We're excited to let you know that the Health Security Act will be introduced in the coming legislative session (January 15 to February 14, 2008). The legislation will be sponsored by Rep. Bobby Gonzales in the house and Sen. Carlos Cisneros in the senate.

Please call your legislators NOW and urge them to co-sponsor the Health Security Act. If possible, call them in the next day or two and let them know that the Health Security Act will be available for them to sign at the health care briefing on Monday. Rep. Gonzales and Sen. Cisneros will have the bills at that time. (New rules, by the way, make all this possible.) After Monday, the bills will be available for signatures in the house and senate clerks' offices. It is so very critical to have a lot of signatures on the legislation to show broad support among legislators.

If you're not sure who your legislators are, you can call your county clerk or access the legislator search page on the legislature's website: https://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/legislatorsearch.asp.

Reminder: Legislative Health Care Briefing on Monday: This Monday, December 17, the Legislative Council will host a special health care briefing for all legislators from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 307 at the State Capitol in Santa Fe. This meeting is open to the public, and we encourage you to attend.

At 9:30 AM Dr. Mary Ruggie, Harvard professor of comparative health policy, will present an overview of health care reform and various state efforts. At 10:45 AM Dr. Deborah Chollet of Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. will present the data from Mathematica's updated report. This will include a cost comparison of the governor's proposal to the other originally studied models, including the Health Security Act. Apparently "adjustments" have been made to reflect updated data, including possible Medicaid cuts.

The Real Study Numbers: Several people (including one legislator) have been presenting inaccurate information about the results of the Mathematica study made available in July. They claim that all the models cost in the $6 billion range and that the differences between them are minimal.

This is completely untrue. To recap:

In the first year of operation (according to the July 2007 Mathematica report), only the Health Security Act costs less than the current system. The other models cost more than the current system. By 2011 (five years later), the Health Security Act is still the only one that results in savings over the current system. The others increase health expenditures.

In the fifth year of operation (2011 in the study), the Health Security Act costs $698 million to $887 million less than the current system (meaning that health expenditures are reduced by $698 million to $887 million). In contrast, the Health Choices model costs $336 million to $383 million more than the current system, and the Health Coverage model costs $70 million more than the current system.

In sum, the Health Security Act costs over $1 billion less than Health Choices, and $768 million-$1 billion less than Health Coverage. These are substantial differences that cannot be ignored!

If you have any questions, contact Josette at 505-771-8763 or jhaddad@cableone.net. Or visit our website at www.nmhealthsecurity.org.

Saturday Night: North Valley Acequia of Lights

This post on Duke City Fix explains this cool event. Click for an event flyer (pdf) with more info. Bottom line on the Second Annual North Valley Acequia of Lights:

• Saturday, December 15, 2007, 5:00 to 8:00 PM
• Griegos Drain Lined with Luminaria Through Los Poblanos Open Space (Go west along Solar Road from 4th Street, or south along the Griegos Drain from Chavez Road)
• The Open Space is amazing this time of year, with cranes and geese and more
• Sierra Club Lights the Night Light Bulb Exchange
• Refreshments, Music, Community, Bonfires, Hot Drinks for Chilly Strollers
• Sponsored by Ditches with Trails Project, North Valley Coalition, Rio Grande Community Farms, Alvarado Elementary School

• Call Ellen at 890-2937 for more info or to volunteer

Marty Chavez: If It Quacks Like a Duck ....

You know you have to check it out. (Be sure to listen to their smashing mp3.)

(Updated) Tonight on KNME's "NM in Focus-The Line": Volunteerism, Local Politics and Yours Truly

UPDATE 12.16.07: You can now see video clips of the entire show at MySpace and comment about it at KNME's online forum.
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Pre-show preparation

I've long been a fan of the local KNME political talk show, "New Mexico in Focus - The Line," co-hosted by Santa Fe Reporter writer David Alire Garcia and Albuquerque Journal columnist Gene Grant, respectively. Being unrepetentent political junkies, the show is part of our Friday night TV ritual that also includes "Washington Week", "Bill Moyers" and Bill Maher's "Real Time."

This week, producer Kevin McDonald invited me to participate as a panelist on Gene Grants' "The Line" segment of the show, along with fellow guest panelist Pat Frisch, AM operations manager of Citadel Communications, and regulars Margaret Montoya, who's a professor at both the UNM Law School and School of Medicine, and Jim Scarantino, an attorney and columnist at the alibi. You can watch the show tonight -- Friday, December 14, at 7 PM and on KNME, Channel 5 or tune in for the repeat on Sunday, December 16, at 6:30 AM.

You might say I was a bit nervous about appearing on the show. I'd never been on TV before and I have to admit I had visions of myself becoming entirely tongue-tied or babbling incoherently during the taping. Thankfully, the show's hosts, participants, producers, director and techies made me feel right at home and helped me relax enough to make some sense during Tuesday's taping. At least I think I made sense -- but I won't really know until I see the show for myself tonight.

Lights, camera, action

Thankfully, "The Line" folks all said I did a fine job, but then they probably tell that to all their guests, being the gracious people they are. The proof will really be in the viewing. I hope I did DFNM proud. Phew. After the initial jitters, the experience turned out to be exciting and fun -- you know how much I like to talk and debate about politics. Our fast-moving discussion touched on a wide range of topics, including Mayor Martin Chavez's withdrawal from the Senate race, Hispanic voters moving back into the Dem column, the latest news about Gov. Bill Richardson's presidential run, the new Spaceport director, immigration, the new medical marijuana regulations and more.

It definitely helped to have Mary Ellen along for the ride as my behind the scenes sidekick, offering much appreciated moral support and humor. She produced the photos in this post and got to hang out in the control booth with the important folks who work out of camera range to make the show a reality. She reports being fascinated by the inside look at tv production, and she thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Of course she didn't have to sit under the lights, face the cameras and attempt to be spontaneously articulate!

In the booth: staff and interns who handle the technical end

Monitors and camera angles

As usual, the first segment of tonight's show will feature David Alire Garcia of the Santa Fe Reporter hosting "New Mexico In Focus." Tonight's topic is volunteerism, including a discussion on where New Mexicans rank when it comes to volunteering, and what local officials are doing to boost civic participation. His guests are Gregory Webb, executive director, New Mexico Commission for Community Volunteerism; Jean Block, ABQ The Magazine’s 2007 Humanitarian of the Year; Kerrie Copelin, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central New Mexico; and Brenda Wolfe, clinical psychologist. After that comes "The Line" segment, with our discussion and the infamous "On the Clock" sequence, where we have one minute per topic on five different issues.

You can check out blog posts and video clips from past and present shows in the series at the New Mexico PBS page on MySpace, or visit their online forum. KNME's pledge drive is also in full swing so please consider supporting public TV and local shows like this one by becoming a member and contributing to the future success of KNME.

"New Mexico In Focus" is a prime-time news magazine show covering events, issues and people shaping life in New Mexico and the Southwest. The one-hour show concentrates on bringing viewers important topics of our time, in a cohesive package. The show takes a multi-layered look at social, political, economic, health, education and arts issues and explores them in-depth, with a critical eye to give them context beyond the “news of the moment.” This episode is co-produced by Karl Swanson, UNM intern. Support has been provided by McCune Charitable Foundation; closed captioning has been made possible by a gift from Mrs. Elspeth G. Bobbs.

Click on photos for larger versions. All photos by M.E. Broderick.

NM-03: Ben Ray Lujan to Kickoff Campaign in Santa Fe Friday

Ben R. Luján, chairman of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, will conduct a news conference and kick-off rally Friday, December 14, 2007 at 11:45 AM in Santa Fe at the State Capitol and in Rio Rancho at the Best Western Hotel, 1465 Rio Rancho Blvd. from 6:00-7:00 PM to officially announce his candidacy for U.S. Congress in Northern New Mexico's Third District. During the next few months Luján will travel across the district to announce his run for Congress and to talk with voters about the many critical issues that confront New Mexico and our nation.

“As we enter the New Year we are preparing to vote in one of the most important elections of our lifetime. This election will impact generations to come. Together we can make a positive difference that will benefit the citizens of New Mexico and hold the Bush Administration accountable for its disastrous policies. New Mexicans want to change the misguided policies and uncompromising opposition to our Democratic ideals and principles so that we can make positive progress to take America in a new, improved direction,” said Luján.

Over the past three years Luján has served as a commissioner and chairman of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission. He has been a committed advocate for increased research and development of renewable energy and has safeguarded New Mexico consumers rights and interests. He has also taken tough stances against corporate interests to provide a strong voice for the people of New Mexico.

“With the help of New Mexico’s voters I will continue to keep fighting for and protecting the interests of the people of New Mexico in Congress,” Luján said.

Click for a schedule of Luján’s weekend campaign activities, including visits to Las Vegas, Mora, Taos, Espanola and Pojoaque. His candidate website will be up soon at www.BenRLujan.com to provide updates on dates and times when he will be in communities district-wide.

Other Dem candidates in the NM-03 race include green builder Don Wiviott; Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya; and Bennie Shendo, Jr. of Jemez Pueblo, Secretary of the NM Indian Affairs Department. To read our previous coverage of the 2008 Congressional race in NM-03, visit our archive.

Dems Capitulate: Bowing, Scraping, Caving

I was going to write a post about the DC Democrats surrendering to Bush AGAIN, but why bother when Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald has already expressed what I want to say:

Democrats show Beltway "strength," avoid being depicted as weak (updated below)

In the world of the Beltway pundit, Bush Dog Representative, and Democratic strategist, this is how Democrats prove how "strong" and tough they are and avoid being demonized as "weak" and "soft"; this is all just from today:

From The Hill:

From The Washington Post:

From CNN:

From The Hill:

And this passage from the CNN article -- in which Democrats try to explain that they didn't completely capitulate in every single way possible -- is one of the most pity-inducing of the year, and there is a very healthy competition for that distinction:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democratic lawmakers and staffers privately say they're closing in on a broad budget deal that would give President Bush as much as $70 billion in new war funding. The deal would lack a key provision Democrats had attached to previous funding bills calling for most U.S. troops to come home from Iraq by the end of 2008, which would be a significant legislative victory for Bush.

Still, Democrats are trying to sell $70 billion in new war funding as a partial victory for them. They point out that while the final numbers are still in flux during intense private negotiations, Bush is likely to get far less money than he originally requested.

"What is for sure is he will not get all $200 billion," said one senior Democratic lawmaker. "Whatever number it is, it is much less than what the president asked for. For the first time in this war, he has received less than his request."

But senior administration officials privately say they expect to be able to get at least of the rest of the president's $200 billion request passed through Congress next year.

For Congressional Democrats, the "victory" they are touting is that they are only giving Bush $70 billion for the war now, and they won't give him the other $130 billion he is demanding until they return in a few weeks. They really showed him.

Read the rest of Greenwald's post.

I'd love to require all the cowardly Dems taking this path to irrelevance to walk precincts and talk to potential Dem voters from now until at least the New Year. It would be fascinating, to say the least, to witness how they'd go about convincing ordinary people that they're doing anything at all to express the will of the people and stand up to Bush's eternal war machine. Maybe they'd wake up and get the big picture if they had to face the insults and door slamming that occurs so often these days when activists try to make a case for the Dem cause and candidates. They'd find out fast, as so many of us have, that there's next to nothing to "sell" people when we're trying to get folks excited about the Party.

Bush and his cronies played this one out perfectly. A while back Bush came right out and said that he intended to "fix" things so that the next President, regardless of who they were, would be forced to deal with Iraq on his terms, not theirs. Clearly the aim has been to saddle the next administration and the American people with a situation in Iraq that would make a timely exit next to impossible. And if and when an exit ever comes, you can guess who'll be blamed for the "failure."

Of course this tactic has the added benefit of further bankrupting government, thus making it next to impossible to do anything to effectively address our problems related to domestic spending of any kind. This, in turn, pretty much guarantees that government at every level will increasingly turn to "privatization" to perform what governments can no longer afford to do on their own. This inevitably leads to higher, not lower, costs to the taxpayers, but it does provide opportunities for the quick, if illusory, fixes of which politicos are so fond.

Meanwhile the DC Dems keep bragging about their "new direction" and touting their extraordinary achievements since we helped them take back the Congress. Can you remember what they are? Well, they did manage to raise the minimum wage to a level it should have been a decade or so ago. They keep passing SCHIP legislation and resubmitting it to Bush for his veto, something they're unaccountably afraid to do with other bills like those on Pentagon and war funding, energy, FISA and torture. They keep investigating scandals and issuing subpoenas, but nothing tangible ever seems to result from these efforts. I guess they think the publicity is enough.

I'm very tired of all the sound and fury signifying nothing, aren't you? All form, no substance. All rhetoric, no action. All bluster, no follow through. Most of all, no courage of their convictions -- if they have any left after so many years of putting their reelection and fundraising goals before the needs of the nation.

Guest Blog: State of Fear Averts Eyes from Bush's Errors

This is a guest blog by Ashleigh Steele, who graduated from Albuquerque's Eldorado High School in 2005 and is currently a junior majoring in international studies at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She writes a weekly op-ed for the Daily Nebraskan. This piece was originally in that newspaper on December 7, 2007.

For the past several months, both the media and the government have inundated us with information about the developing nuclear weapons program in Iran.

According to the media and the Bush administration, Iran is on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon, and they pose a serious threat to the United States. But according to the National Intelligence Estimate released earlier this week, Iran halted its nuclear weapons development program in 2003. This report came as a surprise to most Americans who have been forced to listen to the rhetoric of the Bush administration in their media battle against Iran.

The National Intelligence Estimate stated that "in the fall of 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program" due to heightened international pressure. This is contrary to recent statements made by the Bush administration concerning the Iranian government.

The administration has repeatedly accused the government in Tehran of pursuing a weapons-grade uranium enrichment program. Even after the release of the National Intelligence Estimate, the Bush administration has maintained this stance against Iran.

On Tuesday President Bush said, "Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."

Clearly the administration has learned nothing from the occupation of Iraq.

Before entering Iraq in March 2003, the Bush administration adamantly maintained that Saddam Hussein was desperate to obtain weapons of mass destruction. In spite of the fact that both the CIA and the United Nations' weapons inspectors could not find any evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction, the administration still sent forces into Iraq.

The parallels between the rhetoric leading up to the war in Iraq and the rhetoric the administration is using to describe Iran today are striking.

Before the war in Iraq, the administration maintained that we, as Americans, should be terrified of the prospect of Saddam Hussein obtaining weapons of mass destruction; today it seems as though the administration would like us to be just as afraid of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the prospect of Iran enriching weapons grade uranium. 

Bush wants nothing more than to keep us in a constant state of fear. This constant state of fear only serves to distract us from the economic slump, the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the illegal surveillance of the American people and the various other sins of the Bush administration.

The National Intelligence Estimate was released at a most inopportune time for the administration. In previous weeks, Bush has stated that a nuclear conflict with Iran could set off World War III; Cheney warned us that Iran is a terror-supporting state attempting to fulfill its grandest ambitions of acquiring nuclear weapons and taking control of the Middle East.

According to Flynt Leverett, a former senior director on Bush's National Security Council, the President and his staff were well aware of the conclusions of the NIE as early as August 2006. Yet the administration has maintained its adamant stance against the government in Tehran and continues to claim an attempt to enrich weapons-grade uranium.

This deception of the American people has to stop. The Bush administration has demonstrated its contempt for the truth throughout its time in office by lying to us about the reasons for invading the nation of Iraq and blocking a full investigation into the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - this only continues with the claim that Iran is attempting to obtain weapons of mass destruction.

When will this deception end?

An April 2006 article in the New Yorker suggests that President Bush believes that Iran will be his saving grace. If he can force some type of regime change in Iran and prevent the development of nuclear weaponry, then his presidency will be vindicated. The majority of opinion polls put the President's approval rating somewhere between 30 and 35 percent.

Due to the war in Iraq, the growing deficit, the torture of prisoners of war, the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina, the controversy surrounding the dismissal of the U.S. attorneys and thousands of other mistakes, the presidency of George Walker Bush is now viewed by the majority of Americans as a failure.

So he's convinced that if he can save the United States from the threat of Iran that his legacy will be saved.

But the NIE tells us that Iran poses no threat. The earliest Iran could produce enough enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb is 2010, but they have stopped working toward the production of a nuclear weapon and are complying with the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Clearly the Bush administration has motives other than protecting the interests of the American people. The United States should learn from its previous mistakes in Iraq; the American people should not allow themselves to once again get caught up in the rhetoric of the Bush administration and be driven into a senseless action against another nation in the Middle East.

This is a guest blog by Ashleigh Steele, a student at the University of Nebraska. You can reach her at ashleighsteele@dailynebraskan.com. Guest blogs provide readers with an opportunity to express their views on relevant issues and may or many not reflect our views. If you'd like to submit a piece for consideration as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand corner of the page.

Latest on Galisteo Basin Oil & Gas Drilling

If you want to stay current on the nitty gritty of environmental happenings, you should check in daily at High Desert Reports, written by blogger (and free-lance reporter) Laura Paskus. Today she points her readers to an in-depth Santa Fe Reporter article by David Alire Garcia and Dave Maass about proposed oil and gas drilling in Northern New Mexico's Galisteo Basin. This issue has been much in the news of late, with Santa Feans and environmentalists trying to stop what could be vastly increased drilling due to the rising price of oil and gas. Areas with characteristics that once made them economically prohibitive for drilling are now being viewed as viable by energy producers. Santa Fe County is probably the first of many locales in the state where new drilling projects may be on the way.

Meanwhile, the following message was issued by SantaFeNoToOil.org about a proposed resolution to be considered tonight by the Santa Fe City Council:

"The City of Santa Fe knows how destructive oil & gas drilling can be to Santa Fe and our future, Below is a landmark resolution, which Santa Fe City Councilor Patti Bushee will introduce Wednesday night, December 12, 2007, at the Santa Fe City Council meeting. There may be some further language from the City hydrologist about potential impact on City wells & water sources, but the important information is complete.

"Please call or email Santa Fe City Council members with your support for this important resolution. It shows that the future of Santa Fe is on the line and the City knows it! Councilor contact info:

• Patti Bushee, (505) 955-6813 E-mail: pjbushee@santafenm.gov
• Chris Calvert,  (505) 955-6812  E-mail: ccalvert@santafenm.gov
• Rebecca Wurzburger, (505) 955-6815  E-mail: rebeccawrz@comcast.net
• Karen Heldmeyer,  (505) 955-6818 E-mail: kheld@earthlink.net
• Miguel Chavez, (505) 955-6816 E-mail: miguelmchavez@msn.com
• Carmichael Dominguez (505) 955-6814 E-mail: cadominguez@santafenm.gov
• Matthew Ortiz, (505) 955-6817  E-mail: meortiz@santafenm.gov
• Ronald Trujillo,  (505) 955-6811 E-mail: rstrujillo@santafenm.gov

Proposed Resolution:

"Whereas, the Governing Body of the City of Santa Fe has learned that at least one oil and gas exploration concern has acquired more than 60,000 acres of mineral rights in Santa Fe County and indicated to the offices and citizens of Santa Fe County its intent to initiate large-scale drilling operations in the Galisteo Basin; and
   
Whereas, there are, in other US cities and counties, ample and highly disturbing examples of the catastrophic impact of oil and gas exploitation on the natural environment, on the purity of surface and subterranean water resources, on air quality, on municipal infrastructures including roadways and highways, and on the social fabric of the communities themselves as evidenced by increased illegal-drug use resulting in burgeoning crime rates; and
   
Whereas, the technologies announced by the oil and gas exploration concern for use in the Galisteo Basin include the practice of high-pressure injection of thousands of gallons of water, sand, and yet-to-be-determined chemicals into the wells to free the, as yet unknown quantities of oil and gas trapped in shale deposits (known as "fracking"), a procedure that both employs massive quantities of our most precious natural resource, water, and has a high probability of serious damage to the delicate ecological balance of the Galisteo Basin; and
   
Whereas, the City of Santa Fe prides itself on, and is economically dependent upon, the beauty and historical significance of the region both within and beyond its city limits, not just as an historical repository of known, and yet to be discovered, cultural and religious sites and treasures but also as a highly varied landscape of breathtaking beauty;
   
Be It Therefore Resolved by the Governing Body of the City of Santa Fe;
   
a. stands firmly opposed oil and gas exploitation in Santa Fe County;
   
b. urges the County of Santa Fe to take the steps necessary to protect and preserve our broader community from the environmental, social, and aesthetic damage concomitant with mineral exploitation;
   
c. calls upon the Governor and the State of New Mexico to protect this County's environmental and economic well-being by initiating a comprehensive study of the ecological and hydrological impact of  "fracking" in the Galisteo Basin and other areas of Santa Fe County;
   
d. instructs the City Attorney and Staff to promptly investigate, and report to the Governing Body, The City of Santa Fe's legal standing in this issue and to recommend ways in which our status and our resources can be most effectively employed to protect our Citizens, our environment and our economic well-being as a City from the impact of oil and gas exploitation in Santa Fe County."

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The grassroots activist group Drilling Santa Fe has been in the forefront for months on the Santa Fe County drilling issue, and their website is a storehouse of info on the controversy and recent actions taken by Santa Fe County Commissioners and others.

Marty Chavez Disses Negative Politics & U.S. House; Ex-Wife May Run for Mayor

Since he released a statement last Friday withdrawing from the U.S. Senate race, Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez has essentially been in hiding from the public. He hasn't appeared at a single press conference -- a rarity for the camera-loving Mayor. Although he was present at Friday's lighting of the Old Town Christmas tree, Marty reportedly fled the scene when invited to the podium. He's let his campaign manager, Mark Fleisher, do most of the talking, and Fleisher has been repeating a story that poor internal polling numbers were the reason Marty decided to abruptly withdraw from the race.

That explanation always seemed odd, given that all of the polling numbers from day one of Marty's Senate campaign were poor. Juicy rumors continue to percolate about the real reason Chavez suddenly fled the race. Dark innuendos multiply by the day. Now we have another scenario, directly from Marty via a telephone interview with Albuquerque Journal reporter Jeff Jones:

Chávez on Tuesday contended the poll did not play a role in his decision to get out of the race. He said he became convinced it would take a "particularly hard-hitting" primary race to secure the Democratic nomination, leaving the winner "bloody and weakened" heading into the general election ... He said Washington had "no role in my getting in, or getting out."

In other words, Chavez claims he was just being noble -- and doing so of his own volition -- putting the interests of the NM Dem Party before his own ambitions. Right. That's why his campaign began reciting negative mantras about Rep. Tom Udall even before NM-02's Congressman officially joined the Senate primary race. It's bad enough when fellow Dems fling mud as a close race draws to a close, but Marty went negative from the get-go.

Mayor Marty Too Genteel for U.S. House
Chavez had an even more outrageous explanation for why he won't enter the NM-01 Congressional race:

Chávez, in a telephone interview, blasted the U.S. House of Representatives and said that jumping into the race for the open, Albuquerque-based seat is "not an option." The House is "not a place where I want to be," said Chávez ... He said Tuesday that while the Senate remains a place where "individuals of substance gather," the House— whose members face re-election every two years, compared with six-year terms for senators— is "not a place for ladies and gentlemen any longer. ... They play a type of politics (that) I think is destructive."

Gag me with a spoon. Where do I even begin parsing these statements? Marty aghast at "destructive" politics? If the U.S. House is not a place for "ladies and gentlemen," does that mean that Rep. Tom Udall is just another low-life politico, at home for years in a setting beneath the dignity of Chavez? I guess Marty suddenly sees himself as a man of "substance" who's above the political fray, too unsullied and high minded to consider running for an office as shabby as the U.S. House. Amazing.

After all, this is a man who has been reveling in back-room, backstabbing politics at their most venal during his City Hall years. I guess he considers his underhanded skirmishes with the City Council and his belligerant antics in pushing his my-way-or-the-highway initiatives as a better match for the refined sensibilities of the U.S. Senate than what he sees as the nasty strategery of the U.S. House. My, my.

Margaret Aragon De Chavez Pondering Mayoral Run
In another intriguing development, Marty's ex-wife, Margaret Aragon De Chavez, told KOB-TV news that she'll form an exploratory committee next Spring to study whether she should run for Albuquerque Mayor in 2009. In her on-camera interview (text and video), Aragon De Chavez said:

... [running for Mayor] is something a lot of people have encouraged her to do. Aragon De Chavez said her experiences as a school teacher, principal, real estate agent, and single mother would make her a strong candidate.

"If you want to be an effective leader, you've gotta have the ability not to waffle on issues. I also think you've got to have compassion to listen and if you feel that you've made the wrong choice, you need to admit it and say it needs to be reevaluated," she said.

Aragon De Chavez previously considered running for Mayor in 2005, following her 2004 divorce from Marty. Asked about the possibility that she might be running against Marty in 2009, she said:

"You know I really don't want to talk about the possibility of other candidates, because I think what I need to think about is what would make me the best candidate and that's what I'm going to focus on," she said.

... Aragon De Chavez said her two teenage children plan on working for her campaign if she decides to run for mayor.

Timing is everything, isn't it? Marty told the Journal that "a possible run for a fourth mayoral term, a bid for the governor's job in 2010 or a return to the private sector all remain "on the table," but added that he's currently focused on his mayoral duties."

The current City Charter includes term limits that would preclude another mayoral run by Marty. However, if he wanted to run for a third consecutive term, which would be his fourth term in total, Marty could either try to change the Charter or challenge its constitutionality in court. A similar term limit provision for City Councilors was struck down by the New Mexico Supreme Court in the mid-1990s.

Click for archives of our previous coverage of the 2008 U.S. Senate race in New Mexico and the 2008 NM-01 Congressional race.

McCamley Fights for Voter Protection: Dona Ana County Commission Passes Election Reform Resolution

Yesterday Doña Ana County Commissioner and NM-02 congressional candidate Bill McCamley put before the Doña Ana County Commission a resolution “Urging New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to Include Election Reform on the 2008 Legislative Agenda.” The resolution passed 5-0.

In a presentation before the Commission, the head of the Elections Bureau, Lynn Ellins, and local attorney Peter Ossorio pointed to some of the problems caused by the recent reforms. In particular, requiring all voters to have a “unique identifier” number that will be generated randomly is an issue of major concern.

“The new requirement for a randomly generated Voter ID number is a very bad idea,” McCamley said following the meeting. “It could lead to the disenfranchisement of a large number of New Mexico voters, particularly elderly voters, low-income voters, and New Mexicans serving in the military who often vote by absentee ballot. We cannot allow this to happen. Our Resolution calls on the Governor to allow the legislature the opportunity to address this issue.”

The Resolution notes that it is the “right of every registered voter in the State of New Mexico to vote in as efficient way as possible, and not be presented with unnecessary obstacles that may discourage them from voting.” It also points out that recent changes made to the New Mexico Election Code will “effectively deprive New Mexico voters” of ways to prove their identity and will “likely result in increased complications for poll workers and longer wait times at polling places” which in turn leads to the possibility of the “disenfranchisement of large numbers of registered New Mexico voters.”

The Resolution calls for the legislature “to pass simple, clear and comprehensive changes to the New Mexico Election Code, which will protect the rights of all registered voters to vote at polls, by absentee ballot or by provisional ballot.”

“Protecting the rights of voters is absolutely essential to our democracy at the most fundamental level,” said McCamley. “As a County Commissioner, I am doing everything I can to protect voter rights, and I will continue to do that when I get to Congress.”

To learn more about the new requirements for voter ID, see this post on Heath Haussamen.
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Since declaring his candidacy in April, McCamley has raised over $200,000 and has visited all 18 counties in the Second District. He has received endorsements from eight elected Democratic officials in the Second District, as well as the New Mexico Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents over 7,000 New Mexico workers.

More information about McCamley and his campaign is available on his website: www.billmccamley.com.