Photos & Videos: Rep. Martin Heinrich Opens 2010 Campaign HQ in Albuquerque

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Yesterday, Congressman Martin Heinrich hosted supporters at the grand opening of his campaign headquarters, located in Suite A at 2610 San Mateo NE in Albuquerque (map). More than 200 folks showed up on a rainy afternoon to celebrate the event, down some BBQ provided the IBEW, sample other goodies and sign up to volunteer for Rep. Heinrich's re-election campaign. Originally set to be an outdoorevent, folks had to pack into both floors of the two-story office space when a monsoon rain swept in, complete with thunder, lightening and, eventually, a rainbow.

Rep. Heinrich, who was introduced by super volunteer Ramon Mondragon, State Senator Tim Keller and DPBC Vice Chair Victor Raigoza, ended up having to give two different speeches -- one to the crowd packed into the upstairs space and another to the crowd downstairs, outside the office, when the rain finally stopped. Two for the price of one!

Also on hand as speakers and/or supporters were Attorney General Gary King, State Auditor Hector Balderas, PRC Commissioner Jason Marks, Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales, Sandia Pueblo Lt. Gov. Scott Paisano, AFSCME's Carter Bundy, DPNM Executive Director Scott Forrester, DPBC Chair Ana Canales, Sandoval County Dems Chair David Montoya, Young Democrats' Sisto Abeyta, OFA's Cisco Padilla, the wonderful guys from Roma Bakery, a passel of Deaniacs of yore and many more.

Rep. Heinrich speaks to upstairs crowd

GOP Wants Return to Bush Agenda
Rep. Heinrich talked about how Republicans have said out loud that they want to take back the House so they can return to pushing for the "exact same agenda" they had when Bush was in the Oval Office. In order to do that, the GOP needs to win back Rep. Heinrich's seat in NM-01, as well as Rep. Harry Teague's seat in NM-02, so they'll be pouring money into New Mexico to do just that.

The Republicans will be trying to privatize Social Security, voucherize Medicare and turn back the clock on everything the Democratic-dominated Congress has achieved over the past two years. We can't let them do that but, in order to win, we'll have to make sure Democrats get out and vote in droves -- including all the young Dems and first-time voters who turned out in such great numbers in 2008 to vote for President Obama.

GOTV: If Democrats Vote, Democrats Win
How do we do that? By getting involved NOW and volunteering as much time as we can to call voters, walk precincts and get the word out about what's really at stake on November 2nd. There are less than 90 days left until the general election -- and fewer than 60 days left until early and absentee voting begins. Every minute counts from now until election day. Volunteer and convince your friends, colleagues, neighbors and family members to do the same. As Rep. Heinrich said, "If Democrats show up, Democrats will win."

Rep. Heinrich speaks to outside crowd

Not a Normal Election Year
Congessman Heinrich also talked about how, in a normal election year, he and other Democrats would be talking about the many accomplishments of the last two years -- mentioning how Democrats took on entrenched interests to pass the Lily Ledbetter Act, credit card reform, health care reform (something that had been worked on for literally 100 years) and Wall Street reform. This year, however, is not a normal year.

"There are too many people out there who are still hurting and still trying to recover from this economy that we were left with at the end of the Bush administration.... We are still working day and night to pull out of that recession and, until everyone who wants to find a job in the state of New Mexico can go out and find that job, we are not going to run on our accomplishments but on what there is more to do," Rep. Heinrich said,

The GOP's Cynical Bet
Rep. Heinrich also explained how the Reublicans made a "cynical bet" to dedicate themselves to making sure that Democrats fail to get anything done so they can win at the ballot box. They are bent on beating Democrats, and don't care what "collateral damage" happens to the nation or America's families in the process. We can expect much worse if the GOP regains the House and Rep. John Boehner becomes Speaker -- he has said he wants to repeal health care reform and the Wall Street reform bill, just for starters. Not on our watch!

Sen. Tim Keller, Ramon Mondragon talk about Rep. Heinrich

Are you on board?
To sign up for or donate to Team Heinrich, visit Martin's campaign website. Do it now. Convince others to do the same. We can't let the Republicans drag us back to the days of the damaging Bush agenda. It's all on the line this year ...