Democracy for New Mexico

Freeway Bloggers Strike Again

Check out the terrific photos from Free Speech Day on Freeway Blogger.

Without a Doubt

This weekend's New York Times Magazine has a long and disturbing story about Bush's god complex and how it affects his decision-making. Get it while you can. After about a week, NYT stories go to the for-a-fee section.

Elizabeth Edwards to Kick Off Expanded Early Voting in Santa Fe on Saturday

Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards, will deliver remarks to New Mexicans in Santa Fe, Saturday, Oct. 16th, the first day of early voting at expanded satellite locations.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, Rep. Tom Udall, House Speaker Ben Lujan and S.F. County Democratic Party Chair Minnie Gallegos will join Ms. Edwards at the event hosted by the Santa Fe County Democratic Party. After the event, Ms. Edwards will lead a group of Kerry-Edwards supporters to cast their ballot for change.

SATURDAY, October 16, 2004, 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Santa Fe Rodeo Fairgrounds
3229 Rodeo Road
Santa Fe, N.M.

Free food * door prizes * Entertainment * special guests*
Santa Fe County Extension Building (Near the Fairgrounds early voting site)
At the Rodeo Grounds on Rodeo Road
For info please call: 505-471-1744 or 505-982-5727

Come, join the fun and vote this Saturday. To learn more about Elizabeth Edwards click here. (Photo courtesy Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc.)

Howard Dean Asks for Our Help

From Howard Dean: MoveOn PAC needs 1,000 volunteers in 24 hours to help win the election. New Mexico is a target and I'm counting on your help. Please join us now.

There are now fewer than 20 days until Election Day. There's no more time to waste, and I need your help right now. MoveOn PAC needs 1,000 volunteers in the next 24 hours towards our goal of organizing in 10,000 key neighborhoods and turning out 440,000 new votes for John Kerry.

You and a dozen other neighborhood leaders can together turn out over 500 new voters. That would have been enough to tip the balance in Florida in 2000. Your neighborhood in is a critical focus of this effort. Think about it--you and a few friends literally have the power to swing the election in New Mexico.

But you need to start the ball rolling. Please call the office below closest to you right now. Don't lose another minute:

Albuquerque: 505-764-0376
Santa Fe: 505-470-6100

Or, sign up on MoveOn PAC's website and a local staffer will call you within 24 hours to get you started.

This week my organization, Democracy for America, joined MoveOn PAC's Leave No Voter Behind campaign to turn out infrequent voters on Election Day and defeat George W. Bush. Here’s why: MoveOn and Democracy for America have brought millions of new people into our political process. We cut through meaningless political language and reject the money-for-influence game in Washington. We talk directly to the people and we are accountable only to you.

This project will bring a powerful wave of new voters to the polls. Millions of people who have never voted know that something has gone wrong. They see friends losing their health care, neighbors sent to war in Iraq, and family losing their jobs. They have seen for the first time how the political process impacts our lives – and they ought to be voting with us.

Together we can change the direction we're heading in and take our country back.

Take the first step. Join us in Leave No Voter Behind and make them pay attention to us. People like you knocking on doors and driving vans to polling places will win the election. Voting is not enough. We have a responsibility to make sure everyone participates. And you have the power to make it happen.

Thank you.

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
Founder and Honorary Chair
Democracy for America

Crucial GOTV Training This Sunday

Kerry Trifecta

According to Kevin Drum of the Washington Monthly's Political Animal blog:

WHO WON?....The post-debate polls are solidly in Kerry's favor:
CNN/USA Today/Gallup: Kerry wins 53%-39%.
CBS News poll of uncommitted voters: Kerry wins 39%-25%
ABC News: Kerry wins 42%-41%, even though their audience leaned heavily Republican.
Democracy Corps: Kerry wins 41%-36%.
That's by far the biggest win for Kerry of the three debates. By next week I'll bet Kerry is 3-4 points ahead of Bush in nearly every poll.

Since the phone polls from the first two presidential debates were also won by Kerry, that makes it three in a row. It seems clear Kerry did what he had to do. Contrary to all the Bush spin, Kerry now is seen as a competent and strong commander-in-chief and a likeable and "presidential" candidate.

The Gadflyer has a feature on polling results from Democracy Corps. that examines how much Kerry has gained during the debate on a variety of issues:

. . .people's opinions of Bush after the debates are just where they were before the debates, while Kerry has improved dramatically on every measure. Bush's average improvement was one-half of a percentage point, while Kerry's average improvement was 9.5%. Let's run it down, starting with Kerry:

"Cares about people like you"
Before debates: 51
After debates: 62
Improvement: 11 points

"Honest and trustworthy"
Before debates: 47
After debates: 57
Improvement: 10 points

"Strong leader"
Before debates: 43
After debates: 54
Improvement: 11 points

"Has good plans for the economy"
Before debates: 50
After debates: 57
Improvement: 7 points

"Has good plans for Iraq"
Before debates: 38
After debates: 47
Improvement: 9 points

"Offers a hopeful vision of the future"
Before debates: 51
After debates: 60
Improvement: 9 points

"Will make America safer and more secure"
Before debates: 42
After debates: 52
Improvement: 10 points

"Gives me confidence when I see him"
Before debates: 39
After debates: 52
Improvement: 13 points

"Likeable"
Before debates: 48
After debates: 62
Improvement: 14 points

"Flip-flops on important issues"
Before debates: 58
After debates: 52
Improvement: 6 points

"Not strong enough on security and defense"
Before debates: 54
After debates: 49
Improvement: 5 points

And how about Bush's claim that "I don't think I ever said I’m not worried about Osama bin Laden. I think that's one of those exaggerations." Check out the DNC video clip Exaggeration to witness the truth.

Last but not least, Salon offers a photo that allegedly shows Bush's Bulge still present. Perhaps he's just glad to see us and has a backward way of showing it . . . .

(Photo Credit: Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. from Sharon Farmer, click for larger view)

Debate Night: Operation Truth Needs Your Help, Kerry Needs Your Rapid Response

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The veteran's organization, Operation Truth, is raising money to fund a new tv ad that communicates the tragedy of this misbegotten war, as told by someone who has fought it. This devastating and effective ad is a must see IMO, and I can think of no better response to the shameless lying by Bush in tonight's third and final debate than to make a donation to help run this ad.

According to their website:

Operation Truth is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that seeks to educate the American public about the truth of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from the perspective of the troops who have experienced them first-hand.

The website is chock-full of first person accounts of troop experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, legislative news, video footage from the war zones and much more.

I hope you'll contribute a few bucks for the ad and then head over to a debate response page to take action tonight to counteract the always horrendous Republican spin machine. Here's one provided by Buzzflash, courtesy of the DNC. I'm sure the official Kerry site, Daily Kos and others will have similar tools for voting in online polls and writing letters to the editor.

Steve Terrell's Blogspot: Kerry in Santa Fe

I recently added links to some New Mexico blogs (see left-hand sidebar), including Steve Terrell's. Steve is a political reporter and music columnist for The Santa Fe New Mexican, and producer of Terrell's Sound World and The Santa Fe Opry on KSFR, Santa Fe Public Radio. In the last couple of days his blog has featured his newspaper articles about Kerry's visit to Santa Fe, including Kerry's speech on energy at the Sweeney Center, CNN's visit to the Plaza and Kerry's bike ride up Canyon Road. Worth a read. And worth checking out some of the other local bloggers listed.

Hit Sinclair Broadcasting Where It Hurts

You must have already heard about the intent of Sinclair Broadcasting to air a sleazy "documentary," which tells a highly distorted story about Kerry's antiwar activities, just 2 weeks before the election. Sinclair is owned and operated by extreme right-wing Bush supporters, and the main guy behind the film has close ties with the Moonies -- who own the Washington Times rag and have long had their way with the Bush family. For details on this issue, go here.

We can now access a databank of companies that advertise on the network, which operates in most swing states. We can tell them we plan to boycott their products if they don't urge Sinclair to stop their blatantly unfair and even illegal Bush propaganda initiative. Check out the Boycottsbg.com site.

You can also call the local affiliates that Sinclair is trying to force to air the show, preempting their normal schedule. Here's a list of them provided by the DNC.

And this site makes it easy to contact Sinclair Broadcasting and register a complaint with the Federal Election Commission.

You know what to do.

NM is Kerry country!

I'm sure many of you know Page from the Dean days and beyond. She created an excellent diary on Daily Kos about the Kerry rally at the airport last night in Albuquerque and included photos: Click for story.

And here's a nice photo of Kerry and Richard Romero at the event courtesy of the Kerry website (click for larger view):

(Photo credit: Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. from Sharon Farmer)