Democracy for New Mexico

Howie Morales Appointed State Senator in District 28

Governor Bill Richardson today appointed Howie Morales, Ph.D. to represent state Senate District 28. Morales will fill the vacancy left by the passing of Senate Pro-Tem Ben Altamirano, who held the District 28 seat for more than thirty years. Morales has served as Grant County Clerk since 2005 and teaches leadership and government courses at Western New Mexico University. Morales earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a Masters degree in Bilingual Special Education from Western New Mexico University and a Doctorate in Philosophy from New Mexico State University. Read more of the Governor's statement.

Socorro's El Defensor Chieftain has on Morales and Socorro County's recommendation. According to the newspaper,

Morales was personally recommended by the Altamirano family to fill Ben Altamirano's term. Santillanes said Altamirano's wife, Nina, had considered putting her name in for the position, but decided against it. Instead, the family is supporting Morales who is a distant relative.

In addition, former majority floor leader of the Legislature, Michael Olguin, was recommended by Bennie Berreras in Socorro County to fill the vacancy. However, Michael Olguin's name was eventually withdrawn by Commissioner Phillip Anaya based on the Altamirano family's wishes.

Santa Fe Reporter Unveils Online Citizen Muckrakers Guide

What a resource -- I love it already. Dave Maass and the folks at the Santa Fe Reporter have put together a comprehensive guide to snooping on the powers that be (and others) in New Mexico. The Citizen Muckraker's Guide to New Mexico, subtitled A reference manual for digging up dirt on politicians, corporations, and other citizens, is described as follows:

It reveals the data-capturing tools employed by investigators, bounty hunters, landmen and journalists. With it, you’ll be able to find out which city councilor had a bench warrant issued against her in Clovis for a two-year-old speeding ticket (Patti Bushee). You’ll be able to download a mugshot of Kent Nelson, the investment advisor who admitted dishing out $3 million in kickbacks in the New Mexico Treasurer’s Office scandal. And you’ll do it from the comfort of your local wireless cafe.

... There aren’t enough eyes in the media to watch everything all the time in the Information Age. SFR hopes this guide will inspire readers to join us as independent watchdogs and personally hold the powers that be, in the government and corporate worlds, accountable.

To learn more about how the new digging tool can be used, you should first check out Dave's article, The Paperless Chase. It explains how the online guide is organized, and offers tips for using it for tasks like running a basic background check, connecting campaign contributions to legislative earmarks, tracking corporate maneuvers, fact checking claims about the War on Terror and finding out who's exploiting natural resources.

There are sections on Campaign Finance, Crime, Courts and the like, where you can chase down People, Politicians or Corporations. There are also links to data related to topics like The War on Terror; Land, Environment and Natural Resources; and Health, Doctors and Drugs. You can also access info by using the Guide's Complete Link Roll, The Citizen Muckraker's Guide on Del.icio.us or a Del.icio.us Tag Cloud.

Maass says they'll keep adding to the Guide as time goes on. I haven't had much time to play around with it yet, but I certainly intend to dig in soon -- and expect to get lost for hours in the links. Who knows what evil lurks in the URLs of the Guide? Try it and see. And if you find anything particularly juicy, let Maass know at davem@sfreporter.com. They'll be keeping track of newfound dirt in New Mexico as it filters in from all corners of the internet. (Does the internet have corners?)

I expect that the bloggers of New Mexico -- and other dirt diggers in the state -- will have a field day being modern-day muckrakers for the cause, uncovering crime, corruption, waste, fraud and abuse (and maybe some data on that weird guy down the street).

Tonight: SWM Meeting on Nuke Weapons in ABQ

From Charles Powell of Stop the War Machine:
Come learn about the largest concentration of nuclear weapons anywhere in the world, right here in Albuquerque. And the effort to get them dismantled. Wednesday evening, January 9th, at 7 PM in the Greenbriar Townhouse Co-op clubhouse meeting room, 1212 Nakomis Dr NE. (near Tramway, Constitution & Indian School) If you have questions please phone Charles at 271-9274.

(Updated: Richardson to Leave Race?) What Will Richardson Do?

UPDATE: Nedra Pickler at the AP reports, based on two anonymous sources close to the Governor, that Bill Richardson will announce tomorrow that he'll end his bid to be the Democratic presidential nominee. The decision allegedly was reached after a meeting with his top advisers Wednesday in New Mexico. However, MSNBC reports that Katie Roberts, deputy communications director for the Richardson campaign, denied the report.
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Despite garnering only 5% in New Hampshire and finishing a distant fourth there, Gov. Bill Richardson is still insisting he will continue on to Nevada's caucus on January 19th. You can see his concession speech on the CSPAN site. The Governor has said he believes he has more support in the West than has been evident back East. We'll see.

Richardson's campaign is reportedly running out of money and bought no ad time in New Hampshire during the week before the primary. In addition, New Mexico's 30-day Legislative Session begins on January 15th and Richardson must put at least some energy into pushing his agenda there. He's supposed to give his State of the State speech at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe on 1/15, and there's a Dem debate that night in Nevada.

Richardson is back in New Mexico today and will be involved in appointing a successor to Sen. Ben Altamirano who passed way recently. After that, it's anyone's guess. The most recent polling numbers on Nevada, from early December, show him in single digits. I'm sure he and his advisers are pondering whether they can stay in until New Mexico's Dem caucus on February 5th, and whether doing so would decrease his power to achieve his legislative agenda in New Mexico. It's a tough call.

VP Slot
How about Richardson's chances of being named the VP candidate if Hillary wins? Even that's looking like a long shot these days. The Clinton camp is reportedly angry about rumors that Richardson's campaign urged supporters in nonviable precincts in Iowa to move to Obama's corner. The Richardson campaign continues to deny the allegation, but it seems to have legs. In this video, Richardson complains he's being blamed in part for Clinton's loss in Iowa:

... it's a lot of the Clinton people that are putting this out and I really resent it. It's wrong. I believe very strongly that this was a big vote for Obama because he brought a lot of new people in. That's why he won and those people should stop trying to get scapegoats.

Howie Morales to Replace Sen. Ben Altamirano?
By the way, former Silver City resident Avelino at NM FBIHOP says it looks like Grant County Clerk Howie Morales has a great chance to be appointed to Sen. Altamirano's State Senate seat after being selected by both Grant and Socorro Counties. I understand that Richardson must appoint someone from the names submitted by the County Commissions of the three counties with territory inside Senate District 28. We don't yet know who the conservative Catron County Commission will recommend when it meets tonight.

Two States Down, Forty-Eight to Go

Hillary Clinton's NH victory speech

Yes, two states down and forty-eight to go. That's what Edwards had to say in his concession speech (video) last night in New Hampshire, adding he's in it until the Dem Convention in August. I hope he means it. I think Edwards has been crucial in pushing the other candidates to at least talk a more progressively populist game in terms of issues like health care reform, trade and bucking corporate influence. The longer he stays in the race, the more the issues he raises will get at least some attention, despite the media's obvious reluctance to cover him properly. And you never know -- Clinton or Obama could stumble or damaging facts could emerge that favor a resurgence by Edwards. I'm glad he intends to hang in there. I have to admit, however, that I wish he'd change his stump speech so he isn't saying the same things over and over and over at every single one. Enough about the guy with the cleft palate and the mill town already.

Speaking after the vote, Obama (video) emphasized that a second place finish in NH was still a remarkable achievement, and you can see how energized his supporters are in the crowd despite Hillary's win. This is just the beginning. I don't think his Big Mo will ebb one iota.

Personally, I'm glad we have a competitive race that will stretch at least until the Super Tuesday states, including New Mexico, vote on February 5th -- and maybe even beyond. I want to see voters in as many states as possible have a real say in the Dem nomination, not just Iowa and New Hampshire. I have a hunch this was on the minds of many voters in NH yesterday. With the huge stakes in this election cycle, it's important to see how the candidates deal with victory, defeat and the other ups and downs that come with a longer primary race. I think an endurance race produces a stronger nominee than a sprint.

According to CNN's delegate count, Obama has 25, Clinton 24 and Edwards 18. The magic number for winning the nomination is 2,025, so there's a long way to go, and the top three candidates are still fairly neck and neck in terms of pledged delegates. Time online has an excellent interactive map that tallies the pledged delegates state by state that are allocated based on primary and caucus voting.

This part of CNN's scorecard adds in the so-called Super Delegates -- elected officials and others within the Party who are automatically delegates to the convention by virtue of their positions within the Party. In this count, Clinton has 183, Obama 78, Edwards 52, Richardson 19 and Kucinich 1. The Super Delegates aren't bound to stay with the candidates to whom they've voiced their support at this time and allegiances often change as the race progresses and frontrunners emerge.

Who Voted for Clinton?
Based on exit polling numbers provided by MSNBC, Clinton won big among women, those from families earning less than $50,000 a year, union households and those over 40 years of age. It seems clear that the criticisms of Hillary at the last debate and about her tear up at the coffee shop brought women back into the fold who may have been considering voting for Obama. Obama won Independents and younger voters, but by less than he did in Iowa. I'm still surprised that Edwards isn't getting more lower income and union voters given his economic message. My guess is that it may well be a likeability issue. I, too, can have this problem with him. I strongly support his positions and the focus of his campaign, but I still have a bit of a hard time overcoming my perception of him as a little too slick. I think he can come off as more of a polished salesman than the genuine article.

Up Next
The January 19th Nevada caucus, with 25 delegates at stake, is the next major Dem contest. It was just announced that the much sought after endorsement of the powerful Culinary Workers Union Local 226, with 60,000 members in Nevada, is going to Obama. He also has the endorsement of the Nevada chapter of SEIU, which represents 17,500 health care and county workers in the state. This labor support will provide strong ground support for Obama, and the conventional wisdom is that it makes him the favorite to win Nevada. Both Edwards and Clinton have heavily courted Nevada union members in Nevada, but failed to lock in official endorsements.

The January 15th Michigan primary is actually the next scheduled contest, but the DNC withdrew its recognition when Michigan insisted on moving their date ahead of Nevada's. The DNC has said it will refuse to seat Michigan's delegates at the August convention, although few believe they'll follow through on that. All the Dem candidates except Clinton have announced they won't compete in Michigan so it's likely she'll win the state. If the Dem primary remains close through the summer, this could result in a floor fight over the seating of Michigan's delegates. Same with Florida, which also moved up its primary despite DNC threats to refuse to seat its delegates.

Here's the primary and caucus schedule through Super Tuesday:

January 15: Michigan

January 19: Nevada, South Carolina (Republican)

January 26: South Carolina (Democratic)

January 29: Florida

February 1: Maine (Republican)

February 5: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho (Democratic), Illinois, Kansas (Democratic), Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico (Democratic), New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah

(Updated) 2008 NH Primary: Resources & Results

Photo by Steve Terrell on the ground in NH. Go see more.

UPDATE 10:04 PM: Okay, I lied. I didn't return with updates so I'm especially glad that NM FBIHOP live blogged it. Good job. I got too comfortable on my couch watching the returns on TV like I used to do in the days before blogging, and enjoyed every minute of it. This is gonna be some marathon for our top three candidates. And sheesh, McCain gave read a horrible victory speech, didn't he? I'll have more tomorrow and so will every other blogger and news outlet! On to Nevada.

Democrats
268 of 301 Precincts Reporting (89%)
Hillary Clinton	99,863	39%
Barack Obama	93,033	36%
John Edwards	43,100	17%
Bill Richardson	11,656	5%
Dennis Kucinich	3,485	1%

Republicans
267 of 301 Precincts Reporting (89%)
John McCain	79,061	37%
Mitt Romney	67,574	32%
Mike Huckabee	23,667	11%
Rudy Giuliani	18,362	9%
Ron Paul	16,281	8%
Fred Thompson	2,572	1%
Duncan Hunter	1,085	1%

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The Manchester Union Leader is huge turnouts today in New Hampshire. You can learn more about this contest and its history at Wikipedia. Helpful sites to keep an eye on as the day goes on and results and exit polling data start coming in after the polls close:

• Seacoast Media Group
• Nashua Telegraph
• Manchester Union Leader
• New Hampshire Public Radio
• New Hampshire Political Library
• New Hampshire Secretary of State (Results)
• CNN Primary Results
• MSNBC Primary Results

I'll be coming back with updates later.

Obama's Speeches Can Make Me Dewy-Eyed Too, But ....

This is a rather long post, but I hope you'll hang in with it on this New Hampshire primary day.

I'm all for "change." I'm all for "movements." I'm all for this being our "moment." I'm all for "changing the way our government operates." I'm all for stirring, emotive rhetoric. I love to hear Obama speak when he's on his game. He can be a very persuasive and inspiring speaker at times. He's given at least three speeches that were powerhouses: at the Democratic Convention in 2004, at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Iowa this year, and after the results were in for the Iowa Caucus last Thursday.

However, I've also witnessed him give rather boring, banal, low key, blah blah speeches at rallies that have been televised. And his measured demeanor at debates and other more intimate events can be a bit dry. But what bothers me most about his candidacy is that he speaks almost entirely about process and generic values instead of substance.

What's Behind Obama's Lofty Rhetoric?
Change, hope, unity. Great words. But what do they mean in terms of his plans to counter the awful juggernaut against individual liberties and working and middle class economics that's being conducted by powerful forces in Washington, on Wall Street and in multi-national board rooms? We have almost no idea based on what Obama is saying or what he has said or done in the past.

We do know that he's for nuclear power, that he backed a bill promoting energy from pseudo-"clean" liquified coal, that he's taken significant amounts of money from Wall Street, the corporate and lobbying elite and PACs. We know his health reform plans allows opt outs that will almost certainly undermine its effectiveness. We know he gave support to the Peru trade bill while saying he's against NAFTA, and that he's recently been employing Repub framing and bashing some progressives like Paul Krugman. You don't hear much populist sentiment from Barack. Open Left's Matt Stoller has more on this aspect of Obama's actions:

Since declaring for President, this person has called Social Security a 'crisis', attacked trial lawyers, associated unapologetically with vicious homophobes, portrayed Gore and Kerry as excessively polarizing losers, boasted as his central achievement an irrelevant ethics bill, ran against the DC establishment while taking huge amounts of cash from DC, undermined Ned Lamont in 2006, criticized NAFTA while voting for a NAFTA-style trade agreement, compiled opposition research on the most effective liberal pundit in the country, refused to promise that American troops would be out of Iraq by 2013, and endorsed the central plank of the Bush-Cheney foreign policy doctrine, the war on terror.

And, of course, many of us have seen the Amy Goodman's story of business-as-usual advisers on foreign policy that are on the Obama team (and Hillary's and Edwards' as well). Granted, not one of the Dem candidates is without some baggage or a number of positions we'd wish they'd sharpen or change. But I think it's important that we at least know the extent of these and bring them into the equation before locking in one of them as our nominee, no matter how impressive (or not) they are on the stump.

I know I'll be tagged as one of the "cynics" now deemed so out of date in the new "post-partisan" era, but I say beware -- let's take it a bit slower.

Our Own Private Projection Screen
Obama is running an incredibly effective campaign by saying almost nothing but fuzzy wuzzy buzz words. He's putting himself out there as a kind of blank screen, available for the projections of everyone's very own version of the new change revolution. He doesn't leave anyone out, whether Repub, Independent or Dem, whatever their gender, race or ethnicity. He tries not to offend anyone, except maybe those who've been made combative by at least eight years of assaults on our person, our civil liberties, our economic livelihoods and just about everything else that matters. Reacting with anger or replying in kind to the battering coming from BushCo's side of the aisle is considered so, you  know, PARTISAN. So, you know, out of date -- like love bead, protests and speaking truth to power.

I say beware -- let's think this through. Try to picture raising the level of discourse with the forces behind and supportive of Guantanamo, torture, criminal trade deals, hatemongering on immigration issues and the subprime mortgage scandal. Try to picture being accommodating and inclusive with them, having them serve within a Democratic president's cabinet. Try to picture genteely negotiating with insurance and drug company execs and lobbyists to get a fair deal for the people. Hard, isn't it?

Should one of our top priorities be to make country club Republicans feel better about the atrocities they've helped to elect and enact over the past eight years -- just so they could keep their taxes low? Are we to sidle up with charm to those who have been branding GLBT folks like me as abominations that shouldn't have equal rights under the law? What kind of bipartisan agreement or accommodation can there be on issues and conflicts loaded with the kind of explosive consequences that once brought our nation a civil war and are now creating the pathways to an eternal state of war and constant surveillence?

A Little History
Open Left's Paul Rosenberg riffs on the theme of "bi-partisanship":

Democrats have been trying to make nice-nice with Republicans in order to put an end to polarization and divisiveness at least since the days of Jimmy Carter. The results have been quite satisfactory... for the Republicans. Barack Obama says that this time it will be different. If he means to inspire us, that's one thing. But if that's really his game plan, then he is reading from speeches given by Lucy to Charlie Brown: this time, for sure, she won't pull that football away at the last moment.

Okay, folks, there are so many examples, it's impossible to choose. Should we look at:

(A) Jimmy Carter takes "bipartisan" advice from Henry Kissinger, lets the deposed Shah into the country, and precipitates a hostage crisis that costs him the presidency-with a little help from the 1980 Reagan/Bush team, which is not above a little bit of treason, if that's what it takes to get elected.

(B) Michael Dukakis refuses to get down and dirty. "It's about competence, not ideology," he explains-perhaps the most incompetent thing a presidential candidate has said since Hebert Hoover adopted the theme song "Happy Days Are Here Again" in the midst of the Great Depression. In Ohio, Senator Howard Metzenbaum ran as a full-throated economic populist and cruised to a 57-43 victory, while Dukakis ran away from the "liberal" label, and lost badly, 55-45. [Ohio SOS Raw Totals]

(C) Bill Clinton ignores a whole raft of Republican scandals [Iran-Contra, Iraqgate , October Surprise, etc.] in an attempt to make peace with the Republicans. He caves on a whole series of issues, and-voila!--the Republicans win control of Congress for the first time in 40 years, and launch a scorched earth campaign to drive him from office.

(D) Al Gore plays by Marquess of Queensberry rules, and has the Presidency stolen from him.

(E) John Kerry refuses to fight back when , then starts to think better of it, until John McCain tells him "no fair hitting back." Then he reverses his earlier pledge to fight to ensure that every vote is counted.

Can't We All Just Get Along?
Obama's vision of a calm, friendly, fair-minded rennaissance of American politics is an alluring one. Dreams of Eden always are, especially in an America that clings to Walt Disney-esq images of itself, its motives and its goals. Imperialism, empire, economic criminality and a surveillence state are ugly and brutal concepts. Envisioning a political scene full of Bambi-like good government types is appealing and comforting. But what do you think the next eight years will bring in terms of problems we won't be able to avoid confronting? Opportunities for abundant nicey nice, or continuing and increasingly ominous challenges to the very basis of our democracy and planetary survival?

Will we need the skills of someone unafraid to get their hands dirty or someone who seems to feel uncomfortable -- or even above the fray -- when confrontations arise? I do know that genuinely dark forces are afoot in many places in today's global landscape. There are corporatist Robber Barons everywhere, calling way too many shots solely for their own gain. Does Obama understand how determined and entrenched they've become -- and the kind of fortitude and sustained battles it will require to take them on with any degree of success?

Let's Take a Breath
Don't get me wrong. I, too, got chills listening to his last Iowa speech. I, too, am thrilled with the prospects and historic breakthroughs presented by an Obama candidacy. There's much I admire about Barack Obama, and he may well turn out to be as good as the rhetoric he's using. But how do we know at this point? Before we all get in line to follow the pied piper, I think we ought to demand to know much more about what he really plans to do and how he intends to go about it. Most of us are positively yearning for a real leader, a visionary of sorts who can carry us into a future of critical paradigm change and enlightened problemsolving. Obama is putting himself out there as the one who can fulfill these needs, but what kind of specifics has he provided so far? How has he been tested?

I hope we can keep our options open for now. I'd like to see this race play out among two or three candidates until well after Super Tuesday. We all deserve an opportunity to reassess their strengths and weaknesses once the initial rush of Iowa and New Hampshire starts fading, don't we? There is so damned much at stake.

Public Invited to Meeting on Santa Fe River Trail and Restoration Project

From the City of Santa Fe:
The public is invited to attend a public meeting regarding the Santa Fe River Trail and Restoration Project planned from Frenchy’s Field east to Camino Alire. The meeting will be held Tuesday, January 15 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM at Gonzales Elementary School, 851 West Alameda, Santa Fe.

Since the 1990s, the community has had a vision of a restored Santa Fe River that is alive hydrologically, biologically and ecologically while simultaneously alive culturally in the hearts of our entire community and embedded within a healthy and functioning watershed. The Santa Fe River Trail is currently being developed as a continuous corridor including the riverbed and both sides of the River, between Camino Alire within the City to the point in the County where the river passes under NM 599.

This trail is considered one of three primary urban trail spines (the others are the Rail Trail and Arroyo Chamisos Trail) that serve the Santa Fe Metropolitan Area. Through a connecting trail and a series of parks, the trail project will provide open space corridors, multi-modal transportation opportunities and recreational amenities to local residents and visitors.

This project is a joint effort between the City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County. Click for more information on the project.

Hillary Shows Emotion on Eve of NH Primary

Hillary Clinton at a coffee shop appearance in Portsmouth, NH today. Most new polls are giving Obama a double-digit lead over Clinton in the state. Maybe if Clinton had run a less controlled and more spontaneously human campaign, she wouldn't be in this position now. Given the positive responses voters are giving to the lofty, nonspecific rhetoric of Obama, maybe both Hillary and Edwards should be talking more like dreamers and less like policy wonks.

Whatever we may think of any of the Dem candidates, it's obvious most of them have been pushing themselves to the limit. They'e exhausted and hoarse and showing it. The crazy caucus-primary schedule is brutal, especially the tiny gap of only five days between Iowa and New Hampshire. Is this really a sensible way to pick a nominee?

I think of the candidates working since this summer or even longer to get to this day -- day after day of events, media interviews, travel and strategy sessions -- and I have a hard time understanding how they do it. Or maybe even why.

Cancelled: Tonight's Public Meeting on Oil & Gas Drilling Ordinance

Due to a winter storm on the way, the Santa Fe Board of County Commissioners has cancelled the public meeting scheduled for tonight on the proposed oil and gas drilling ordinance. Drilling Santa Fe has the news.