(Updated) NM Dem Prez Caucus: My View on the Blame Game

Update: I've been informed that Sen. Jeff Bingaman did indeed donate significant funds for the Caucus and also did outreach to get other constituencies to do the same when he was asked to help.
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This post is very long but I hope you'll hang in there with me. First, go read Heath Haussamen's update about the problems associated with New Mexico's February 5th Democratic Presidential Preference Caucus. Democratic Party of New Mexico Chairman Brian Colón explains what happened with the three Rio Arriba ballot boxes and asserts that the results on the top two candidates were called in to the Party in Albuquerque before the boxes left the caucus sites. Colón then takes responsibility for problems associated with handling the massive turnout on Caucus day:

Pointing out that turnout on Tuesday was much greater than the 105,000 who showed up in 2004, Colón said the story could have been about how the two Democratic presidential candidates inspired New Mexico Democrats to vote.

“What we can write about is how two candidates came and lit the state on fire in less than 10 days, and that’s amazing,” he said. “I regret that I allowed this other situation and the party’s organization to become the story instead of that.”

Colón has taken responsibility for the problems and apologized in other statements to local media as well. Why? Because he's an incredibly hard-working, sincerely caring, principled individual who doesn't have a habit of creating convenient scapegoats. Don't take my word for it -- ask other people like me who work within the Party structure. I'm a precinct chair and a member of the State Central Committee and I've seen the Party improve in leaps and bounds under his leadership. It's been like night and day.

New Energy in the Dem Party
In my view, Colón as Chair has been a huge breath of fresh air within a Party that was sluggish, lazy, anti-outreach, anti-transparency and downright nasty at times to rank and file Dems when John Wertheim was in charge before Colon. Wertheim was the kind of Party Chair who seemed to resent an influx of new faces into the Party as volunteers, ward and precinct chairs and elected members of the SCC. (Google his name within this blog to read about some of the epic battles activists had with Mr. Wertheim.) Colón has been just the opposite in my experience. Has he made mistakes dealing with an often raucous Party with a variety of factions and complex political alliances? Sure. But I think the Party has been operating incredibly well compared to how it functioned previously under Wertheim. It's a tough and time-consuming job for anyone.

How We Got Here
Certainly Colón and others were caught flat-footed when turnout surged on Caucus day. Although there was excitement about the presidential primary in other states where early contests were held, there wasn't much here until we got barnstormed in the week or so before our Caucus. Before that, with Richardson in the race and no interest at all in our Caucus from the other candidates, it was assumed there'd be no real contest here. After all, Bill Richardson insisted until the day he dropped out of the race that he was in it until Super Tuesday. Many of us believed him and figured the turnout would be rather light and made up mostly of those loyal to Richardson in the state.

By the time momentum picked up in the race, which really happened when Obama started being perceived as a serious challenger to Clinton, it was very late in the game for our caucus process.

The Role of Richardson and Other Dem Powerhouses
Even though Colón appears to me to be falling on his sword for Richardson, I want to point out that there are many within the Dem Party who should be held accountable in my view -- including Richardson himself. I'm especially appalled at what I consider to be a pompous, selfish, spin-loaded statement by the Governor about the situation, one obviously designed to protect his "national standing" and transfer the blame to someone else.

Everyone knows the early, Party-run and paid-for Caucus was Richardson's baby and part of his presidential run strategy. He "urged" the SCC to approve his plan to institute the Caucus and was heavily involved in the 2004 version. Contrary to what he says in his statement, that year's Caucus also had its serious problems, but the positive spin applied by his forces that year was strong enough to head off most negative media attention.

In addition, the '04 Caucus was clearly better funded by Party bigwigs and benefited from an influx of volunteers and other help steered to the process by the campaigns of Dem prez nominees like Howard Dean, as well as interest generated by a presidential primary debate held at UNM. Richardson's wide-reaching political network was also central to the process. That help wasn't there this time. That kind of money and attention from the top echelons of Dem power in the state wasn't there this time either.

Yes, I think Richardson should own up to his share of the responsibility for the kinds of problems that arose with the Caucus this year. Busy with his presidential run and sucking up virtually every spare dollar in the state to fund his presidential campaign, Richardson obviously paid little attention to the 2008 Caucus or helping to make it a success. It was left almost entirely in the lap of Colón, other already hard-pressed State and County Party officers, the tiny State Party staff and hundreds and hundreds of volunteers around the state -- all of whom worked like dogs under very trying circumstances to run what amounts to a state election on a shoestring and a song.

This is a poor and sparsely populated state. We don't have thousands of big donors and experienced political operatives to help make something like this work like a charm. Our Party doesn't possess state of the art technology or highly skilled people paid to design and run its systems. Yet what happened here is being compared by many -- like the Albuquerque Journal's political reporters -- to state primaries that are run by state governments and caucuses in states where the Dem Party is flush with cash, much of it generated by the presidential campaigns.

Richardson, however, isn't the only one I think needs to step up and be accountable. Lt. Gov. Diane Denish has built up a personal warchest of more than a million dollars for a gubernatorial campaign that won't happen until 2010. Where was she in this process? Her email list must be in the thousands and her political network is large. Did she strongly urge her supporters to volunteer to help put the Caucus together and staff the Caucus sites? Not to my knowledge.

Where was Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez? I notice he was quoted in the paper today badmouthing the Caucus, but I don't believe he or his minions lifted one finger to try and ensure its success. How about Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Rep. Tom Udall? Were their people out there urging supporters to help and donate for the Caucus? If so, I didn't notice.

I could go on.

Party Bigwigs vs. Party Grunts
The lack of interest and participation in the Caucus by most of the powerful officeholders, poobahs and big donors within the Dem Party has been palpable in my view, as it generally is in terms of anything to do with the grunt work of the Party. These faces are almost never seen at Party events or business-related meetings, or when work is to be done to make Party efforts a success. About the only time we see them is when they are running for office and seeking volunteers, donations and petition signatures. Or when they want to make a speech and get a big round of applause at big Party gatherings. Then they do their star power thing and leave before the, you know, boring business of operating a political party begins.

I want every bigshot in the Party -- including the Governor -- to publicly apologize for not doing more for this Caucus or anything else to do with operation of the Party. I want them all to apologize to the incredibly hardworking volunteers, county chairs and others who donated innumerable hours to this process under very trying circumstances -- and who pulled it off admirably in most locations despite the massive turnout and lack of support. I want them all to apologize to the 150,000 or more Democrats who turned out to vote on Tuesday and stayed the course to do so despite the lines, the weather and the chaos in some places. I want them all to apologize to the Dems who showed up to vote but never got the chance because of problems in the setup.

Ordinary Democrats are doing just fine. Grassroots and netroots interest and participation in Dem politics is exploding. More people are taking the time to be better informed than ever before. More people are donating time and money. More and more citizens are engaged and responding to the myriad of emergencies we face in our nation with passion. Many have even decided to run for office. The problems, in my view, originate in the business-as-usual, insider segments of the Party -- with the public officeholders and candidates and power brokers who believe they're rock stars and VIPs too high and mighty to get their hands dirty with mere Party matters. Too many concentrate solely on their own political expediencies, their own campaign fundraising and big donor asskissing, their own narrow interest in making personal political gains. Too many could care less about building the Party or serving the real interests of the people. They're much too involved with their own private empires.

Bottom line: I believe the problems with the New Mexico Dem Caucus reveal more about the disdain for the Party evident in its upper echelons, candidates and people who hold higher offices than they do about the failures of those forced to actually put it together and run it. We're tired of the massive egos and private agendas of too many of our candidates and those who are supposed to be representing the people.

This situation is just another example of the disconnect between those who inhabit Governor's mansions, statehouses, the halls of Congress, and other niches of privilege and the ordinary people who are the real backbone of the the Party and the nation. We're tired of doing all your dirty work for you and having you show up only to get your egos stroked or to blame all the wrong people for your own failures. Ask any ordinary Dem.

Also check out recent coverage on the Caucus at New Mexico FBIHOP, which includes many first-hand accounts of what went on at the Caucus sites, as well as m-pyre. Previous DFNM posts on this are available here and here and here.