Democracy for New Mexico

Meet Democratic Senate Candidate Don Wiviott

Meet Democratic
U.S. Senate Candidate
Don Wiviott
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM

Ladera Golf Course
3401 Ladera Dr.
Albuquerque, NM

Free dinner will be served

Contact:
Theresa Trujeque, (505) 328-4000
RSVP@donfornewmexico.com
Paid for by Wiviott for New Mexico

You're Invited: Send-Off for Departing DPNM Staffers

From Ana Canales:
Join us for a party honoring Matt Farrauto and Angela Chavez. It's hosted by Bernalillo County Democratic Party Chairwoman Ana Canales and State Democratic Party Chairman Brian S. Colón along with Chris Garcia, Mike Davis and Brian Miller:

Saturday September 22, 2007
7:30 PM (after the Lobo Game)
Home of Chris Garcia and Jason Loera
6230 St Josephs Ct NW, Abq NM, 87120
505-410-0348, Map
Click for flyer (doc)

Two Powerful Speakers to Discuss Iraq War at DPBC Thursday Meeting

Don't miss this one. The Third Thursday Meeting of the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County will be held on September 20, 2007, at 6:00 PM in Room 2401 at the UNM Law School located at 1117 Stanford Dr NE in Albuquerque (map). All Democrats are welcome. Two excellent speakers will address the dire situations being created by the ongoing Iraq occupation and attacks on our Constitution:

• Major General Melvin Montaño, Ret., former Adjutant General, US Air National Guard
  • THE IRAQ OCCUPATION: Impact on the National Guard and the states supported by the National Guard, including the long-term effects on local communities and the homeland security of the United States.

and

• Bruce Clark, former Marine, with a son currently serving in Iraq North of Baghdad
  • MISSING IN ACTION - AMERICA: With the Iraqi bloodbath reaching new heights and the Constitution treated like a doormat, we can't afford any more of the same under a different label. We'll never get something right that was wrong in the first place or legitimate a lie. In particular, we need to make our elected officials and candidates hear us so we can bring our troops home now and get our country back again. It's time for Democrats to act like Democrats again.

If you attended the Iraq Summer Campaign's Take a Stand town hall meeting last month, you know how passionate, informed and articulate these two speakers are about what's going on in Iraq and our nation because of the woeful Bush administration and its rubberstamps like Sen. Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson. Highly recommended. (Click on photos for larger images.)

Heinrich Ranks 14th Among ActBlue Congressional Fundraisers

The chart below, provided by Swing State Project, ranks the top twenty Congressional candidate fundraisers on ActBlue through August in this election cycle. As you can see, NM-01 candidate Martin Heinrich ranks 14th, not bad for any candidate this early the race. In total, his campaign raised about $181,000 in the quarter that ended on June 30th from all sources, $31,000 more than the goal of $150,000 set by his campaign. Heinrich is running for a chance to take on incumbent Repub Rep. Heather Wilson.

State	CD	Candidate	ActBlue Total	Donors	Average Donation
MA	5	Niki Tsongas	$195,933	570	$343.74
CO	2	Jared Polis	$162,837	422	$385.87
WA	8	Darcy Burner	$111,018	3,107	$35.73
ME	1	Chellie Pingree	$107,820	273	$394.95
CA	26	Russ Warner	$96,214	348	$276.48
IL	10	Dan Seals	$78,703	250	$314.81
MO	6	Kay Barnes	$75,829	133	$570.14
NY	29	Eric Massa	$74,053	904	$81.92
AZ	3	Bob Lord	$73,715	190	$387.97
TX	10	Dan Grant	$62,080	165	$376.24
NY	26	Jon Powers	$56,062	347	$161.56
CA	4	Charlie Brown	$49,960	1,168	$42.77
FL	8	Mike Smith	$49,925	74	$674.66
NM	1	Martin Heinrich	$46,399	249	$186.34
MD	4	Donna Edwards	$46,001	828	$55.56
NC	8	Larry Kissell	$35,968	362	$99.36
CT	4	Jim Himes	$30,452	203	$150.01
MT	AL	Bill Kennedy	$21,016	80	$262.70
IL	14	John Laesch	$19,136	285	$67.14
IA	4	Selden Spencer	$19,000	126	$150.79

ActBlue.com makes online donations to Democratic candidates a snap. Used by supporters of netroots-grassroots candidates all over the nation, they've helped raise a total of $26,860,650 since 2004, mostly in small donations. Anyone can create a fundraising page, pubicize it and start raising donations, even very small ones, for a favorite candidate. The beauty of ActBlue is that it makes it easy for folks to donate to candidates anywhere in the nation who are attracting netroots support. In this way, we can have a real impact on races that feature strong, progressive candidates, whether they're running locally or in another district where we have a chance to pick up a seat.

For instance, a recent effort using ActBlue called Burn Bush, propelled by blogs such as DailyKos, Eschaton, OpenLeft, MyDD, Firedoglake, SwingStateProject and other local and national blogs, raised more than $100,000 nationwide for netroots favorite Darcy Burner, running for Congress in WA-08. The blog-coordinated fundraising campaign was organized to counteract Bush's visit to the district to raise funds for Burner's Repub opponent and included an online townhall meeting with Burner and other creative elements.

Working with local blogger , we tried a similar (but much smaller scale) ActBlue fundraiser here when Bush visited to raise bucks for Sen. Pete Domenici last month. Our Beat Back Bush New Mexico page raised almost $800 for Martin Heinrich and Dem Senate candidate Don Wiviott. In addition, our ongoing DFNM Netroots for Martin Heinrich effort at ActBlue has so far raised more than $900 for Heinrich's Congressional campaign. You can find the links near the top of our left-hand sidebar on our main page. Click and donate a few bucks to the cause -- it's that easy.

A couple of our previous posts on the Heinrich campaign's fundraising can be found here and here. You can check out all our previous posts related to the NM-01 Congressional race at our archive. For our 2008 Senate race archive, click here.

Dem Donkeys Kick Up Heels at NM State Fair Parade

DPBC Chair Ana Canales waves from new State Dem Party float

Ana Canales and the State Dem float

Dem U.S. Senate candidate Don Wiviott passes out literature

Float pulled by Terry Riley and his peace van

Kickin' Donkeys

Don Wiviott for U.S Senate banner

Mike Davis and truck with Dem prez candidate signs

Mike Davis' decorated truck

Jon Adams, Dem primary candidate for Congress NM-01

Click on photos for larger versions. For more photos of a variety of marchers in today's NM State Fair Parade, check out our Flickr album.

The 2007 State Fair Parade traveled up Central to from Louisiana to Eubank on Saturday morning. The Parade Marshall was Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, though M.E. didn't get a picture of her or the Democratic Women's float. Fast-moving parades are like that. There were more than 220 units participating.

The Democratic Party float shown in the photos is new this year and was designed and built by volunteers including Barbara Grothus, Terry Riley, Joe Boersig, Paul and Laura Stokes and Bill and Anne Kass. Members of Democracy for New Mexico donated money to help pay for the float at our last Meetup, adding to funds provided by the Party. We think those lively donkeys "kick ass."

The runs until September 23rd at Expo NM in Albuquerque. The Democratic Party will also have a booth at the Fair where you can register to vote or get information about the Party and Dem candidates. The Party needs more people to step up and help staff the booth. If you'd like to volunteer for a shift (and get free entry), please contact the DPNM office at 830-3650.

All photos by M.E. Broderick. Links:

• Democratic Party of New Mexico
• Democratic Party of Bernalillo County
• Democratic Women of New Mexico
• Office of Lt. Governor Diane Denish
• Jon Adams for Congress NM-01

DPBC Seeks State Fair Volunteers

From the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County: If you want to help reach out to potential Democratic voters so we can elect Dems to replace the likes of Heather Wilson and Pete Domenici, now's your chance. The New Mexico State Fair will be held in Albuquerque from September 7-23 this year. Volunteers are needed in 3 hour shifts (9-12, 12-3, 3-6 and 6-9) to staff our booth. The DPBC especially needs Voter Registration Agents for each shift. If you can spare some time, contact Mike at DPNM headquarters at 830-3650 to volunteer your services. Passes will be available through the State Party for entrance into the facility and a shuttle will be available as in the past for transportation to the fair.

Lieberman for U.S. Attorney General?

Rumors are proliferating. Say it isn't so. If this is for real we'll have to give our Senators a barrage of phone calls urging them to return to sanity, don't you think?

Conservation Community-at-Large Hosts Richardson Campaign Fundraiser 8.30.07

From the DPBC E-News: Please join

Sen. Cisco McSorely, Rep. Elias Barela, Rep. Gail Chasey, Rep. Joni Marie Gutierrez, Rep. Mary Jane Garcia, Rep. Antonio Lujan, Rep. Antonio "Moe" Maestas, Rep. Rick Miera, Rep. Jeff Steinborn, Rep. Jim Trujillo, and Rep. Peter Wirth
With
Jim Baca, Sandy Buffett, Stephen Capra, Ned Farquhar, LeRoy Garcia, Gregory Green, John Horning, Lisa Jennings, Jenny Parks, Tom Robey, Michael Robinson, Oscar Simpson, Bill Schudlich, and Tom & Connie Young
and other members of New Mexico's conservation community-at-large on a late summer evening in the scenic canyon lands surrounding the beautiful, historic La Capilla Vieja Ranch
at La Cienega
With Honored Guest Governor Bill Richardson

The event is intended to bring together clean energy advocates, animal protection advocates, conservationists, hunters, anglers, and elected officials involved in a myriad of environmental issues and legislation to thank Governor Bill Richardson for all he has done to ensure that New Mexico remains enchanting and to wish him well in his aspirations to become President of the United States in 2008.

Hope to see you at the ranch for refreshments, food and music from 6 PM to 8 PM on Thursday, August 30th. Gates open at 5:30 PM. Suggested contributions of $1000, $500, $250 and $100. No minimum contribution.

Persons making the maximum contribution of $2,300 are welcome to join other members of the Bill Richardson Leadership Circle for a private pre-reception with Governor Bill Richardson from 6:00-6:30 PM.

Please RSVP to Tiffany Deinzer to 505.828.2455 or by email: tdeinzer@richardsonforpresident.com

Please make checks payable to Richardson for President, Inc. and mail to: P.O. Box 26208, Albuquerque, NM 87125-6208, or bring with you to the event. Contributions to Richardson for President, Inc. are not tax-deductible for Federal income tax purposes, and are limited to $2,300 per individual ($4,600 per couple) per election. Federal multi-candidate PACs may contribute $5,000 per election.

Quote of the Day about "Pajama Pete" Domenici

Domenici welcomes Bush to ABQ for his 8.27 fundraiser (AP)

“Unfortunately, Domenici’s rhetoric simply does not match his record. When it comes to the war in Iraq, health care for working families, and the environment, the Senator has been an ardent obstructionist to progress and one of President Bush’s most unquestioning loyalists.

As long as Domenici is sleeping on the job, and hitting the snooze button on the alarming concerns of his constituents, we have an obligation to give him a wake-up call.”

-- Democratic Party of New Mexico Chairman Brian S. Colón

Dem Senate Candidate Wiviott Weighs In On Domenici's Embrace of Bush

Don Wiviott (center front) next to popular netroots WA-08 candiate Darcy Burner (right front) at the YearlyKos netroots candidate celebration earlier this month

There was an article in this morning's Albuquerque Journal about Bush's visit to Albuquerque today to raise money for Sen. Pete Domenici. Unfortunately, they quoted Domenici on his purported views on Iraq but failed to talk to the top Dem contender for the New Mexico seat, Don Wiviott. So I was glad to learn what Don has to say about Domenici still embracing Bush and dodging opportunities to change course on the war. Domenici may make some mild criticisms of the Bush strategy (or lack thereof), but he continues to vote with Bush 100% on the war.

Albuquerque - On the day that President George W. Bush came to New Mexico to raise money for Senator Pete Domenici, the Don Wiviott for U.S. Senate campaign criticized the Washington incumbent for failing to vote to get the United States out of the Iraq War, despite his stated intentions to do so earlier this year.

“Instead of standing up to George Bush, Pete Domenici has continued to vote with him 100% in support of the war and it is no surprise the President is now rewarding him with a million dollar fundraiser.” said Democrat Don Wiviott.  “Saying one thing and doing another is apparently a hard habit to break in Washington, DC.  I’m running to change all that.”

“I doubt the families of the 31 New Mexicans who have given their lives will understand why Pete Domenici is raising money with this President right now,” said Wiviott.  “Is Pete willing to explain to the members of the National Guard from New Mexico, who are stuck in the middle of another country’s civil war, why he continues to publically celebrate his relationship with a President who has mismanaged this war so abysmally.”

This year, Domenici has started talking about pulling our troops out of Iraq but has yet to start voting to do so:

On July 18, 2007, Senator Domenici voted against ending debate on the Levin-Reed amendment, which called for a phased reduction of U.S. troops and a transfer of authority to Iraqi state forces.  (Roll Call 252, 2007)

On July 11, 2007, Senator Domenici voted against a Republican amendment that called for limiting the number of troops available for deployment in order to increase the amount of time troops had between missions.  (Roll Call 243, 2007)

Wiviott highlighted a report that 50% of the New Mexico National Guard will be deployed to Iraq by 2010, if there are no changes in policy or reduction of troops. (Free New Mexican, Aug. 11, 2007)

“Leaving our National Guard in Iraq indefinitely is leaving New Mexico vulnerable to disaster,” noted Wiviott.  “Bring ‘em home.”

Note: If you agree with what Don Wiviott is saying, please contribute to his campaign TODAY to help counteract the Bush fundraising for Domenici. Support the local netroots' BEAT BACK BUSH NEW MEXICO campaign with a donation of any amount. We can't let Domenici be the only candidate getting campaign contributions on the day Alberto Gonzales resigned! Learn more about the BEAT BACK BUSH NEW MEXICO campaign in my previous post.

Photo Credit: M.E.Broderick