Democracy for New Mexico

Final Results of 2008 NM Dem Caucus: Clinton by 1,709 Votes

Hillary Clinton pulled out a squeaker in the popular vote, winning by a margin of 1,709 votes out of a total of 149,779 votes cast in New Mexico's February 5th caucus. Clinton won 48.80% to Obama's 47.66% in the statewide vote counting election day, absentee and provisional ballots. Obama won NM-01 in the Albuquerque area and NM-03 in Northern NM, while Clinton won NM-02 in Southern NM.

Obama won Bernalillo, Catron, Los Alamos, Sandoval, Santa Fe and Taos Counties, while Clinton won the rest. It was extremely close in Socorro County where Clinton got 692 votes to Obama's 688, or a four-vote difference. Clinton won a total of 14 pledged delegates to Obama's 12.

John Edwards got a total of 2,157 votes, so if a majority of those voting for him had switched to Obama after Edwards withdrew, Barack would have won New Mexico's popular vote. Bill Richardson got 1,305 votes and Dennis Kucinich 574, with scattered votes for the other original Dem contenders, write-ins, etc.

From the Democratic Party of New Mexico
Thursday, February 14, 2008, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Today, ahead of deadline, the Democratic Party announced the canvass results of the 2008 Democratic Caucus.

“With this caucus, New Mexicans had the chance to hear directly from two historic candidates for the presidency,” said Chairman Colón. “Democrats had the opportunity to select the next President of the United States. With two great candidates to choose from, we had the largest turnout in the last 20 years or more. New Mexico Democrats have spoken and here is what they have to say.”

Statewide totals for the 2008 Democratic Caucus:

Barack Obama	71,396
John Edwards	2,157
Christopher Dodd	81
Dennis Kucinich	574
Bill Richardson	1305
Joe Biden	122
Hillary Clinton	73,105

At the start of the process, both campaigns and the Democratic party formed an agreement to make sure the vote counting process was fair, consistent and transparent.  Volunteers worked over 2,250 hours to find registered voters, and were able to find 8,200 voter registrations. After a preliminary review of provisional ballots--Twenty percent had either already voted absentee or had failed to attach an affidavit to their ballot, and eight percent of provisional voters were not registered.

“The biggest surprise of this caucus was the more than 3,500 voters---Independents, Greens and Republicans---tried to vote in the Democratic Caucus,” said Chairman Brian Colón. “Clearly, their message to us was---they want change in this country.  My message to them is ‘We couldn’t agree more.  While we couldn’t accept your vote in our Democratic caucus, we welcome your vote at the general election this November.’” [emphasis mine]

DOWNLOAD A PDF OF STATEWIDE TOTALS HERE

DOWNLOAD A PDF OF COUNTY WIDE TOTALS HERE

Interested in the End Results of the NM Legislative Session?

No, I didn't think so. Me either. It's hard to stay engaged during 30 days filled mostly with the low spark of high-heeled boys. You know what I mean. I found it next to impossible to write with real hope about the prospects for passage of stem cell research, REAL heath care reform, educational improvement, ethics and campaign reform, domestic partnership or other important measures. Clearly, our critical needs really don't matter much with too many up there, all caught up in who can stick their tongues out the farthest. Much ado about nothing, negating months of work on important issues by hundreds of people.

Now the usual suspects can prattle on about which side "won" in any given spat. Let's not waste much time here doing that. Oversize egos, narrow minds and corporate lobbyists won out over everything else. Period.

There's little to praise beyond the valiant efforts of adult legislators like Rep. Mimi Stewart, Sen. Dede Feldman, Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino and others who take the job seriously. There are significant numbers of state senators and representatives who work tirelessly to craft sensible legislation in the face of raging juvenile delinquency in the Roundhouse from top to bottom (and that includes the newly bearded one). Special gold star, though, to honor a 45-minute filibuster last night by Sen. Cisco McSorley that stopped the SunCal TIDD bill giveaway. Bravo, Senator. Or as Cocoposts puts it, Kiss Senator Cisco!

Anyone else remember any high points this year?

Public Information Meeting: 2006 Post-Election Audit Study

You can read about the audit study here. UNM Political Science Professor Lonna Atkeson will be leading the New Mexico project in collaboration with University of Utah Professor Thad Hall and California Institute of Technology Professor R. Michael Alvarez. The goal of the project is to document the proper way to conduct a post-election audit, including what to watch out for, the cost in time and resources and the various challenges associated with different ballots and voting modes. It will also examine voter intent issues and address voter education needs regarding the use of paper ballots.

PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING
Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Bernalillo County Clerk
University of New Mexico
2006 POST-ELECTION AUDIT STUDY

Open to all those interested in learning about the
process and procedures of the upcoming
PEW Foundation-funded
audit study commencing on 2/25/08.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2008, 5:30pm – 7:30 PM
Bernalillo County Clerk Voting Machine Warehouse
Bernalillo County Complex, 2400 Broadway SE Building H

For more information, please contact Robert Adams at 505.468.1207 or by email at radams@bernco.gov. Click for flyer (pdf).

Domestic Partner Bird Blogging: Happy Valentine's Day

Hambone and Ginger, sitting in a swing, k-i-s-s-i-n-g ...

We have new love among our parakeets -- our female parakeets. Hambone, the daughter of now deceased mom Whitey and dad Queenie, has allowed herself to be wooed and won by Ginger, our female lutino budgie. It was a long and sometimes rocky courtship. For many moons, Hambone didn't want much to do with Ginger, preferring to busy herself with toys and seed dishes. When Ginger would make an affectionate overture, she'd peck Ginger's head and make threatening noises. Ginger, however, was undeterred and persistent in her courtship. She had it bad for Hambone.

Recently, however, Hambone had a change of heart and the two of them can be found side by side most of the day and through the night, often sharing a swing, as above. Ginger feeds Hambone, as any good parakeet lover does with its domestic partner. She sings to her, kisses her beak, grooms her feathers and yes, makes sweet parakeet love with her. This is nature at work -- not the result of any propaganda from the GLBT parakeet community. Obviously, they don't consider it a "sin." Our other parakeets seem just fine with the arrangement, and grant Hambone and Ginger their space and their dignity despite the couple's obvious difference in orientation. No big whoop.

Unfortunately, that's more than I can say for some in the human community, at least here in New Mexico, where Legislators like Sen. Lidio Rainaldi, Sen. Richard Martinez and Rep. Gloria Vaughn hold my civil rights and those of many others hostage in order to uphold some distorted "scriptural" take on matters that are entirely to do with civil law. On this Valentine's Day, I hope lovers and partners whose relationships are granted respect, civil law authority and the full rights and benefits due them will consider the plight of couples like Hambone and Ginger, who are following nature's way as it manifests within them. After all, diversity is the norm on this here planet Earth.

(Updated) NM Dem Caucus: All Unofficial Results Except Provisionals

UPDATE 2/14/08: See the final numbers released by the Democratic Party of New Mexico, including all ballots including provisionals.
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Yesterday, the Chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico Brian S. Colón announced that the final totals for the regular and absentee ballots. See below the fold for the tallies.

“Today’s canvass results for regular and absentee ballots provide hard evidence that New Mexico Democrats are ready for change in the White House,” said Chairman Colón.  “From ending the war in Iraq to providing solutions on health care and education, these two candidates have energized Democrats in every part of our state.  With an official turnout of 54% more than the last caucus, the 2008 Democratic Caucus turnout was absolutely unprecedented.”

In this year’s Democratic Caucus, a total of 157,354 cast an absentee, regular or provisional ballot for a Democratic Presidential candidate. Whereas, according to final tallies from the Democratic Party approximately 102,100 Democrats voted in the 2004 Caucus.

“These canvass results also confirm the regular results from election night, and the quality of the work done by volunteers in the middle of an unprecedented turnout,” said Chairman Brian Colón.  “Each of these votes have been scanned into a computer, tabulated and where there was an undetermined vote, members of both campaigns and a caucus judge reviewed the result—and I appreciate their commitment to accuracy and fairness.”

The provisional ballots are still being qualified. Approximately 7,000 out of more than 17,200 provisional ballots have been qualified so far. Volunteers are conducting a second search of the voter file to assure every registered vote counts.

17,276 Provisional Ballots are currently in the process of being qualified and scanned. Counting of the provisional ballots is began today and is expected to be finished late today or sometime tomorrow.

Statewide
Democratic Party of NM Democratic Caucus Canvass Results
(Unofficial, Do NOT include provisional ballots)

Absentee Ballots
Barack Obama 1,593
John Edwards 646
Christopher Dodd 3
Dennis Kucinich 103
Bill Richardson 61
Joe Biden 7
Hillary Clinton 1,648
Write-In 3
Uncommitted 0
Undervote/Overvote 0
TOTAL 4,082

Regular Ballots
Barack Obama 65,417
John Edwards 1,424
Christopher Dodd 67
Dennis Kucinich 433
Bill Richardson 1,175
Joe Biden 105
Hillary Clinton 66,436
Write-In 184
Uncommitted 398
Undervote/Overvote 375
TOTAL 136,014

Regular and Absentee Ballots
Barack Obama 67,010
John Edwards 2,070
Christopher Dodd 70
Dennis Kucinich 536
Bill Richardson 1,236
Joe Biden 112
Hillary Clinton 68,084
Write-In 187
Uncommitted 398
Undervote/Overvote 375
TOTAL 140,078

Chaotic Dem Caucuses Were Held In ...

This is from today's Albuquerque Journal column by Jim Belshaw:

So, with confusion as our motif, we move on to the Democratic caucus. First, a few descriptive passages:"

• "Complete chaos."
• "The decision to have only one caucus site ... appears to have been a bad one."
• "Caucus leaders ... are allowing people to vote by blue slip."
• "Confusion reigns."

That was in Nebraska, not New Mexico. The quoted material comes from a newspaper reporter at the Omaha World-Herald.

Let's try another caucus.

• "We ran out of chairs."
• "We ran out of sign-in sheets."
• "We ran out of pens."
• "We ran out of tables."
• "We ran out of everything here except for people ... I had to climb up on the table and shout. I felt like I was under siege ..."

That's not New Mexico, either. It comes from a Democratic caucus worker in Washington state.

Then there was Maine. A reader of the Talking Points Memo blog checked in via iPhone at the beginning of the Democratic caucus:

"I am at the Portland caucus now and things here are very chaotic," he wrote. "The line stretched around the block 30 minutes before the doors opened and now encircles the entire block. There are far more people trying to get in than the high school can hold."

Something's going on out there, no?

Readers wrote in with thoughts on the New Mexico Democratic caucus, some with complaints, one with a bit of whimsy ("What if we called this caucus 'a practice session' and just put Clinton and Obama back on the regular primary ballot for June?").

One said the voting in Corrales was smooth and easy.

Another volunteered to work in the caucus. (Remember, the whole thing was done by volunteers in New Mexico.)

Find fault if you must, and even if the faults you find are on target, I think the Omaha World-Herald reporter was on to something when she wrote: "They (voters) say that despite the confusion and the traffic woes, most people were happy and in good spirits. They were just glad to be a part of something that was big."

That sounds right to me.

Tonight in ABQ: Stephen Kinzer & Folly of Attacking Iran Tour

NATIONAL TOUR: THE FOLLY OF ATTACKING IRAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2008, at 7:30 PM
UnNM Continuing Ed Conference Center
1634 University Blvd NE, between Indian School and Menaul
(plenty of extra parking to the north and in back)
Click for FLYER (pdf)
Reception & Refreshments to Follow

STEPHEN KINZER, author, All the Shah's Men
Dr. Michael McCally, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Justin Logan, Foreign Policy Analyst, Cato Institute

New Mexico Sponsors: Middle East Peace & Justice Alliance, Justice First!, Stop the War Machine, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Women for a Better World, Kim Fisher

Information: (505) 898-4544, dtwm@earthlink.net or at https://www.FollyofAttackingIran.org. Brand-new 6-minute YouTube video featuring Stephen Kinzer on Iran and the 1953 CIA-sponsored coup.

(Updated) FISA Fight Moves to U.S. House

UPDATE: Also see this guest post on the national blog Down With Tyranny about FISA by NM-01 Congressional candidate Martin Heinrich.
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I'm not going to regurgitate all the horrors we've witnessed with Sen. Jay Rockefeller and a bunch of other Senate Dems totally capitulating to Bush's demands on warrantless surveillence and telecom immunity. Most of you know this issue as well or much better than I do. Instead, I'll recommend that you read this post by mcjoan at Daily Kos and take action NOW to urge Dem House leaders Pelosi and Hoyer and other Reps to reject the provisions contained in the Senate version of the FISA bill and stick with the tougher protections of the House version -- the so-called RESTORE Act, which does NOT include retroactive immunity for lawbreaking telecoms. Just clicks away.

Here are the Senators who voted for Sen. Chris Dodd's amendment to strip telecom immunity from the Senate's FISA bill:

Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Casey (D-PA)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Tester (D-MT)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

Here are the fear-impaired Dem Senators who voted AGAINST Dodd's amendment:

Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Tom Carper (D-DE), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Jim Webb (D-VA), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Kent Conrad (D-ND), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)

Hillary Clinton wasn't present for the vote on the Dodd amendment.

On the final Senate vote on the entire FISA bill, which passed by a margin of 68-29 these Senators voted Nay:

NAYs ---29
Akaka (D-HI) Biden (D-DE) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Byrd (D-WV) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Dodd (D-CT) Dorgan (D-ND)	Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Feinstein (D-CA) Harkin (D-IA) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI)	Menendez (D-NJ) Murray (D-WA) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Wyden (D-OR)

Not Voting - 3
Clinton (D-NY)	Graham (R-SC)	Obama (D-IL)

NM Legislators: Do You Support Clean Elections?

Gotta love it. Clearly New Mexico's Alicia Lueras Maldonado asked a number of New Mexico Legislators about their views on the Clean Elections bill currently being considered at the Roundhouse and posted a video (above) of their responses.

HB564, sponsored by Rep. Gail Chasey, would provide a public financing option for all statewide races in New Mexico similar to a measure enacted previously for Public Regulation Commission candidates and appeals court judges. In fact, Democrat Jason Marks is running for reelection to the PRC this cycle using the public financing option. Unfortunately, HB564 is currently mired in the House Appropriations and Finance Committee. You know why.

Do you know any ordinary citizens who believe it's good policy to preserve the power of large campaign donations from corporate and other vested special interests, along with their corrupting influence on politicos? Unfortunately, those who contribute the big buck cash and those who use it to represent the interests of the donors seem mighty enamored of the present system, which looks more and more like pay-to-play every election cycle.

Common Cause New Mexico has been encouraging constituents to ask their Legislators to sign a Voters First Pledge and promise to work to pass and enforce legislation for full voluntary public campaign financing for statewide offices. After the Session, Common Cause will be issuing their 2008 Ethics Reform Report Card to let voters know the degree to which their legislators support much-needed ethics reform in New Mexico. Should make compelling reading.

You can read our previous coverage on ethics and campaign finance reform at our archive.

Today's Potomac Primaries: DC, Maryland, Virginia, Plus Democrats Abroad

Dem presidential primaries are underway today in the District of Columbia (15 delegates), Maryland (70 deleagates) and Virginia (83 delegates). Also, the final results of balloting conducted at various locations overseas by Democrats Abroad (7 delegates) are due. All eyes are on Barack Obama to see if he will sweep the contests today as he swept the four held this past weekend by large margins. Recent polling shows him with substantial leads over Hillary Clinton in both Maryland and Virginia. No recent polling has been done in DC, but earlier caucuses there demonstrated strong support for Obama. Voting sites in Maryland and DC close at 6PM MST and in Virginia at 5 PM MS. CNN will have results tonight.