Democracy for New Mexico

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.

Guest Blog by Eric Sedillo Jeffries: Vote for PRC Candidate Jason Marks

Jason Marks (blue shirt), our PRC consumer watchdog, and supporters.

This is a guest blog by Eric Sedillo Jeffries, an Albuquerque trial attorney who has practiced law in New Mexico for over 30 years, initially as a prosecutor in the DA's and AG's office and thereafter as a civil defense and plaintiff counsel. He has had a great deal of contact and interaction with the PRC and its subdivisions over the years. Democrat Jason Marks is running for re-election to the Public Regulation Commission from District 1.

This is to address the defamatory card you may have received last week in the mail from Jason Mark’s opponent. As some of you may know I have over 30 years experience with the PRC, from interfacing with the State Fire Marshall’s office on arson cases as a prosecutor, fighting title insurance companies and representing insureds and insurers before the PRC Commissioners. In my humble opinion, Jason Marks is the best or among the very best PRC commissioners we have or ever hope to have. Contrary to the false accusations it was Jason’s skillful negotiations, backed by potential votes of PRC commissioners, that forced the corrupt former Insurance Superintendent, Eric Serna, and his wayward assistant out of office. As you may recall, Serna’s assistant was subsequently prosecuted and convicted of taking kick backs. The Superintendant’s position, statutorily, was practically impregnable. Without Jason’s skillful negotiations it could have taken another year to remove Eric Serna from office.

In rate making, the rate payers do not have a better watchdog than Jason. His background is in both law and, prior to law school, in rate making. If you ever attended a PNM rate hearing you probably would have seen Jason whip out his calculator to cross examine a PNM expert on the basis of his justification for rate increases. Nothing can cause more fear for the untruthful witness than to see Jason punching the buttons on his calculator.

There had to be some PNM rate increases last year because of the increased cost of energy sources, but it was Jason who was primarily responsible in saving consumers millions of dollars in the initial unjustified PNM rate increase demands. Jason’s opponent neither has the desire nor skill to save rate payers the monies Jason saved them.

Lastly, under Jason’s leadership, our PRC has implemented practical energy generation and savings plans. In accomplishments, not talk, Jason is ahead of both of the presidential candidates.

I strongly recommend you reject the midnight mailing of false accusations and vote for Jason Marks.

Eric Sedillo Jeffries, Albuquerque, NM

This is a guest blog by Eric Sedillo Jeffries. To submit a piece for consideration as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand corner of the page.

Photo by Maxie Marks. Click on image for larger version.

NM-02: Tinsley's "Hometown" Mayor Endorses Teague

Gov. Bill Richardson and Harry Teague discuss the NM-02 race at a recent matanza in Valencia County (Video by M.E. Broderick)

According to an announcement today from the Harry Teague for Congress campaign, Sam Hammons, the Mayor of the Village of Capitan, today endorsed Democrat Harry Teague in the NM-02 race. Teague's opponent, Republican Ed Tinsley, claims that a ranch in Capitan is his primary residence, even though Tinsley's business office and his $2.5 million home are located in Santa Fe, outside the 2nd District. Mayor Hammons said he supports Teague, a former Lea County Commission Chairman, because of his deep roots in Southern New Mexico and his commitment to fight for working families in these tough economic times.

"I know Harry Teague will represent Capitan well," Hammons said. "Harry has lived in Southern New Mexico for 49 years and understands the needs of working families because he started as someone who took a lunch pail to work everyday. Ed Tinsley may own a ranch here, but I think he is out of touch with Southern New Mexico."

To learn more about Ed Tinsley's primary residence in Santa Fe, please visit TinsleySantaFeHome.com.

Technorati Tags:

10/21: Ministers' Fellowship & BPAC to Host Bernalillo County Political Forum

VOTE FOR CHANGE: The Ministers' Fellowship and The Black Political Action Committee (BPAC) Invite the Bernalillo County Democratic Community to a Political Forum with the following Candidates: The Obama Campaign, The McCain Campaign, Congressman Steve Pearce, Congressman Tom Udall, Sheriff Darren White, Councilor Martin Heinrich, District Attorney Kari Brandenberg.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008, 7:00 to 9:00 PM at New Hope Full Gospel Baptist Church, 1901 Pennsylvania NE in Albuquerque, (505) 881-7780. For futher information, please call: Lanthia Gillespie (505) 712-4505 or Joby Wallace (505) 440-7403.

Guest Blog by Lorelei Kelly - New Mexico: Centerpiece of a New Security Strategy

This is a guest blog by Lorelei Kelly, whose experience includes working with the underground democracy movements of eastern Europe in 1989, teaching at Stanford University's Center on Conflict and Negotiation, working on bipartisan national security education in Congress, and working as a professional mediator in both domestic and international conflict resolution settings. She recently co-authored "A Woman's Guide to Talking About War and Peace" and blogs at Huffington Post. She will be making a presentation tonight from 7-9 PM on "New Mexico and Our National Security Future: How to Frame an Argument for Change" at the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice. Click for more information on the event.

In the final weeks of this campaign season, and with Sarah Palin accusing Candidate Obama of being pals with terrorists--the McCain campaign is going to a familiar conservative comfort zone on National Security: fearmongering.

There are many reasons why the Republican candidates should not do this: First of all, it hurts our nation to make national security a political football. It endangers all of us because it silences debate. I worked in Congress for nearly a decade and saw the impact of this climate of fear. Entire conversations become off-limits. Israeli-Palestinian issues, for example, or defense spending...These public challenges would only benefit from better communication and more creative ideas. For a safer and more prosperous tomorrow, Americans should decidedly reject the kind of conservative leadership that has made our nation vulnerable and less equipped to handle today's real security threats. Americans need a new direction for national security--and New Mexico should be the centerpiece of it. Why? Because New Mexico remains economically dependent on a concept of security that no longer exists. The state's nuclear labs--full of brilliant people--must break with the past and lead the way forward.

America's leadership crisis on national security is not new. For nearly two decades, our elected leaders, both in Congress and the Presidency, have maintained a simplistic vision of national security that prevailed during the Cold War; "us vs. them" and "guns vs. butter". But the rationale for that worldview ended in 1991 when the Soviet Union disappeared. National security-wise, our world went from a world that was linear, predictable and technological to one that is chaotic, random and very human. It really isn't all about rocket science anymore. The terrorist attack on 9/11 made this change undeniably clear. Other examples exist: Our military's own doctrine now puts civilian protection and reconstruction at the center of its mission. Our soldiers and Marines could just as likely be engaged in positive social change activities as combat. Military officers testifying in front of Congress for the past few years have pointed out that the conflict in Iraq cannot be solved by the use of force. They wait, like the rest of us, for our elected leaders to have a new conversation about security.

New Mexico is poised to start a conversation about how national security is a much broader concept than it was even two decades ago. During the Cold War, security was easy to define as a military responsibility and to measure by arms control treaties and borders. Containment was the name of the strategy we used against the Soviet Union. But today's threats do not remain within borders. From global warming to pandemic disease, today's threats require the consideration of people across borders just as much as people within them. The notion of the nation state needs to evolve, and there is nothing more symbolic of this obsolete notion that nuclear weapons. The ability to dominate and coerce is fading. Where we need skills is in the ability to influence the intentions of others. Containment is not going to disappear completely, but we must replace that form of strength with legitimacy--the moral authority to lead.

A lot of great new initiatives are already happening at the state level in NM. Governor Richardson and others have taken significant steps forward on clean energy, environmental building standards, and collaborating with neighboring states. You can see more about that here: www.westernclimateinitiative.org/.

Back in 1993, at the end of the Cold War but before the Congress flipped to the conservatives, several organizations began a much-needed discussion about converting the activities of the nuclear weapons labs to modern needs. Environmental technology and renewable energy, for example. The best of these studies came from the Office of Technology Assessment, a think tank of scientific professionals who served Congress. Sadly, this organization, along with much of the institutional memory of the American legislature-was wiped out in 1995 when Newt Gingrich took over as the new majority leader.

But these studies--along with many others--are still relevant and ready to be implemented. You can find them online here: https://fas.org/ota/otareports/topic/dtopics/

In other words, converting the labs is not about reinventing the wheel. We just need to get it rolling. Many lab personnel are already contributing to a new vision for themselves and the future: on verification technology, cultural counter-terrorism research, convening international teams....

When Obama is elected president, we must support his efforts to lead the Congress in a conversation about a security strategy that truly meets today's threats. Elected leaders haven't had a serious priorities discussion for years. They have not put everything on the table, matched ends to means, and made some hard decisions about where we spend taxpayer dollars. The list of urgent issues for the next president is getting longer by the day, so New Mexico's leadership role on shaping this conversation matters today more than ever.

Lorelei Kelly
Policy Director, Real Security Initiative
www.thewhitehouseproject.org
202-487-7728
www.huffingtonpost.com
www.democracyarsenal.org

This is a guest blog by Lorelei Kelly. Guest blogs provides our readers with an opportunity to express their views on topics of interest. To submit a piece for consideration as a guest blog, click on the Email Me link at the upper left-hand corner of the page.

Must Read: Obama Camp Connects ACORN Probe to US Attorneys Scandal

See . This ACORN "vote fraud" stuff is rehashed garbage from last time out, pure and simple. And now we're seeing it's being orchestrated by the usual Republican suspects for the usual reasons -- to suppress voting by Democrats and provide an excuse for possible legal action after (IF) we win. This time, however, the Obama campaign is on it. Seems clear to me that the R's can't win unless they cheat, lie and steal, which they're perfectly willing to do for their "cause." Shameful, aren't they? In the last debate, McCain could actually say with a straight face that ACORN was "now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy." No, Johnny, that would be the many voter suppression crusades repeatedly undertaken by Republicans from the 1960s on.