Democracy for New Mexico

Keep Maggie Toulouse Oliver as Bernalillo County Clerk

The word from election and voting reform advocates and ordinary citizens alike is that Maggie Toulouse Oliver has been one of the most innovative, responsive and technically proficient Bernalillo County Clerks in recent memory. Under Maggie's leadership, the office has been run transparently and professionally, with serious attention paid to researching and improving operations and communicating honestly and in a timely fashon with the public. With challenges in both the June primary and November general elections, Toulouse Oliver's campaign needs our help now so she can continue her efforts to ensure real election integrity within the County Clerk's office and beyond.

From the Maggie Toulouse Oliver campaign:
It’s official. Last Tuesday was Filing Day -- I now have a Democratic Primary Election opponent (a local realtor), as well as Republican opposition in the General Election (a consultant for the Republican Party).

I am committed to continuing my work as Bernalillo County Clerk, but I am going to need your help to ensure a strong win in the Primary and General elections this year. There is too much at stake not to win! The integrity of our election processes has never been more important or more closely scrutinized.

I have spent the past year working tirelessly to raise the standards of service in the County Clerk’s office to a higher level. From reaching out to stakeholders, to studying audit procedures, to working with the Secretary of State’s office to pass much-needed legislation, I have made election integrity my highest priority.

I am the only Clerk in New Mexico who has taken the initiative to study and implement the processes for election system audits, which will become mandatory following this year’s General Election. I have increased the number of early voting sites in Bernalillo County from 12 to 16. I have also expanded each site’s size in order to minimize waiting and ensure that every voter has a chance to cast a ballot.

I am committed to ensuring transparency in all our processes so the public can be assured that I am conducting elections with integrity.

I already expected to work hard this election, but having official opposition adds a whole new sense of urgency to my campaign. It is time to share my vision of clean and fair elections with voters, and show them why I am the most qualified candidate for the job. Will you help me?

Today, I’m launching my campaign website, www.KeepMaggie.com.

Please donate online today to help me win in June and November. Please know that your contribution will be used well towards ensuring honest, transparent and accurate elections in Bernalillo County.

Sincerely,
Maggie Toulouse Oliver
Bernalillo County Clerk

Spring Sunday Bird Blogging

Sunny loves sunshine and Springtime bouquets

Sunny the sun conure doesn't celebrate Easter. He dislikes all the egg eating that goes along with the holiday. Can you blame him? He does, however, get off on the arrival of Spring. The increasing hours of light elicit an energy surge within him, as they do for all living things, and he gets very playful and stays up late working on a variety of projects within his "nest."

Sunny feels a oneness with all of life's colors and hues

This Spring, he's especially lively because he's so excited about Obama's presidential run. The only downside is that birds can't vote, which Sunny finds highly discriminatory. Still, he believes he can make himself useful by helping to spread the word about a candidate who's all about encouraging the flock to come together for the common good.

Sunny is so enthusiastic about Obama he can't stay still for the camera

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

Michelle Lujan Grisham: Upcoming Campaign Events

From the Michelle Lujan Grisham Congressional Campaign:
Over the next several weeks, I'd like to welcome you to meet with me and learn more about our campaign at one of our upcoming events. Dates and information are listed here (doc), but please visit our website, or call us at our headquarters at 505-260-2008 for complete details. Our next event is an Open House at our Campaign Headquarters at 3716 Central Avenue SE in Albuquerque on Monday, March 24th, from 10 AM to 8 PM. Many more are listed here. I look forward to seeing you!

NM-01: Firedoglake et al. Pick Martin Heinrich as Next Blue America Candidate

Join the live blog with Martin hosted by Howie Klein of Down with Tyranny at Firedoglake from Noon to 2:00 PM MDT today. Then donate a few bucks to his campaign at the Blue America '08 page at Act Blue. Blue America, a project of national bloggers at Firedoglake, Crooks & Liars, Down With Tyranny and Digby, raised more than $545,000 in only a few months during the 2006 election cycle for select Dem candidates across the nation. They expect to raise much more than that in the current cycle.

Also check out this Crooks & Liars post welcoming Heinrich as a Blue America candidate, which includes a new video of Martin talking about his campaign and what he believes in.

3/25 Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund Event Postponed

From Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund:

RESCHEDULING the Tuesday, March 25th Announcement of the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund's New TV Ad and Senate Campaign

Dear New Mexico Progressive Activists,
I regret to inform you that the lunch-hour press conference scheduled for Tuesday, March 25th at 12:00 PM to unveil the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund's new TV ad and website targeting the U.S. Senate race is being postponed to a later date in the very near future to strengthen their quality of effectiveness. I will be sure to let you know once the rescheduled date and time is confirmed. I apologize for any inconvenience, and please feel free to contact me for any questions.

Sincerely,
Ed Yoon, New Mexico Campaign Manager
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund
EYoon@DefendersActionFund.org
(505) 248-0118, Ext. 3

Americans for Democratic Action to Launch Working Families Win Project in NM

From Americans for Democratic Action (ADA):
ADA is America's most experienced independent liberal lobbying organization. In the spirit of the New Deal and ADA founders Eleanor Roosevelt, renowned economist John Kenneth Galbraith, and former Senator and Vice President Hubert Humphrey we lobby through coalition partnerships, through direct advocacy, and through the media.

Our Working Families Win (WFW) project is non-profit and non-partisan and will work to change the economy in favor of working families, provide education about economic decisions made in Washington and the impacts within our local communities, and engage individuals through neighbor to neighbor communication to hold our elected officials accountable.

In 2007, our WFW project kept the fires burning around the country. WFW organizers worked in dozens of communities educating the public and elected officials about our core platform: guaranteed health care for all, fair enforceable trade agreements, and economic policies that create good jobs at living wages. WFW will stride into 2008, ready to seize the moment for working families.

In addition to our ongoing work in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin, and North Carolina, we will be expanding. If you're interested in supporting our organization in New Mexico or volunteering  please contact Deema Tabbara at (805) 907-6681 or adanewmexico@gmail.com.

Visit www.workingfamilieswin.org for more information on the project and visit www.adaction.org to make a contribution to our work. Also visit our blog at .

Video: Richardson Endorses Obama

Bravo. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson endorsed Barack Obama for President today with a strong speech at an electric campaign rally in Portland, Oregon. Read all about it. Join Gov. Richardson in supporting Obama by donating right now to Barack's campaign.

Video of Obama thanking Richardson at the event:

So when are John Edwards and Al Gore coming aboard?

Gov. Richardson's endorsement at this moment in time seems to be more about convincing other superdelegates, the media and the Clinton team that there's no point in Hillary continuing on, than about influencing voters in the remaining primaries. I think Richardson is acting to drive home the point that Obama's nomination is inevitable now, and that further battling beween the two candidates can only serve to help McCain. I think the Dem ranks are closing around Obama, at last.

Also see my previous post on Gov. Richardson's endorsement.

Saturday: Heinrich to Live Blog at Noon on Firedoglake

NM-01 Dem Congressional candidate Martin Heinrich will be participating in a live chat on the national blog Firedoglake at Noon MDT tomorrow, Saturday, March 21, 2008. Martin will be hanging out at the blog for about two hours to answer your questions and take your comments.

The influential Firedoglake, Crooks & Liars, Digby and Down With Tyranny are the creators of the Blue America campaign at Act Blue that's dedicated to raising netroots support for electing "more and better Democrats." During the 2006 election cycle, Blue America raised almost $545,000 for Dem House and Senate candidates around the country in only a few months. They expect to raise much more in the run-up to the 2008 election.

By the way, you're invited to a Victory Party to celebrate Martin's win at last Saturday's preprimary convention. Come on down to O'Niell's Pub, located at 4310 Central Ave. SE in Albuquerque, at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, March 25 and join in the festivities. Read more and RSVP.

Bill McKibben: Talk and Booksigning on 'Deep Economy'

Albuquerque independent bookstore will host environmental realist and journalist Bill McKibben at UNM's SUB Ballroom A & B in Albuquerque at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 to talk about and sign his new book, Deep Economy. Challenging the prevailing wisdom that the goal of economies should be unlimited growth, McKibben argues that the world doesn't have enough natural resources to sustain endless economic expansion and looks at news ways to structure our civilizations. If we are to thrive or even survive within the fragile balance of nature, our definitions of concepts like "wealth"  and "growth" and "progress" must change dramatically.

A thoughtful post at The Blue Voice about the coming of the Vernal Equinox talks about McKibben's alarming but action-oriented message about the state of Planet Earth and ways we might counter the dire effects of global warming and learn to live in a manner that minimizes damage to the environment, while actually bolstering our sense of community and increasing our emotional and spiritual fulfillment.

As we find ourselves enmeshed in the dizzy day-to-day, a presidential race for the ages, mounting economic worries and complicated choices regarding Iraq and other pressing issues, a much more serious global (in every sense) question looms: how can we create sustainable communities to mitigate and survive what we know is coming as a direct result of how we've been living for the past hundred years or so?

Deep Economy tackles these issues head on:

In this powerful and provocative manifesto, Bill McKibben offers the biggest challenge in a generation to the prevailing view of our economy. For the first time in human history, he observes, "more" is no longer synonymous with "better"—indeed, for many of us, they have become almost opposites. McKibben puts forward a new way to think about the things we buy, the food we eat, the energy we use, and the money that pays for it all. Our purchases, he says, need not be at odds with the things we truly value.

McKibben's animating idea is that we need to move beyond "growth" as the paramount economic ideal and pursue prosperity in a more local direction, with cities, suburbs, and regions producing more of their own food, generating more of their own energy, and even creating more of their own culture and entertainment. He shows this concept blossoming around the world with striking results, from the burgeoning economies of India and China to the more mature societies of Europe and New England. For those who worry about environmental threats, he offers a route out of the worst of those problems; for those who wonder if there isn't something more to life than buying, he provides the insight to think about one's life as an individual and as a member of a larger community. 

... As McKibben sees it, three fundamental challenges to the fixation on growth have emerged. First, we are producing more inequality than prosperity, more insecurity than progress. Second, we do not have the energy needed to keep producing more at our current rate. And third, growth is no longer making us happy. The title of DEEP ECONOMY is drawn from “deep ecology,” a term coined a generation ago by environmentalists who advocated for more attention to be paid to the choices that we make in our daily lives, rather than coming up with another set of laws as Band-Aids against environmental damage. Now, as we address economic issues as they relate to our environment and community, McKibben urges a similar shift in our thinking. He offers a realistic, if challenging, scenario for a hopeful future. As he so eloquently shows, the more we nurture the essential humanity of our economy, the more we will recapture our own.

Besides being a prolific writer, McKibben is a creative environmental activist:

In late summer 2006, Bill helped lead a five-day walk across Vermont to demand action on global warming that some newspaper accounts called the largest demonstration to date in America about climate change. Beginning in January 2007 he founded stepitup07.org to demand that Congress enact curbs on carbon emissions that would cut global warming pollution 80 percent by 2050. With six college students, he organized 1,400 global warming demonstrations across all 50 states of America on April 14, 2007. Step It Up 2007 has been described as the largest day of protest about climate change in the nation's history. A guide to help people initiate environmental activism in their community coming out of the Step It Up 2007 experience entitled >Fight Global Warming Now was published in October 2007 and a second day of action on climate change was held the following November 3.

As we move into Spring and experience once more the awakening and greening of our high desert ecosystems, it seems like a perfect time to share some time with McKibben and his ideas for creating Deep Economy.

Albuquerque Area Firefighters Union Endorses Eric Griego in Senate District 14 Race

Eric Griego today received the endorsement of the Albuquerque Area Firefighters Union IAFF Local 244 in his run for the State Senate in Albuquerque's District 14 in the Democratic Primary.

"This was an easy decision for us--Eric has a demonstrated ability to lead," said Diego Arencon, President of the Firefighters Union. "Eric has done more than be supportive; he's really been proactive on our behalf. When Eric was a City Councilor, he fought to get the resources firefighters need to do our jobs better."

"This is an important endorsement I'm proud to receive," said Griego. "Our firefighters are our first responders and everyday they work to make us safe."

The union pointed to Griego's strong record of standing with the firefighters, citing:

--As an Albuquerque City Councilor, Eric sponsored the Quarter Cent for Public Safety, which the voters passed. The initiative provided an ongoing revenue stream of nearly $10 million annually for equipment and new cadet classes. He led the initiative to pass the proposal and bring all of the unions together.

--Griego strongly opposed attempts in 2002 to lay-off hundreds of city employees, including civilian employees at AFD. The lay-offs were prevented through other budget-cutting measures.

--Griego supported and helped pass the minimum wage proposal for the Albuquerque area.

Griego has over two decades of practicing, teaching and studying public policy, including work at the local, state, national and international level. In addition to his prior elected office as an Albuquerque City Councilor, he has served as the Assistant Secretary of Economic Development for New Mexico. Today, he is the Executive Director of New Mexico Voices for Children, a non-profit policy, research and advocacy organization.

Last week Griego was endorsed by Conservation Voters New Mexico (CVNM).

Griego will face incumbent James Taylor and challenger Al Armijo in the Democratic Primary on June 3, 2008. More can be found about Eric Griego at his website www.ericgriegofornewmexico.com.

For more on this race, see Steve Terrell's recent article for the Santa Fe New Mexican. To read our previous coverage of 2008 NM Legislative races, visit our archive.