DPNM: Back to the Future

The next time you want local mainstream media to pay attention to your event, send out an anonymous and roughly written "press release" promising mayhem and claiming widespread support. Works like a charm.

I don't know who sent out the release the day before Saturday's Democratic Party of New Mexico's special State Central Committee meeting in Albuquerque on resolutions and platform announcing there'd be an attempt to oust DPNM Chair Brian Colón. The statement claimed strong support for a recall from SCC members, candidates and current and former Dem officeholders, but didn't name any names. KRQE-News was apparently so taken with the prospect of a brouhaha aimed at Colón that they covered the press release challenge on their Friday evening broadcast -- despite there being no way to check out its veracity. New TV-News Rule: No fact checking necessary on political stories about possible Democratic Party turmoil.

So what happened at Saturday's SCC meeting? Several standing ovations for Brian Colón (right) and everybody else involved in the Dem Caucus for hanging in there and performing the incredibly tough jobs of responding to record voter turnout and painstakingly qualifying and counting 17,000+ provisional ballots. Most attendees wore pro-Colon stickers.

"Evidently, the rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated" said Colón. "I sit before you humbled by the support I have received from the 33 county chairs. They believe in Brian Colón." Here's an AP story, an Albuquerque Journal article and a column by the Journal's Gene Grant about the meeting.

Colón announced that the Party would pursue a two-pronged plan to study the strengths and weaknesses of the Caucus process: 1) forming a committee headed by himself and Lt. Gov. Diane Denish to study what happened, including problems with the voter lists, and consider alternatives for future caucuses or primaries; 2) organizing a town hall Caucus Summit to be headed by Gov. Bill Richardson, tentatively set for April 25, to hear feedback and suggestions from Party members and voters about the issue. 

Colón reminded the crowd that vote counting is still going on in California and New York, places where state government ran the primaries with larger budgets and many more workers. He also mentioned there'd be no real need for a Democratic presidential caucus in 2012 if we win the presidency -- our incumbent prez would presumably be running for a second term. Talk about a positive thought.

Most of the conversations among revved-up crowd members from all over the state focused on a willingness to work hard to turn New Mexico completely blue at the Congressional level and take back the White House. There was a palpable sense of excitement in the crowd about our November prospects, along with amazement at the Caucus turnout.

After buzzing around among the candidate tables outside the meeting room at CNM's Smith-Brasher hall and cheering for speakers that included NM Federation of Labor- AFL-CIO President Christine Trujillo, State Treasurer James Lewis and State Auditor Hector Balderas, the SCC members set about conducting the Party's business.

What followed were hours of often tedious work to get through more than 100 resolutions that had emerged from the ward and county levels to the State Resolutions & Platform Committee, and then to the SCC for approval. Those gaining passage, along with previously approved resolutions, will form the backbone of the State Party's 2008 platform, which will be voted on at the Democratic Pre-Primary Convention at the Santa Ana Star Casino in Rio Rancho on March 15, 2008.

Not a peep was heard during the meeting about any resolution or motion to recall the Chair.

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