Democracy for New Mexico

NM-01: New Heinrich Ad Uses Humor to Hit Bush-White on Energy

The new TV ad for our NM-01 Congressional candidate Martin Heinrich goes after the George Bush-Darren White energy policies that are "a drag on America's economy" and "holding America back." Instead of the anonymous voice-over that's commonly used to convey this kind of message, Heinrich appears in a humorous vignette where he cuts a runner loose who's being held back by having to pull a wagon holding a cigar-chomping curmudgeon who looks suspiciously like a shady oil tycoon.

In what seems like a nod to the recent Olympics, runners get set at the starting line wearing the flags of their nations. Are America's competitors wearing the flags of foreign oil producing nations? As the race gets into gear, the American runner is trailing. Martin to the rescue -- with his Apollo plan for energy independence -- and a pair of large shears. He cuts the line connecting the US runner to his burden and the American sprints to victory. The cigar chomping guy isn't pleased. When Martin says he's approved this message at the end of the ad, cigar guy says, "Yeah, but I don't!"

I think this is a welcome departure from run of the mill political ads and manages to communicate important criticisms of White's approach (and tout Heinrich's proactive approach) without rancor or anger. Darren White hasn't aired any ads yet in this contest, but judging from his campaign's recent low-life approach -- like absurdly trying to peg Heinrich as a "slick lobbyist" -- this funny ad should provide a nice contrast with White's mean-spirited messaging, whether on TV or off. (Update: White just released his first ad, a typical bio, saying he's "ready to lead" as an "independent voice." I won't put it up here because I think his campaign should be required to pay for every set of eyes it gets.)

I deem it a winner -- how about you? Let's help keep it on the air.

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You're Invited: Dems to Meet in Gene Lindsay's Backyard

From the DPBC: It's a long tradition that Bernalillo County Democrats gather in Gene Lindsay's backyard to meet candidates and discuss issues. Wards 24A and B are hosting the meeting on Saturday, September 13, from 10 AM to noon and all Dems are welcome. Invite your friends. Candidates or their representatives will be there to answer questions and tell us how we can help in their campaigns.

Martin Heinrich, our next Congressman from District 1, plans to attend at 10 AM, as will a representatives for the Obama-Biden campaign and Congressman Tom Udall. Jason Marks, running for re-election to the Public Regulation Commission will be there. Brian Colon, state party Chairperson, will update us on what is happening at the state level, as will Chairperson Ana Canales for the county party. Tim Eichenberg, running for the Senate District 15 seat, will be there and all other Democratic candidates are welcome to attend.

Location: 2910 Utah, NE, off Candelaria between Wyoming and Pennsylvania, just east of Sandia High School. The Utah St. cul-de-sac has limited parking, so please park in the baseball field parking area immediately next door to the west.

McCain-Palin: Liars and Hypocrites

Can you believe that any thinking humans actually believe these pushers of doubletalk and outright lies? I guess they hear what they want to hear. They want to hear that it's somebody's else's fault and that nothing will be required of them in order to get things fixed. They are hearing it alright. Let's see how many suckers are out there when all is said and done. To believe what McCain and Palin are saying these days takes a gargantuan amount of denial. Imagine what kind of fear and insecurity fuels that kind of purposeful cluelessness ....

Quote of the Day: Take a Deep Breath

Polls, schmolls. Look at the big picture and just keep working. Remember, after his Convention, Michael Dukakis was almost 20 points ahead of his R opponent. In other words, polling at this point, whether for the prez or down-ticket races -- is fluid and often meaningless. If voters are still lukewarm about their candidate or still undecided, it's the debates that will make the difference. Can't wait. Can you imagine any of the R candidate doing well in debates? Me either.

"If the Obama brain trust seems relatively serene compared with its seething base, it’s because they live in the Electoral College world, where the presidential race only takes place in a third of the country. They don’t care about national polls — a concept as quaint as measuring one’s wealth by caribou pelts. They worry about the undecided vote in Minnesota and Ohio and run their TV ads (about the economy) in places like Colorado and Michigan and Florida. If you live in California or New York or Texas, you don’t really have much of a feel for their level of effort because as far as they’re concerned, you’ve already voted." --Gail Collins, NY Times Op-Ed Columnist

Reminder: Reception Tonight to Support NM Senator-Elect Tim Keller

Join special guests DIANE D. DENISH, Lieutenant Governor; MICHAEL SANCHEZ, Senate Majority Leader; LINDA LOPEZ, State Senator; DEDE FELDMAN, State Senator; CISCO MCSORLEY, State Senator; JERRY ORTIZ Y PINO, State Senator; SHERYL WILLIAMS STAPLETON, House Majority Whip; AL PARK, State Representative; MIMI STEWART, State Representative; HECTOR BALDERAS, State Auditor; BRIAN COLON, Democratic Party Chairman; and many others at a reception tonight from 5:30 to 7:00 PM to support State Senator-Elect Tim Keller and help retire his campaign debt. The reception will be held at the home of Ellen Griffiths and Jose Simbana at 2010 Alhambra SW in Albuquerque (click for MAP). See the invitation for more info.

Tim Keller defeated incumbent Sen. Shannon Robinson in the June 3rd Democratic primary with 66% of the vote to 33% for Robinson. Because he has no GOP opponent in the November general election, Tim will be representing Senate District 17 in the New Mexico Legislature. Now that's a victory we can celebrate. If you can't make it to tonight's reception, you can donate online. It took a lot of work and a lot of money to defeat Robinson, so please give what you can to clear up Tim's campaign debt. You know how it upsets certain members of the power elite ....

NM-01, NM-03: Heinrich and Luján Tout Act Blue and Power of Small Donations

ActBlue, THE online donation place for Dem campaigns who get the power of the grassroots and netroots, has been featuring a different candidate each week who has effectively used ActBlue to garner substantial contributions -- most of them small donations from ordinary people. This week they're featuring NM-01 Congressional candidate , who talks about ActBlue in the video above. ActBlue says:

New Mexico's Martin Heinrich, challenging an incumbent Republican for the Congressional seat for New Mexico's First District, has raised more than $395,000 on ActBlue from more than 2,000 contributors like you, making it possible for Heinrich's insurgent campaign to top his opponent's by five points in the most recent Roll Call poll. That's your work, and something to be proud of.

Last week, ActBlue covered NM-03 Congressional candidate , who gives his take on ActBlue and grassroot power above. ActBlue describes Luján:

Ben Ray Luján is the Democratic nominee for Congress is New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District. A Public Regulation Commissioner and three time former chairman of the Commission, Luján has built a reputation as a dedicated fighter for renewable energy, firefighting services, and improved health care. Before his election to the Public Relations Commission, Luján served in the New Mexico Cultural Affairs Department. Luján is running to fill the seat currently held by Tom Udall (D-NM), who is running for the Senate seat soon to be vacated by Pete Domenici (R-NM). Luján has raised more than $86,000 on ActBlue this cycle.

ActBlue has raised a phenomenal $63,276,420 online since 2004. You can help raise that total and easily make a donation -- even $10 helps -- to Martin, Ben Ray and other True Blue New Mexico candidates on the New Mexico netroots ActBlue page. Or click here to find candidates running for other offices in New Mexico. Every dollar counts.

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Guest Blog by Stephen Fox: September 11, Tom Udall, What Obama Needs to Do to Win

This is a guest blog by Stephen Fox of Santa Fe. This piece is cross-posted at Stephen's MyBarackObama blog, where you can read more of his writing.

U.S. Representative Tom Udall, D-NM, released the following statement today in solemn remembrance of the tragedies of September 11, 2001:

"September 11 is a day that invokes immense sadness in all of us. Today, we remember the pain that we felt seven years ago. But Americans learned something about ourselves on September 11, 2001, and what we learned should make us all proud. We learned that, in America, when we find ourselves face-to-face with tragedy, we know a simple truth: we are our brothers' keepers; we are our sisters' keepers.

We know that an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. That if one American dies needlessly, we are all diminished by that loss. As we mark this somber day, let us take comfort in that lesson: whatever our enemies do to us, Americans will stick together. And we will not be defeated."

My own recollection/observation was after 9/11 when the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar al Saud, donated a check for many millions of dollars to the 9/11 victims fund, as I recall $10 million, and accompanying the check was a letter in which he made many points, and among them was the question of the United States' need to figure out what it might have done to cause this ghastly disaster and act of terrorism.

That was too much for Rudy Giuliani, who immediately returned the check to Bandar, objecting very vociferously to Bandar's his commentary.

When I read about this in the New York Times, I immediately recognized this as Giuliani's error, but we all throughout life recognize this uniquely human trait of not being able to accept responsibility (or even a hint of a discussion of responsibility) by someone who is in some kind of serious trouble. It is just too much for them to deal with.....

The Saudi passport of Saeed Alghamdi, said to be discovered in the wreckage of Flight 93.

Steel beams from the WTC were already being removed and recycled on September 20, 2001. [Source: Associated Press]

A chunk of hot metal being removed from the North Tower rubble about eight weeks after 9/11. [Source: Frank Silecchia]

From left to right: Dick Cheney, Prince Bandar, Condoleezza Rice, and George W. Bush, on the Truman Balcony of the White House on September 13, 2001. [Source: White House]

Bandar certainly should have had some keen insights into these matters; from Wikipedia, in italics:

[Prince Bandar has formed close relationships with several American presidents, notably George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, who gave him the affectionate and controversial nickname "Bandar Bush". His friendship with Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne Cheney, extends to the years before Cheney took office as the United States Vice President. Prince Bandar invited the Cheney family to his daughter's wedding in the 1990s, but they did not attend.

The close relationship with the Bush family is also described in Craig Unger's book House of Bush, House of Saud and is highlighted in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11....

Prince Bandar has endured controversy over allegations in the book Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward that President George W. Bush informed him of the decision to invade Iraq ahead of Secretary of State Colin Powell. Also, the book alleged a deal had been worked out to reduce oil prices just ahead of the November 2004 election. Bandar publicly endorsed President Bush.

On June 26, 2005, Prince Bandar reportedly submitted his resignation as ambassador to the United States for "personal reasons".[4][5] Bandar's return to Saudi Arabia was announced weeks prior to the death of King Fahd upon which Bandar's father, Sultan bin Abdul Aziz became the nation's Crown Prince. It has been rumoured that Bandar's return was timed in order to secure a position in the new government.[6] In October 2005 he became the kingdom's national security chief.]

What happened? According to another source; "Saudi princesses are no less benevolent than their husbands, brothers and cousins. Ambassador-Prince Bandar's own wife Princess Haifa, daughter of the late King Feisal, received a letter from an unknown woman telling of problems with medical bills. The Princess-Ambassadress dashed her off a check in six figures -- and the money by some strange route ended up among the resources of the perpetrators of the September 11 atrocities. The revelation so upset Her Royal Highness that various sympathetic Washington ladies rushed their condolences and sympathy to her -- including Mrs. George H.W. Bush and Mrs. Colin Powell. "

I am not a 9/11 conspiracy kind of guy/paranoid, not at all. I concluded long ago that even talking about such was a waste of time, my time at least....

However, having said that, since September 11, 2001, I do believe we have a lot of evidence of how our hostility about Islam now has alienated most of the 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, about 60 nations; it is obvious that the Chinese have run rings around us in terms of investment and economic policy throughout most of the world, particularly in Africa; it is screamingly obvious that American excursions into Iraq along with most of the US wars since 1945 have been in essence imperialistic in nature, and as such have earned us increasing hostility; one British tourist visiting Santa Fe compared the British in Ireland to the Americans in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

"If you kill their mothers and children and cousins and brothers over several years, pretty soon the entire nation becomes terrorists."

I do believe that the core of this Modern History was all essentially delineated by Marx, Engels, and especially by Hegel, in his discussions of Dialectical Materialism.

All those ISM's and the thesis/antithesis/synthesis processes make perfect sense to me in explaining the History of Economic Systems; it is clear to me that when Big Pharma and Big Junk Food corporations and their hired guns/lobbyists effectively take over the regulatory processes of a nation, like they have done with the FDA, that we are doomed in health, in history, in medical and consumer credibility, and in economic well-being.

I have written a lot of articles on related subjects, particularly consumer protection, aspartame, and Donald Rumsfeld's having forced through the FDA the approval for aspartame/methanol/formaldehyde, so he could make $12-20 million personal profit, the health of hundreds of millions of people be damned....

I won't regale you with this on this solemn occasion, but allow me to recall a lecture in Santa Fe a few years ago by former President of Poland and Nobel Laureate Lech Walesa to the effect that the USA has lost its moral stature in toto as well as most of its political power, squandered its economic power in order to preserve and just barely maintain its military power, which was no replacement for moral, political, or economic power. That was quite brilliant, truly.

Similarly, DNC Chairman and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean III, M.D., was recently in Santa Fe to fire up the troops, and one thing in particular stuck with me, when he said no nation could bring peace in any conflict unless it had the moral authority to sit at the negotiating table.

We don't have that power and that moral authority throughout most of the world right now, thanks to the past 8 years of Bush/Cheney/Neocon/Blackwater/Halliburton/Kellogg Brown, and Root mode of economics and government economic policies.

I really don't believe that in general Economics nor specifically that Macro Economic insights from government economic advisors, for example, qualify as rocket science.

It is more akin to the old irrigation system of colonial New Mexico, in which the farmer who controlled the flow of the irrigation ditch, or ACEQUIA MADRE ("MOTHER DITCH" in Spanish) determined which field the water would flow into. He was called the Majordomo, and in that society, was much more important than any Mayor, or "ALCALDE" in Spanish.

That is what has happened during the past 8 years. The White House and other government masters of the flow of monies have purposefully turned the irrigation ditch waters into such things as military, defense contractors, weapons, hardware, security, etc.

What was in that other field, the one that got neglected and deprived of water?

Just about everything else: education, inner cities, highway maintenance and construction, infrastructure, huge realms of scientific and medical research like stem cell research, etc. You name it: our American economy is in terrible shape, and with the way our international respect has deteriorated, squarely because of Bush and Cheney, it might get a lot worse....the signs are everywhere; they are well known and they are easily recognized: endemic mortage failures, high gas prices, a deflated stock market, high unemployment, failed schools especially in the inner city, store closings, et. alia.

Much of this election hinges on our ability to change all of that, to put America back on a sane and internationally effective tack, and that is at a minimum, just to ensure our survival as a nation.

That is why I want to see Dr. Dean be the Obama Cabinet Secretary for Health or as FDA Commissioner, and that is why I want to see NM Governor Bill Richardson as the next Secretary of State. I think also that Jerry Brown of California would make a great consumer protection-oriented United States Attorney General, one who would also reconstruct all of our civil liberties.

Such speculations are of course something else entirely, but I am certain that Obama should discuss such things seriously and frequently, ignoring the advice of some who say that that would be ridiculed by the right wing as "presumptuous" or as "arrogant," so that the American people can gain some glimmer of an insight into what he really would like to achieve as President, in terms of names, both possible and real and well known names.

Will Obama win?
To get to that victory, I work day and night as a member of 328 Obama groups, coordinating correspondence, and urging people to not just "preach to the choir," as that is how Democrats usually lose elections, but to get out there and go door to door to tell folks how much is really at stake in this election, plus my special focus: Letters to the Editor, Opinion/Editorials, and so on, all over the United States, wherever they could be published.

Surprising how few people comprehend this in only a few states, and in not many of the so-called BATTLEGROUND STATES, for Obama and for US Senate candidates, as described in my blog about a week ago in the letter from Senator Charles Schumer.

I am going to take a break from all of this furious emailing, so you won't hear from me for a while.

I will conclude with a few paragraphs written today, not by me, but an astute observer and friend of mine,who wishes to remain anonymous, about 50 years old, a realtor, former actress, and thinker:

Recently, I was on a flight to Texas and sat next to a very personable and fairly astute guy. We began talking politics and went back and forth about the issues. He was really impressed by my research and said so.

Then he leaned over to me and whispered conspiratorially, "I concede all the points but Obama is a Muslim, you know."

And when I calmly explained that that particular lie fed on our basest fears, he held up Reverend Wright as proof. This scene has been repeated numerous times with different characters but the underlying emotional message is clear and powerful. Their winning on a gut level. They are afraid and the facts don't matter.

Obama is perceived as "the other."

The Republicans have clearly defined him emotionally and he must wrest these irrational pictures away from them and supplant them with powerful and soothing reassurance.

Obama may loose this election if he does not connect on a visceral level soon. He must capture the emotional narrative and stop trying to be only reasonable. People do not reason their way into the voting booth. They move from the gut.

He has much "low-hanging fruit" to choose from. Sarah Palin is a right-wing fundamentalist wack-job. She is an extremist and Americans of all stripes are uncomfortable with extremism. John McCain has abandoned every "maverick" position he's ever held.

It's all on video, from her prayers to the oil pipeline god to the massively naked ambition which has led him to do a 180 on every major political stance of his past. Use Their Own Words To Out This Outrageous Hypocricy. Draw passionate simple pictures once again and reframe this narrative, from the gut. It's the only way. "

Obama has to win!

This is a guest blog by Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor of the New Mexico Sun News and founder of New Millennium Fine Art, a Santa Fe gallery since 1980. Guest blogs provide an opportunity for readers to express themselves on topics of interest to the political discourse here, and may or may not express the views of the DFNM blog. 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 corner of the page.

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Obama Says Enough: How about YOU?

Enough is enough! Read about Obama's stand here.

CUT DOWN READING BLOGS. CUT DOWN WATCHING TV. CUT DOWN EMAILING THE CHOIR. GET OUT THERE AND VOLUNTEER TO REGISTER VOTERS, KNOCK ON DOORS AND MAKE PHONE CALLS. YOU MUST BE REGISTERED TO VOTE BY OCTOBER 7 TO VOTE THIS FALL. HERE'S HOW. ENOUGH WITH THE PROCRASTINATING. ACT NOW.

Enough of things like this: Pretty much the only criticism of Palin that's been written by a certain New Mexican who's forever claiming to be a "journalist" is -- get this -- "Palin’s views may be overly simplistic and fail to recognize the complexities of living on this planet." Meanwhile, absurd criticisms of Obama by him and others go on and on and on, right here in New Mexico's alleged "new" media and in the trad media all over. Tells you a lot about which candidate is viewed as a serious threat to the status quo, doesn't it? And who pretty much likes things just the way they are as long as they've got theirs.

Our entire safety net, our justice system, our constitution, our planet and so much more are all at risk if we don't win this time, and yet so many continue to treat this whole thing like a game, a gotcha opportunity, a laughing matter, a chance to get attention. This is no time for "neutrality" -- it's imperative that we all take sides. In no uncertain terms. And with everything we've got. Or else not much will matter after November 4th.

Everybody Knows
Everyone knows that McCain and Palin are shams. Everyone knows they're hypocrites. Everybody knows they're an integral part of the awful stuff that has come before -- and that the power elite want to be continued to completion. They are owned and operated by amoral (and immoral) corporate plutocrats, neocon arms dealers, corrupt lobbyists, Halliburton, Wall Street, Lockheed Martin, Countrywide Mortgage, criminal bankers, pharmaceutical companies, Exxon and many other members of the have-the-public-pay-the-costs-and-give-me-the-profits-crowd. There's not even a shred of doubt about it. Look at who gives them money, look at who runs their campaign, look at who writes their speeches, look at who gains from their policies and neglect of policies.

P.T. Barnum All Over Again
It's just that some people prefer not to admit what they know to be true because they get the dog whistles, the undertones, the code words being used by McCain-Palin and their surrogates and 527s. Yes, the GOP campaign plays -- as it always does -- to the lowest common denominator, the most shameful instincts of those the GOP has managed to scare into submission during the Bush years. They wink and nod to the worst in human nature -- signaling to people that Obama is the "dangerous other" and that they are as American as apple pie. Oh, trust us, despite all the inconvenient facts and facts and facts to the contrary available to anyone who looks.

P.T. Barnum all over again, but way, way nastier and much more dangerous. Gutter politics at their worst. What McCain and Palin are good at is play acting and saying what they're instructed to say. They pose, they preen, they lie and dissemble. They raise distractions trying to make people forget about the obscenities that the past eight years have brought -- and how they have no meaningful solutions to ANY of the problems real people face.

Unfortunately, so far, they've convinced the media clowns to play along. It gets ratings. It's like a political version of some tawdry "reality" show. It's easy to cover for the lazy among the press corps and TV "analysts." It's "new." And it doesn't upset the bigshots who hold the reins.

Now or Never
So what can we do to counteract all this? WE CAN BEAT THEM ON THE GROUND. Remember, they may have the edge with shills playing the fraudulent "fair and balanced" game, but we have the power. We have the people. We have the passion. We have the brains. We have the hearts. We have the arc of history. And we have the truth.

CUT DOWN READING BLOGS. CUT DOWN WATCHING TV. CUT DOWN EMAILING THE CHOIR. GET OUT THERE AND VOLUNTEER TO REGISTER VOTERS, KNOCK ON DOORS AND MAKE PHONE CALLS. YOU MUST BE REGISTERED TO VOTE BY OCTOBER 7 TO VOTE IN NOVEMBER. HERE'S HOW. ENOUGH WITH THE PROCRASTINATING. ACT NOW.

This is shit or get off the pot time. If we fail to do this, it will be our fault if we are on the receiving end of another four years of damage and destruction of everything we hold dear. There's no more time to waste:

Obama New Mexico

Tom Udall for Senate

Harry Teague for Congress NM-02

Martin Heinrich for Congress NM-01

Ben Ray Lujan for Congress NM-03

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NM-02: Teague's Second Ad Stresses Connections With Ordinary People

Harry Teague, the Dem Congressional candidate in NM-02, is now airing his second ad district-wide on broadcast and cable TV. This ad focuses on Harry's contributions to his community and his long-time relationships with working people. His first featured Teague talking directly to the camera about his life. Both ads provide an opportunity for Harry to demonstrate who he is and what he believes in.

I think the ad spotlights Harry's natural warmth and down-home qualities, and the lines spoken by ordinary people come across as honest and heartfelt. Although it doesn't mention his GOP rival, Ed Tinsley, the ad effectively draws contrasts with Tinsley's reputation for nastiness and the fact that he's often accused of spending more time at his "second home" in the exclusive Las Campanas development in Santa Fe than he does at his property in Capitan.

Now's the time to donate to Harry Teague's campaign -- and get the added bonus of having your contribution matched dollar for dollar. I think you'll agree that we need to turn this seat BLUE -- and make sure that the extreme rightwinger Ed Tinsley doesn't get his hands on it.

Script for Second Ad:

"People" 30 Second Script:

Man #1: I've known Harry Teague for 19 years.

Man #2: 15 Years.

Man #3: 39 Years.

Group: We all know Harry.

Woman #1: He does things to help people.

Woman #2: Harry gave me a job when I really needed it.

Man #4: Harry helped my daughter fund her education.

Woman #3: My family with health care.

Man #5: I trust Harry Teague to do what's right

Man #6: Harry Teague will get things done for New Mexico.

Man #7: Harry's always helped working people.

Man #5: He's one of us.

Woman #1: Harry's always there for us.

Man #2: Harry will help bring change to Washington.

Harry: Hi. I'm Harry Teague and I approve this message because we do need to make a change in Washington.

Group: Yeah!

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Guest Blog: More on McCain/Heather Wilson Ties to Latest Abramoff Indictment

This is a guest blog by Daily Kos diarist Land of Enchantment. It was originally posted on Daily Kos. I previously posted on this issue here, but this in-depth piece goes into greater detail and examines John McCain's behavior in relation to the Abramoff scandal.

Sandia Pueblo, near Albuquerque in NM-01, happens to have an excellent location for a casino. They've come a long ways since their modest Bingo Room back in the 1990s. Casino proceeds have built a variety of community facilities, placed a computer in every home, and plowed a lot back into additional economic development. This is their newly-opened resort:

The mountains behind it are the Sandia Mountains, traditional spiritual place for the small Tiwa-speaking tribe. That piece of turf was claimed by the US after the Mexican-American War and later incorporated into the National Forests. The tribe was involved in ongoing efforts to protect their interests and traditional activities in the Sandias. When the the money started coming in from gaming, they decided to hire a lobbyist. Who did they hire? To the tune of $1.7 million? Jack Abramoff. And who presided over the associated Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearings? And sealed 98% of the hearing's documents? John McCain!

McCAIN's INDIAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE HEARINGS
This ties back to McCain. Why? Because of the Indian Affairs Subcommittee hearings on matters Abramoff during 2006. Back then, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) chaired the committee, and presided over the hearings. By the time the dust settled, Congressman Bob Ney of Ohio went to jail, Richard Pombo and others got fired by the voters, and a bunch of other Republicans decided to retire. That's a big part of why the Democrats stand to move up in the legislative branch this year - prominent Republicans like Sens. John Warner and Pete Domenici are retiring (and a lot of not-quite-so-prominent ones, too.)

McCain points to these hearings as proof of bucking his party. Let's keep in mind that the hearings put all members of the House and Senate off-limits as part of the ground rules. It did look into the Interior Department, and so touched upon the portion of the Abramoff operation relating to Indian gaming. But the vast majority of the documents accumulated in the conduct of those hearings have been sealed. Only about 2% of the documents were released for public scrutiny.

More on that to follow below.

It has been hypothesized that there's some kind of a coverup going on. The Bush justice department has pursued the matter. Rep. Bob Ney from Ohio did go to jail. Pombo and others were not re-elected. John Doolittle (CA-04) and others decided not to run for another term. This week there was a new arrest in the case: One Kevin Ring, former Doolittle staffer, later a lobbyist working for Abramoff. (The full 46-page indictment is available in PDF form.)

There's a lot about Representative 5 in there, John Doolittle. And some talk about a [New Mexico tribe]. Doolittle might end up in jail yet, and it would not be undeserved. But a bit of a back burner story. Not like Doolittle's running for re-election or anything. And no wonder - it's his former Chief of Staff, after all. From MSNBC:

At one point in 2000, Doolittle's then-chief of staff told Ring in an e-mail that Doolittle had said he felt like a "subsidiary" of Abramoff's firm, the indictment says.

Doolittle's attorney, David Barger, defended the congressman in a statement Monday. "It is clear that portions of the Kevin Ring indictment were designed to make gratuitous references to the congressman and his wife. This appears to have been done to titillate the public, with the foreseeable and therefore intended consequence of attempting to embarrass and pressure the congressman," the statement said.

Turns out there's a New Mexico angle in this indictment, too.

HEATHER WILSON
Sandia Pueblo is within the boundaries of NM-01, the district of Rep. Heather Wilson, the failed Senatorial candidate.

2 - On or about December 20 , 2001 , defendant RING sent an email captioned " [ New Mexico tribe] (sp?)" to Abramoff in which he wrote, "Need to talk to you about a potential new client. Would need Scanlon, too. " A few months later, on or about February 14, 2002, Abramoff sent an email to Scanlon in which Abramoff informed Scanlon that "[0]ur Kevin Ring New Mexico Ship has just arrived!! We have a meeting 11 am Wednesday next week with the [New Mexico tribe] here in DC. They are desperate and rich. Kevin is desperate for some $ and a big client.

We'z gonua be rich(er) ..."

It's kinda quaint, really. How the names are all "disguised". The names of all the tribes involved have long been known. The only one in New Mexico was Sandia Pueblo. Similarly, covering up the names of the governmental officials is curious. But such are the rules of the game we play by. Turns out, deep in the 46-page indictment is a presumed reference to our own NM Rep. Heather Wilson. Sandia's in her district, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised. Looks like ol' Nipplegate Heather follows basketball as well as football. (Note that "Governor" is the title for the head of NM Pueblo tribes' governments.)

155. On or about July 17, 2002, defendant RING emailed the New Mexico tribe's governor and others to inform them that the executive branch official had called a U.S. Senator to support the settlement agreement.

156. On or about January 30, 2003, a lobbyist at Firm B emailed a staffer for the New Mexico tribe' s U.S. Representative, "Sorry I couldn't hangout last night. I greatly appreciate your taking the time to han[g]out with the [New Mexico tribe]. It meant a lot to [K]evin and I [sic]. BTW, you should be all set for the [Los Angeles] Clippers [basketball] game."

And in today's Albuquerque Journal, Heather Wilson has felt moved to respond:

Mr. Kevin Ring hosted a fundraising lunch at Signatures Restaurant to benefit my campaign for re-election in May 2003 and contributed $1,000 to my campaign on June 2, 2003. When we discovered that Mr. Ring had not submitted a bill for the cost of the fundraiser to my fundraising consultant, our consultant sought to pay the bill and, when unsuccessful because the restaurant was no longer in business, my campaign made an equivalent contribution to charity as required by Federal Election Commission (FEC) rules.

She did help the tribe get the land settlement, which she should have done anyhow, as Representative for a tribe supposedly covered by Federal Trust responsibilities. She and her staff did get stuff of value from the tribe's lobbyist. Quid pro quo? We'll probably never know

At any rate: Wilson's name hadn't been linked in with the Abramoff web before. The Sandia part of the story was almost a sidebar. The tribe didn't spend much money, dropped the lobbyist, and managed to get a land-claim settlement they could live with. At the time the Abramoff scandal busted open, the Albuquerque Journal reported (you have to watch an ad to follow the link for free):

Stuwart Paisano, who served as Sandia's governor until last week, said Tuesday the pueblo was in legal settlement negotiations with the firms and could not talk about specifics of Sandia's monetary arrangement. He said the pueblo paid more than $1 million to the two men. "Our council has no ill feelings," he said. "We were able to get the mountain back, which was our only goal. Obviously we made some poor choices in who we hired."

Presumably, this part of the story was in the Indian Affairs subcommittee's millions of sealed documents. And, one wonders, what other "dirt" on various Republicans got buried. And before anyone gets wound up and says "What about corrupt Dems?", it is probably good to remember that the Abramoff operation was part of the Republican plan for a "permanent majority". Democrats were completely shut out. Abramoff only dealt with Republicans.

And that, my friends, is why this story matters. Abramoff is in jail. Ring is arrested. Doolittle and Wilson aren't standing for re-election. But John McCain presided over burying a lot of evidence in the course of those hearings. There were a coupla sacrificial animals: Abramoff and some of his crew had to go; a few people left their jobs at Interior; and Bob Ney got snagged. Plus Delay & Pombo and others were driven from office. Is McCain sitting on favors in all those sealed documents? (Favors bordering on extortion?)

In keeping Wilson's name out of the news, he could be credited with her keeping her seat. She won by a very narrow margin of 105,986-105,125. A few headlines tying her to this scandal during 2006 could easily have made the difference.

For all the good it did. She's OUT this year anyhow. She had other help, too. The US Attorney scandal, Albuquerque chapter, was all wrapped up in it, too. She and Domenici were both damaged for their interference with David Iglesias. Less often mentioned was the Bob Perry-funded ad campaign mounted in the weeks before the election attacking Wilson's challengers NM Attorney General Patricia Madrid over the same case Iglesias got fired over - for not producing indictments as fast as would be helpful to the needs of the effort to re-elect Heather.

BACK TO McCAIN
This new association of a sitting member of Congress with the Abramoff scandal brings the question of those sealed Indian Affairs Committee documents front and center. What other stories and ties have been hidden from the public? Who else did McCain spare from sunlight on Abramoff's many tentacles into the Republican majority in Congress?

It's not clear to me why, now that there's a Democratic majority, these materials all remain sealed. I've called the new Chairman of Indian Affairs, Senator Dorgan's (D-ND) office, was referred to the Committee. But all the reception I was afforded was to have my query referred to voice mail. I've heard nothing back. It's this kind of thing that disappoints me about the Democratic majority. This kind of thing really should be seeing sunlight.

TIMELINE (background info)
It's probably good to keep the timeline of all this in mind. The Abramoff scandal blew up with some Washington Post stories in December 2005. McCain got his hearings up and down in 2006, and all the documents were sealed. Republicans lost the House and the Senate in 2006, and the US Attorney scandal came to light in early 2007.

From MSNBC again - some related summary:

To date, the ongoing Abramoff investigation has resulted in 13 guilty pleas by various lobbyists and public officials, including former lobbyist Michael Scanlon, who pleaded guilty in November 2005 to conspiracy to commit bribery and honest services fraud. Former lobbyist and congressional staffer Tony C. Rudy pleaded guilty in March 2006 to conspiring with Abramoff, Scanlon and others to commit honest services fraud, mail and wire fraud, and a violation of conflict of interest post-employment restrictions. In April 2007, Mark D. Zachares, a former high-ranking aide to the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and in June 2008, John C. Albaugh, a former chief of staff to a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives pleaded guilty to the same charge. In April 2008, Robert Coughlin, a former Department of Justice employee, pleaded guilty to a conflict of interest. Scanlon, Rudy, Albaugh, Coughlin and Zachares are all cooperating and awaiting sentencing.

In addition, Ohio Congressman Robert Ney pleaded guilty in September 2006 to conspiracy to commit multiple offenses, including honest services fraud, making false statements in violation of his former chief of staff's one-year lobbying ban, and making false statements to the U.S. House of Representatives. Ney was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Neil Volz, former lobbyist and chief of staff to Congressman Ney, pleaded guilty in May 2006 to honest services fraud and violating the one-year lobbying ban and William Heaton, former chief of staff for Congressman Ney, pleaded guilty on February 26, 2007, to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. Volz and Heaton cooperated in the government's investigation and were each sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay a $2,000 and $5,000 fine, respectively.

McCain's hearings were in 2006. There was some flashy stuff, and names like Italia Federici (with ties to Gale Norton & Steven Griles at Interior) had their 15 minutes of fame. It garnered, actually, many hours of coverage on C-SPAN, and a few bits on the cable channels. And then the report came out, and the documents were sealed. A few were punished, and many more were protected.

John McCain might like to brag about his corruption-fighting ways. But it's fair to say that he likely protected many more than were punished, even with a wrist slap. Meanwhile, Wilson - who more likely than not benefited from McCain's sealed documents - is busy supporting his campaign." :

Wilson has been a stalwart supporter and prominent surrogate for John McCain, painting him as a crusader against Washington corruption. Just last night, she appeared on MSNBC's Hardball to make the case for him, and last week she told NPR: "John McCain has chosen a reformer ... to be his running mate and I think that's a perfect complement to who he is and what he's done in his life."

Ralph Reed, too, was tied up in the Abramoff imbroglio, and lost his bid to become Lt. Governor of Georgia because of it. Even Garrison Keillor got in on the act! Ralph Reed now, too, serves as a surrogate for the McCain campaign. Plus whatever he's pulling behind the scenes.

So much for rooting out corruption! He's got it right in his campaign. And really, before McCain get's too much credit for those hearings, the 98% of the hearing documents that have been sealed need to see the light of day. Doolittle, and now Wilson, have had their names tied to the scandal. It's likely John McCain's sealed documents are the only reason we've not seen Wilson's name publicly associated with the "permanent majority" machine before, even though she has benefited from it, and supported it like a good soldier. I'm guessing that McCain will come out smelling not so sweet when all that content comes to light.

And who knows who else's involvement has been buried in those sealed documents.

This is a guest blog by Daily Kos diarist Land of Enchantment that was originally published on Daily Kos. Mexico. Guest blogs provide an opportunity for readers to express their opinions on matters relevant to the blog. 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 corner of the page.

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