Democracy for New Mexico

(Updates) 10/25: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain Plan to Visit New Mexico

Vote Early, and visit an Obama field office to volunteer

Update 2: Finalized details are now available for the Barack Obama visit here and the Hillary Clinton visit here.

Update 1: It's now been confirmed by the Campaign for Change that Barack Obama will be hosting a rally in Albuquerque on Saturday, October 25, but no time or venue has been confirmed. More details as they're released. It's also been revealed that the Hillary event in Sunland Park is tentatively scheduled for 2:30 PM at Elena Memorial Plaza at 101 Meadow Vista.
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This coming Saturday will be another big day in New Mexico for presidential politics -- maybe one of the biggest in recent history as far as visiting politicos.

It's now confirmed that Hillary Clinton will be stumping for Obama at a rally in Sunland Park near Las Cruces on Saturday, October 25. No word yet on the time of the event or how to get tickets.

It's now only a rumor, but the word is that Barack Obama may be appearing at a huge evening rally at around 9:30 PM somewhere in Albuquerque on Saturday, October 25. Keep an eye out for more info.

It's confirmed that John McCain will be holding a rally at Mesilla Plaza near Las Cruces on Saturday afternoon. Doors will open at 2 PM for a 4 PM rally. McCain will also speak in Albuquerque that morning. No location has been confirmed for the Albuquerque rally, but doors will open at 8 AM for a 10 AM speech.

10/25: DPBC Early Voting Matanza with Tom Udall, Martin Heinrich, Rep. Loretta Sanchez

The Democratic Party of Bernalillo County invites you to and early voting MATANZA on October 25, 2008 from 12 Noon to 4:00 PM at Goff Plaza, 1720 Bridge SW (Corner of Bridge and Goff), in the South Valley. Come eat good food, hear good music and VOTE EARLY! Future Congressman Martin Heinrich, future Senator Tom Udall, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez from California will honor us with their presence.

Conservation Voter Action Fund's Radio Ad Flushes GOP PRC Candidate Cummins

The Conservation Voters NM Action Fund is running a new radio ad supporting the re-election of Dem Jason Marks to the Public Regulation Commission in District 1 -- and featuring a flushing toilet message about his GOP opponent, Tim Cummins. Great stuff:

The ad refers to the revelation that Repub Tim Cummins is one of the most extravagant over-users of water in the area. And he serves on the board of the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority! Cummins used a whopping 942,480 gallons of water at his Tanoan home in 2007, nearly nine times the average use for a residential home in Albuquerque, according to water authority numbers -- and sixth among the biggest residential water users last year. Cummins has admitted he has a large lawn, a fountain and a pool -- but claims that's not what's running up his usage. Uh huh.

As bad as having a water hog like Cummins on the water board is, having Cummins on the PRC would be even worse. According to an article in today's Albuquerque Journal:

Republican challenger E. Tim Cummins says PRC policies slow down decisionmaking and end up costing businesses and, ultimately, consumers time and money.

Got that? Cummins essentially says he's against regulations imposed by the Public REGULATION Commission because they bother businesses. Isn't this the same kind of deregulation worship that got us into the financial crisis we're facing globally? Believe it or not, Cummins is also against the PRC looking out for consumers.

"When these guys [on the PRC] hold themselves out as consumer watchdogs and protectors of the public, they're not doing justice to the state and consumers as a whole," Cummins said.

Incumbent Dem Jason Marks, on the other hand,

... lists several issues facing the commission that he says will require decisions that protect not only consumers and companies but the long-term future of New Mexico's economy and environment.

Marks is known as our consumer watchdog -- and he's also been a real leader on the PRC in terms of renewable energy, the mitigation of global warming and requiring telecoms to live up to their promises. In other words, he recognizes the importance of the PRC in helping New Mexico move forward as technological opportunities -- and complexities -- increase. He knows his stuff, and he works for us, not the special interests. Be sure to vote for Marks when you mark your ballot. Although the PRC may not be the most well known of governmental entities, its work is incredibly important, and subject to ethical lapses if the wrong people get elected as commissioners. Cummins calls himself a conservative, and we know what that means in this era -- free reign for the piggies and to hell with ordinary people. Don't let him anywhere near the PRC.

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RNC Has to Back Down on New Mexico "Voter Fraud" Allegations; Pat Rogers Involved Again

There's a lot happening with the GOP and its spurious "voter fraud" claims here in New Mexico, as well as other battleground states where Repubs are pulling their now traditional shenanigans to gin up confusion and discourage Democrats from voting. The New Mexico story's getting national exposure in a number of articles including one at , which outlines the recent sequence of events whereby the GOP had to back down on its previous claims that they'd found illegitimate voters registered by ACORN who participated in the New Mexico Democratic Party's presidential caucus back in June:

In other words, it looks like the RNC had scheduled a call to tout evidence of voter fraud -- not voter registration fraud, mind you, but actual voter fraud -- being perpetrated by ACORN in New Mexico. But when ACORN appeared to come up with compelling evidence that no such fraud had occurred, the RNC held the call anyway, simply shifting the focus to other vague allegations against ACORN -- then refused to address the New Mexico situation when asked.

The New Mexico GOP has been trumpeting charges that they've found 28 illegitimate voters in the primary caucus here. Only five of the 28 New Mexicans named by the GOP were registered to vote by ACORN, and all of them were, indeed, legitimate voters. The others dug up by the New Mexico GOP have also reportedly been found to be real people with a legal right to vote. In a conference call with the media on Monday, ACORN said local elections officials had confirmed that the 28 were valid voters. So much for the huge "voter fraud" scandal being drummed up this year by the likes of GOP State Rep. Justine Fox-Young.

Rep. Conyers Weighs In
The New Mexico GOP is also getting heat for making public the names of voters being challenged in the PR gambit from none other than U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers.

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Monday, Conyers criticized the New Mexico GOP for disseminating the names of the voters claiming "it was a clear effort to intimidate voters." The letter also mentions disturbing actions in other states on the part of the GOP, and says that reports of "violence and threats" against ACORN have surfaced. Conyers is seeking "further assurances that the full weight of the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation will be brought to bear deterring anyone who would interfere with any person's right to vote or with citizens who serve our democracy by educating, registering, and turning out voters." Conyers' letter also brings in the name of New Mexico's own Pat Rogers (right):

Furthermore, it is deeply troubling that, just weeks after the Department's own watchdogs documented the role that specious agitating on alleged vote fraud matters by New Mexico Republicans played in the firing of United States Attorneys in 2006, in this controversy we see the same figures cropping up again and apparently obtaining a new FBI investigation just in time for the 2008 election. Thus a lawyer named Pat Rogers -- described in the local press as "an attorney who advises the state GOP" -- is apparently playing a key role in pressing these current claims. Mr. Rogers, however, appears repeatedly in the report on the U.S. Attorney firings prepared by the Department's Offices of the Inspector General and Professional Responsibility, which documented his actions making flawed claims of voter fraud and bringing unwarranted pressure to bear on law enforcement officials, including Mr. Iglesias, in 2006.

Pat Rogers, GOP Point Man on "Voter Fraud"
Ah, yes -- the infamous Pat Rogers, who was so intimately involved in the politicized firing of the U.S. Attorney for New Mexico, David Iglesias. As noted in a report by Jason Leopold in The Public Record:

The state's Republican Party claims it discovered the problems during a review of 92 newly registered voters in one district. Pat Rogers, an attorney who works closely with the state's Republican Party, said the suspect ballots were turned over to the state attorney general's office and the Bernalillo County district attorney.

Rogers, it turns out, has a history of lodging complaints against Democrats and organizations such as ACORN claiming voter fraud and other election irregularities.

According to a report by the Justice Department's inspector general, "Patrick Rogers, the former general counsel to the New Mexico state Republican Party and a party activist, continued [before the 2006 election] to complain about voter fraud issues in New Mexico. In a March 2006 e-mail forwarded to [Craig] Donsanto in the [Justice Department's] Public Integrity Section, Rogers complained about voter fraud in New Mexico and added, "I have calls in, to the USA [U.S. Attorney] and his main assistant, but they were not much help during the ACORN fraudulent registration debacle last election."

Donsanto is the author of the updated May 2007 Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses manual that softened the warnings about investigating and prosecuting voter fraud cases before an election. Last week, according to an Associated Press report, the FBI launched an investigation into claims by Republican operatives that ACORN has been involved in a massive voter registration fraud scheme.

Rogers told The Public Record after the release of the Justice Department report on the U.S. Attorney firings that the "the DOJ report is erroneous is so many ways it is not possible to address them all."

Yeah, right, Pat. As a matter of fact:

... the Justice Department report concluded that Rogers played a role in pressuring Iglesias's office to prosecute ACORN for voter fraud. In June 2006, Rogers sent Iglesias's Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Rumaldo Armijo an e-mail:

"€œThe voter fraud wars continue. Any indictment of the Acorn woman would be appreciated. . . . The ACLU/Wortheim [sic] democrats will turn to the camera and suggest fraud is not an issue, because the USA would have done something by now. Carpe Diem!"

Darren White's Voter Fraud Connection
And then there's Sheriff Darren White, the Repub running for Congress in NM-01, who chaired the Bush campaign in Bernalillo County back in 2004, and who stepped up to the plate to push the GOP's line on "voter fraud" allegations in 2006. Leopold continues:

Local Bush/Cheney campaign chairman Sheriff Darren White, showed up at the Bernalillo county clerk's office demanding to know if there were any questionable voter registrations on file. Mary Herrera, the Bernalillo County clerk, told White that there were about 3,000 or so forms that were either incomplete or incorrectly filled out.

White seized upon the registration forms as evidence that ACORN submitted fraudulent registration forms and held a press conference along with other Republican officials in the county to call attention to the matter.

Different Year, Same Old ...
Election years may change, but the GOP players and their targets remain the same. This time, however, Dems are clearly much more ready to hit back and challenge the bankrupt "voter fraud" allegations. Not only is Conyers pushing the issue, but the Obama campaign's chief legal council, Bob Bauer, is making waves about the FBI investigation of ACORN. The campaign has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to "look into whether any administration officials have worked in a joint effort with the McCain campaign and the RNC in legitimizing the allegations of vote fraud":

In the letter, Bauer asks for an inquiry into what he calls a "systematic development and dissemination of unsupported, spurious allegations of vote fraud." On a conference call with reporters, Bauer went further in explaining their position.

"These [vote fraud] allegations do not mean illegal voting," Bauer said. "Nobody really expects thousands of Mickey Mouses or Tony Romos to show up at the poll to vote this fall. But at the end of the day, the reason that you're getting the daily calls, the reason -- quite apart from political desperation -- that they're resorting to this issue and not to others, is to utilize the mantra that they've hit upon and the organization whose name they plan to make famous as a proxy for attacking the electoral process itself."

Bauer also brought up the Pat Rogers connection:

"There's a Republican attorney down there you're well aware of, Pat Rogers, who was involved in the Iglesias firing -- David Iglesias firing, who's continuing to whip up this story. The chair of the New Mexico Republican Party [Allen Weh] has been actively involved in this.

You can read more about the involvement of Pat Rogers and -- and Mickey Barnett -- in the "voter fraud" scams of 2006 in a previous post that also describes their connections with Rove and the Iglesias firing.

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McCain Giving Up on NM, CO, IA?

According to Political Wire:

CNN reports that top officials of Sen. John McCain's campaign are "making tough decisions" as they now see Colorado, New Mexico and Iowa no longer winnable.

Instead, the campaign's "risky strategy" is counting on Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and a comeback in Pennsylvania.

The McCain campaign responds: "We see the race tightening both internally and in public polling. We are within striking distance in the key battleground states we need to win."

Sure would be great news if it's true. Not only would it make our job easier in making sure Obama wins New Mexico, it might well help local Dems running for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as further down ticket. If McCain pulls out of New Mexico, GOP turnout might fade. The trick is to keep Dem turnout high regardless. You know what to do.

Today: Early Vote Works for Working Families BBQ at Snow Heights Park, ABQ

Make your voice heard & have fun! Join New Mexico Unions and working families for a BBQ party on Tuesday, October 21st, from 4:00 – 6:30 PM at Snow Heights Park, Northeast corner of Constitution & Pennsylvania in Albuquerque. Featuring celebrities with local ties to New Mexico: Miguel Sandoval of NBC’s Medium, Heidi Swedberg from Seinfeld, and Emmy and Golden Globe-winner Kathy Baker! Fun for the whole family! Activities for kids! Raffle! Vote from Noon – 8 PM at Integrity Plaza, 1512 Wyoming NE, Suites F & G, Albuquerque. All are welcome.

NM-03: Santa Fe Early Vote Rally Today With Ben Ray Luján, Plus New TV Ad

Luján's new TV ad, "Willing," highlights his experience taking on irresponsible corporations and making New Mexico a leader in renewable energy

NM-03 Congressional candidate Ben Ray Luján will join Arizona U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva in Santa Fe today, Tuesday, October 21, for a Noon early vote rally. Join them at De Vargas Park, On Agua Fria between N. Guadalupe and Sandoval.

Have You Received a Misleading GOP Robocall on Early Voting?

There's anecdotal evidence emerging that the GOP may be conducting robocalls that provide inaccurate information about early voting sites in the Albuquerque area. The other day, Cocoposts had this to say:

Meanwhile, the shameless and desperate GOP is robo-calling around spewing misinformation to confuse voters into not voting - leaving a message for a friend of mine in the University area that early voting just started and that he must drive across the river to Paradise Hills to cast a ballot

Reality: there's an early vote site much closer, at the UNM Student Union Building.

Is the misleading info in the robocall by the GOP just a mistake, or is it something else designed to discourage people from voting by claiming the closest voting site is far away? Is the GOP targeting people in the UNM area because there's a high liklihood they'll vote for Democrats? What's going on here, if anything?

Has It Happened to You? If you or someone you know has received a similar robocall from the GOP, please let me know in the comments on this thread or contact me by clicking on the Email Me link at the upper left-hand corner of the page. Albuquerque Journal reporter Dan McKay indicated in a comment on Coco's post that he's also interested in any recorded messages or other evidence that the Republicans are conducting a deceptive robocall campaign. Do you know anything?

Early Voting Sites: FYI, see below the jump for a listing of early in-person voting sites in Bernalillo, Sandoval and Valencia Counties provided by the League of Women Voters of Central New Mexico. If you are registered, you can vote early at any of the sites within the county where you reside from now thru November 1, 2008:

EARLY VOTING

Beginning October 7 you may vote "absentee in person" at the following county clerk's office locations, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, November 1, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Bernalillo County
Bernalillo County Clerk's Office Annex, 620 Lomas NW (6th and Lomas), Albuquerque

Sandoval County
Sandoval County Voting Machine Warehouse, 800 South Hill Road, Bernalillo

Valencia County
Valencia County Courthouse, 444 Luna Ave., Los Lunas

From Saturday, October 18 through Saturday, November 1 you may vote early at alternative voting sites throughout the county where you are registered to vote. The hours are:

Tuesday through Friday, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday, October 18 and 25 and November 1 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The following Early Voting locations are open beginning Saturday, October 18.

Bernalillo County:

Tijeras City Hall, 12 Camino Municipal, Tijeras

Paradise Hills Community Center, 5901 Paradise Blvd NW

Los Ranchos Villa, 6601 4th St NW, Suites A, B, C

Coors Plaza, 3200 Coors NW, Suite A

Integrity Plaza, 1512 Wyoming NE, Suites F&G

Plaza Paseo Del Norte, 9231 Coors NW, Suite R-8

Siesta Hills Shopping Center, 5407 Gibson SE

Del Norte Shopping Center, 7120 Wyoming NE, Suite 16

Market Center East, 11110 Lomas NE, Suite E-4

98th & Central Shopping Center, 120 98th St NW, Suite B-5

Goff Plaza, 1720 Bridge SW Suite G

Daskalos Shopping Center, 5339 & 5339A Menaul NE

Juan Tabo Plaza, 11012 Montgomery NE

CNM - South Valley Campus, 5816 Isleta Blvd. SW

University of New Mexico Student Union Building

Sandoval County:

Rio Rancho City Hall, 3200 Civic Center Circle NE, Rio Rancho

Meadowlark Senior Center, 4330 Meadowlark Lane, Rio Rancho

San Ysidro Public Safety Training Room, 398 Highway 4, San Isidro

Valencia County:

Valencia County Courthouse, Commission Room, 444 Luna Ave. Los Lunas, NM 87031

Belen Community Center, 304 Eagle Lane, Belen, NM 87002

10/21: Tom Udall to Tour in Dona Ana County, Alamogordo

On Tuesday, October 21, 2008, US Senate candidate Tom Udall will hold campaign events in Hatch, Las Cruces, San Miguel, and Chaparral in Doña Ana County, capping the day with an early voting rally in Alamogordo.

Udall will start with a tour of the areas in Hatch devastated by flooding in 2006 and the FEMA housing still being used by some residents there. Udall will be joined by Hatch Mayor Judd Nordyke and Doña Ana County Housing Authority Executive Director Tom Hassel.

In Las Cruces, one of the top ten retirement communities in the nation, Udall hold a meet and greet with seniors at the Munson Senior Center. Next, Udall will visit San Miguel to learn about the Tres Manos Program, a micro-enterprise development program targeting low-income families. In Chaparral, Udall will meet with locals at the Wright Ranch before travelling to Alamogordo for an early voting rally. See details below:

HATCH FLOOD AREA AND FEMA HOUSING TOUR
Tuesday, October 21th, 9 – 10:20 AM
B&E Burrito, 300 Franklin St., Hatch, NM

MUNSON SENIOR CENTER MEET & GREET
Tuesday, October 21th, 11 AM – 12 PM
Munson Senior Center, 975 S. Mesquite St.
Las Cruces, NM

SAN MIGUEL TRES MANOS EVENT
Tuesday, October 21th, 1:30 – 2:15 PM
Youth Development Building
19030 Hwy. 28, San Miguel, NM

CHAPARRAL MEET & GREET
Tuesday, October 21th, 3 – 4 PM
Wright Ranch, 150 W. Lisa Drive
Chaparral, NM

ALAMOGORDO EARLY VOTING RALLY
October 21st, 5:30 – 6:15 PM
Maximinos Restaurant, 2300 N. White Sands Blvd.
Alamogordo, NM

Viva Obama! Slideshow: Biden in Mesilla. Plus, Hillary Clinton to Visit Southern New Mexico on Saturday

Viva Obama! Obamanos!

The Obama campaign has announced that Senator Hillary Clinton will visit Southern New Mexico and host a Change We Need rally on Saturday, October 25th. More details when they're released. I'm guessing Las Cruces but I could be wrong.

The Obama campaign slideshow above displays photos from Joe Biden's packed Rally for Change on Mesilla Plaza near Las Cruces NM on Friday. By the way, the Las Cruces Sun-News endorsed Obama on Saturday.

There are only 15 days left before the election! Please VOTE EARLY if you haven't already done so. Then volunteer for Obama or another candidate on election day to help get out the vote. If we get a large turnout, we'll win. If we don't, we still can lose. Please do your part!

PS: There was an avalanche of Vote Early rallies and marches all over the state on Saturday, and Matt at New Mexico FBIHOP went to three of them. Wow! You can read about them and check out his excellent photos , and . There'll be more to come, so keep an eye out here at DFNM for more info.