Democracy for New Mexico

Reminder: BBQ Fundraiser for Victor Raigoza Sunday

It's so important to support our candidates who are challenging Republicans for legislative seats, including Victor Raigoza, who's running for State Senate in District 10 on Albuquerque's West Side. There's a BBQ fundraiser at the home of Brian and Aleli Colon this Sunday from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. Click for more information (pdf). If you can't make it, you can also donate to Victor's campaign online at his website.

Wootdall? Wootdall! Only $7.30 Per Second

Most geeks have probably heard of Woot.com, where they sell one gadget every day until it's sold out -- at a rock bottom price. Now a couple of geeks at the Tom Udall campaign have come up with a U.S. Senate campaign version of wooting -- called Wootdall (what else). You know you need to check it out. How can you resist?

At Wootdall.com, you can buy one full second of TV advertising time in Southern New Mexico for the measly sum of $7.30. Yes, for the price of an elite liberal mocha java latte, you can help the Tom Udall for Senate campaign counteract the $300,000 in ad time just purchased by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to attack Tom. We can't let that go unanswered, can we? Let's fight back against the COC! We know how to do it. We're all community organizers at heart, aren't we?

To neutralize the money the COC is dumping into the race, the Udall geeks have calculated they need an extree 301 points of advertising -- which can be had at the bargain basement rate of $7.30 per second, first come, first served. Don't get left in the lurch. When the supply is gone, it's gone -- so snap up as many seconds as you can afford today, before it's too late. Demonstrate your essential geekiness while showing your impeccable taste in Senate candidates in one fell swoop. Woot on, Wootdalls! Clicky right here. I did, and I confess it made me quiver, in a cyberspacy kind of way.

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No Way, No How, No McCain-Palin

I could go into what the Repubs were on about last night, but we all know what it was -- a charade to convince those who don't know any better or who prefer not to know the truth that the GOP is on the side of ordinary Americans. It was very difficult to listen to McCain profess his desire to "reform Washington" when we know his remarks were written by Bush's former speechwriter and that he has pandered away any credibility he once had to gain the support of the wacky neocons and religious fundies he used to disdain. I'm sure you had a very similar reaction. So let's move on.

Now that the GOP dishonesty-and-denial-fest has ended, here's a just released statement by Hillary Clinton about where we stand:

The two party conventions showcased vastly different directions for our country. Senator Obama and Senator Biden offered the new ideas and positive change America needs and deserves after eight years of failed Republican leadership. Senator McCain and Governor Palin do not.

After listening to all the speeches this week, I heard nothing that suggests the Republicans are ready to fix the economy for middle class families, provide quality affordable health care for all Americans, guarantee equal pay for equal work for women, restore our nation's leadership in a complex world or tackle the myriad of challenges our country facses.

So, to slightly amend my comments from Denver: NO WAY, NO HOW, NO McCAIN-PALIN.

Hillary says NO WAY at DNCC

Hillary will be in Florida on Monday campaigning for Obama. Also on Monday, the Obama campaign plans to begin a volunteer campaign to register 30,000 voters in 30 days right here in New Mexico. What will you be doing? Join Vote for Change 30/30 and be a part of the solution.

If you share Obama's sentiment of ENOUGH in terms of failed leadership and failed policies, now's the time to do something about it. VOLUNTEER!

From Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic Convention in Denver:

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.

This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.

This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he's worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.

We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.

Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land - enough! This moment - this election - is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."

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Guest Blog: Albuquerque Women for Obama Rollout/Voter Registration Rally

(Note: To hear audio of Michelle's entire speech today, check out this post at Peter St. Cyr's blog, What's the Word. And there's no waiting.)

This is a guest blog by our friend Rachel N. Rodriguez of Albuquerque who attended today's rally with Michelle Obama at the UNM SUB Ballroom:

61 days until the election - we need to work hard, and women can get the job done.

That's the message Michelle Obama brought to the energized crowd today at the Women for Obama Rally, held at UNM. Of her own reaction to the short time between now and the election, Michelle said she thinks, "Yeah!" and then "Is that it?!"

This rally kicked off the 30/30 push of the Obama campaign in New Mexico to register 30,000 people in just 30 days. The call to action - to not just encourage a vote for Obama, but to first get voters registered - came not only from Michelle but from a long string of people who spoke before her, among them Chris Van Holland, Congressman from Maryland; Mrs. Richardson, wife of NM Governor Bill Richardson; Martin Heinrich, candidate for Congress; Patsy Madrid, former NM Attorney General; and Diane Denish, NM Lt. Governor.

As I waited in line outside the Student Union Building before being let into the ballroom, much of the talk among the mostly female crowd was about McCain's running mate Sarah Palin and her speech last night. Strong and smart reactions were flying, including shock at Palin's severe cuts in the Alaskan budget for special education. One woman said she wanted to come to hear Michelle Obama to get "that speech" out of her head. I even heard a woman promise to move out of the country if McCain is elected - an idea my husband and I have been throwing around as well. For now, I'm going to do all I can to help make sure Obama is in the White House come 2009...I signed up to volunteer for the Obama campaign and register folks to vote.

Once we got inside the hall, the crowd filled one-third of the room a few minutes after the doors opened. Shortly afterward, hand-made signs were passed forward, reading, "Mujeres para Obama," "Students 4 Obama," "Lobos for Obama," "Kids for Obama," and "Chicana Mama for Obama." The energy grew as the hall filled and the advertised 4 pm start time neared. To keep us occupied, a lucky Obama staffer chose a medley of energetic, if somewhat cheesy, patriotic rock ballads (including Neil Diamond's "Coming to America" and Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA") with a rap song thrown in the mix for good measure. The crowd grew antsy and alternated between chanting "O-ba-ma" and clapping. Finally, some time after 4 pm, the show began.

Some of my fave words spoken by the opening acts to Michelle Obama:

• Obama understands what is important to women. - Mrs. Richardson

• Michelle Obama has influenced millions of people across the country. - Chris Van Holland

• This is the politics of hope versus the politics of fear. - Martin Heinrich

• Hope + Action = Change - Martin Heinrich

• Sarah Palin = the brunette Ann Coulter - Patsy Madrid
  

Finally, to the crowd's huge delight, Michelle Obama took the stage. Ever poised and "real," she thanked all those who spoke before her, including a young woman, Juanita, who gave Michelle the hand-made bracelets off her wrist when Michelle complimented her on them - upon which Michelle jokingly told Juanita she liked her shoes! Michelle also thanked Hillary Clinton for her speech at the DNC and said that because of Hillary Clinton, her husband is a better candidate.

Never making any direct attacks or put-downs of her husband's opponent, Michelle noted that Barack chose Biden as his running mate because he wants a "real partner" and noted that the Bidens are a "decent family." Of the DNC, Michelle asked the crowd, "Did you see the Convention?" remarking that it was an amazing experience to be in that place with 80,000 people who "looked like America."

Michelle also addressed the issues head-on. She assured the crowd that she knows the struggle of women in the US who are doing it all (and trying to look good, too)! She noted that American women are just asking for government to understand that real struggles exist in our lives. She promised that with Barack as president, we won't just have talk about family values, but we'll actually have policies that value families. Admitting that the campaining is tough, she expressed appreciation for all the Americans, especially the women, who pray for her, think about her, and even "get mad" for her. She reminded us that in 61 days, Barack could be president - and that there is so much at stake.

Finally, Michelle Obama reinforced the fact that New Mexico is an important state - and promised that the campaign will be back here, including Barack and Biden themselves. She stepped down from the podium dancing a bit to Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered." Michelle Obama rocks!

Rachel N. Rodriguez
rachelnrodriguez AT yahoo.com

Photos by Rachel N. Rodriguez

This is a guest blog by Rachel N. Rodriguez. If you'd like to submit a post for consideration as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand side of the page.

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Obama on GOP Convention: You Haven't Heard a Word About ...

Today in York, PA

Sarah Palin may claim to be on the side of ordinary people, but Barack Obama really IS on the side of ordinary people.

NM Nonprofits File Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit by Shannon Robinson et al.

Today, several local nonprofit organizations, including the Center for Civic Policy, filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Senators Shannon Robinson and James Taylor and Representative Dan Silva. Attorneys representing the Center for Civic Policy, New Mexico Youth Organized, Southwest Organizing Project and New Energy Economy filed the dismissal request in Second Judicial District Court.

Matt Brix, Policy Director for the Center for Civic Policy, stated," We've maintained all along that the claims made by Senators Robinson and Taylor and Representative Silva are patently false. Their lawsuit is an attempt to muzzle nonprofits from publicizing the voting records of elected officials. In these times of overwhelming special interest money and influence, New Mexicans need this information more than ever."

Click to see a copy of the Motion to Dismiss.

The lawsuit has been viewed by most fair-minded parties as frivolous, poorly written and documented and motivated by sour grapes on the part of the three incumbent legislators who were soundly beaten in the June 3rd Democratic Primary. The powerfully entrenched don't like it when reformers beat them fair and square so they often cast about for ways to try to discredit those who defeated them -- no matter how misguided and dishonest. I can't see how any judge worth his or her salt could take the suit seriously and grant what the plaintiffs are asking for in terms of overturning the results of the primary.

Background: Click here and here. The second link contains a list of links to previous posts on the lawsuit and the related matter of Attorney General Gary King's opinion on the legality of voter education efforts by the nonprofits.

I'll have more soon on AG King's opinion -- kept out of the public eye so far -- that prompted the letter to New Mexico Youth Organized and Southwest Organizing Project by Secretary of State Mary Herrera informing them they need to file as PACs. Keep an eye out.

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(Updated) Wiseacre from Wasilla

Update: I wanted to point you to an excellent piece by Marjorie Childress that discusses Palin's mockery of community organizers. She hits the nail on the head.
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VP candidate Sarah Pallin sarcastically mocked a lot of things last night, including community organizing:

“I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities,” Ms. Palin said, a slash of the sword at Senator Barack Obama’s job as young man working on antipoverty programs in Chicago.

Maybe she doesn't really know what a community organizer does. There are many things she apparently doesn't know about, so she's being tutored by a squad of Washington insiders connected to McCain and Bush. You know how right-wing "mavericks" are -- they're entwined with all the forces they suggest they're against when they're posing as populists for the little people during election cycles. Did you get the message last night that McCain-Palin is against Washington lobbyists and business as usual? Well, except for the massive cadre of DC lobbyists who constitute the McCain-Palin campaign apparatus, and other lobbyists who have already had to flee the campaign when they got caught in the headlights with their hands in the cookie jar.

No doubt about it, Palin can mock. I hope she gets some mocking in return. She's wide open to that on many fronts. Remember, Palin believes the Iraq war is a mission from god, as is the giant natural gas pipeline she's been pushing in Alaska. Want instant support for a course of action from the uninformed? Assert it's part of god's plan implying that opposing it would be unholy. Bingo!

Right-wingers have always been good at offering bread and circuses to the masses while their wealthy cronies pick their pockets. And I can see that Palin will be a big champion to the ignorance is bliss crowd. For example, she's an advocate for keeping polar bears off the endangered species list at a time when global warming is just warming up. Oh wait, she denies the human role in global warming so she doesn't have to bother with that issue. Everything will be fixed if we drill for more oil! Well, except that the U.S. has only 3 percent of the world's reserves and a massive per capita consumption rate.

Did anyone else find it odd that almost all of the Repub speakers last night were complaining about Washington doing them wrong? I guess they forgot that their own party has dominated Congress and/or the executive branch for a decade or more -- setting all the priorities and making all the decisions. I found it especially confusing when Mitty Romney went on about LIBERALS ruining everything in DC. I'm trying to remember when LIBERALS last had any significant power nationally. Can you recall?

Denial coupled with sarcastic dissembling is a useful tool for those like Palin who will say anything her elite, insider Washington speechwriter trains her to say over a week of closed-door sessions. Palin was reciting the words of none other than Matthew Scully, former longtime Bush speechwriter. How maverick-ish!

Well we all know how hard it can be to effectively knock elitists when your party is full of them, all protecting their property, position, wealth, tax breaks and unearned advantages. Solution? Find a tough talking neophyte from the hinterlands and train her to train her mouth on all the usual manufactured targets of the right. Hope that folks won't notice she's an ambitious, to the right of Atila the Hun politician who's against increased education spending, expanded health care coverage for children, programs to help poor young pregnant girls, early childhood education, support for the disabled, anything but abstinence-only sex education, equal pay for equal work, child care assistance and many other initiatives that help ordinary people cope with life.

She's got hers, including a bunch of previous campaign donations from the same power brokers who propped up the discredited Rep. Don Young-Sen. Ted Stevens machine in Alaska. As for her self-proclaimed expertise in fiscal matters, Palin cut taxes as Mayor of Wasilla while simultaneously expanding the town’s operating budget by almost $2 million. She ended her term in 2002 with Wasilla $20 million in debt. Oops. Lot's of similiarities to BushCo.

Maybe having Palin talk about common sense and her "typical" American family will work. Maybe it will mask the fact that she's an extremist oddity linked in cozily with the "dominionist" movement dedicated to returning government to the Christians, mixed up with a political group that wants Alaska to secede from the union, is a big supporter of "creationist science" being taught in the schools and backed right-wing crazy man Pat Buchanan when he ran for president. Palin actually believes our Founding Fathers created the Pledge of Allegiance (which was written in 1892). She's a strong supporter of shooting wolves and bears from airplanes. She's against a woman's right to choose even in cases of rape or incest. Just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill mom, ain't she?

If you want to get a better idea of what Palin is really about on the issues, check out the Sarah Palin Digest assembed by Think Progress. Also see Alternet's coverage on the real Sarah Palin. And the AP debunks some of the dishonest assertions of McCain-Palin, including this one:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

Then there's this little tidbit dug up by the Washington Independent that has Palin bragging about the pork she got for Wasilla in her own handwriting. At the time, McCain wasn't pleased with Palin's penchant for pork.

I can't wait until Palin opens herself up to media questions, can you? Or will the GOP insiders controlling this thing keep her sequestered for anything except scripted events? More will be revealed. In the meantime, let's dedicate ourselves to taking the lipstick off the hockey mom so voters can clearly see the deep-seated dangers of the pit bull lurking underneath (to use some of Sarah's own terminology). She can pose and pretend, but she can't hide entirely from now until Election Day.

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Reception to Support Senator-Elect Tim Keller

Please Join Us!
For a Reception to Support Senator Elect Tim Keller
and Help Retire Campaign Debt
Click for Invitation (pdf)

Special Guests: The Honorable DIANE D. DENISH, Lieutenant Governor; The Honorable MICHAEL SANCHEZ, Senate Majority Leader; The Honorable LINDA LOPEZ, State Senator; The Honorable DEDE FELDMAN, State Senator; The Honorable CISCO MCSORLEY, State Senator; The Honorable JERRY ORTIZ Y PINO, State Senator; The Honorable SHERYL WILLIAMS STAPLETON, House Majority Whip; The Honorable AL PARK, State Representative; The Honorable MIMI STEWART, State Representative; The Honorable HECTOR BALDERAS, State Auditor and BRIAN COLÓN, Democratic Party Chairman

Hosted by: MIKE PUELLE; DREW SETTER; RICHARD ROMERO; ATF/NEA; VIRTUE, NAJJAR & BROWN; REESE EDWARDS; AFL/CIO; LINDA SIEGAL; ALBUQUERQUE AREA FIREFIGHTERS LOCAL 244; NERISSA WHITTINGTON; BRYAN ORTIZ; AFSCME; RANDY TRAYNOR; DEBBIE MAESTAS; JD BULLINGTON AND OTHERS

Next THURSDAY, September 11th, 5:30 - 7 PM
At the home of Ellen Griffiths and José Simbaña
2010 Alhambra SW, Albuquerque

Host $1000, Sponsor $500, Supporter $250. If you cannot attend please consider sending a contribution to Tim Keller For New Mexico at 11023 Vistazo Pl SE, Albuquerque, NM, 87123 or donate online at www.TimKellerForNewMexico.com.

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Tonight: Former Hillary Delegates Host Watch Parties for Palin Speech

Sarah (center) and some fans

Looks like the GOP gimmick to try and attract former Clinton supporters to vote Repub by putting any old woman on their ticket isn't working too well in Dem circles generally, and certainly not in New Mexico. The Democratic Party of New Mexico has announced that former Hillary Clinton delegates and supporters will be hosting watch parties for Sarah Palin's acceptance speech at the Republican convention. Priscilla Chavez of Las Cruces and Kristine Jacobus of Albuquerque are two former Clinton delegates who will gather around their TV sets with friends tonight at 7:30 PM. I imagine they'll will be doing a lot of talking back to their TVs during the speech. I know I will.

"If the McCain campaign thinks women who supported Hillary Clinton will vote for Palin simply because she is a woman, then they are sorely mistaken," said Conchita Cruz, spokeswoman for the Democratic Party of New Mexico. "Women who voted for Hillary Clinton did so because she shares their values. These same women will vote in November for change, with the issues that impact their lives in mind, like equal pay for equal work, the squeeze on the middle class, high gas prices and the war in Iraq. By promising more of the failed policies of the Bush Administration, John McCain represents more of the same, no matter who he puts on the ticket with him."

Still, I guess we should consider ourselves lucky to be seeing Palin at all tonight. She's been kept incommunicado in St. Paul since the start of the GOP convention, reportedly practicing rote memorization of McCain talking points and generally being schooled in how to pretend she's ready for the national spotlight. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall.

As prep for tonight's performance, you can read the lastest laundry list of revelations about Palin that call into question her qualifications, honesty, judgment and ethics. And be sure to check out her campaign's bogus claim that Sarah's refueling stop in Ireland constituted a "visit" there. These Repubs are going all out.

Palin photo from GrizzlyBay.org.

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NM-Sen: New Udall Energy Ad on TV; GOP Pulls TV Ad Buys for Pearce

See that Udall graphic in our right-hand sidebar? Click on it to get a free Tom Udall bumpersticker. Just do it.

The new TV ad for Dem U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall focuses on taking a balanced, pragmatic and proactive approach to achieving energy independence -- not just talking. The campaign released a cool Fact Sheet that provides documentation for each of the points made by Udall in the ad.

The new Udall ad starts airing a day after the National Republican Senatorial Committee announced it's pulling out of its ad buy for Repub Senate candidate Steve Pearce. According to an :

Republicans' Senate campaign arm called off television ads Tuesday that were to air in New Mexico in the run-up to Election Day, an indication that it's leaving the GOP candidate there to fend for himself as the party braces for losses.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee's decision to cancel the New Mexico spots reflects its priorities during a tough year for the GOP, with the party lagging badly in fundraising and resigned to losing seats in the Senate.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is outraising its GOP counterpart by almost 2-1 this cycle. Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) had earlier announced that the NRSC would try to build up its funding for advertising in battleground states like New Mexico by urging Senators not up for reelection or in safe seats to make donations. It didn't work:

The NRSC pulled the New Mexico ads a little more than a week after Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., the committee's chairman, he would have to scale back advertising in battleground states because Republican senators haven't contributed enough money to compete with Democrats.

Let's not get complacent though. It's a done deal that the infamous right-wing 527s and other third-party groups, like the Club for Growth, will keep spending money in New Mexico to run negative ads against Udall. They always do, and they're known for dishonest and odious ads of the worst sort. If you can't win on the issues or the strength of your candidate, there's always lowest of the low mudslinging of the "swiftboat" variety to fill the void on the Repub side.

The best antidote? Get involved now with the Udall campaign and help capture another Senate seat this November.

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