Democracy for New Mexico

INVITATION: Progressive Caucus Planning Meeting Set for 7/9

From Charlotte Roybal and Steve Fettig:

Dear Progressive Democrats:

We are asking you to mark your calendar and join us on Saturday July 9th! Please also send this out to your email lists of other progressives who may be interested.  RSVP to Charlotte by e-mail or phone (930-0563).

Now is the time to form a Progressive Caucus within the New Mexico Democratic Party.  Progressives are making great progress around the state on many Democratic issues.  We are active at the local, state, and national levels.   We are formed by the interests of many organizations and individuals across the state. As we build momentum and plan for future action, we are asking you to join us for a Steering Committee meeting to develop the Progressive Caucus.  We will be discussing the following:

1. Recommendations for Mission and Purpose
2. Recommendations for structural/organizational options
3. Report and recommendations on work to rebuild the DPNM.
4. Appointments to state committees.

The meeting will be on Saturday July 9, 2005 at 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM in Albuquerque at the Peace and Justice Center (202 Harvard SE) at the SE corner of Harvard and Silver

If you cannot come and would like a copy of our documents to be presented, let us know. We are looking toward having a meeting at the end of August to present these recommendations to a larger group.

Peace and Solidarity,
Charlotte Roybal (croybal@aol.com 505-930-0563 in Santa Fe)
and Steve Fettig (osprey@cybermesa.com 505-662-6785 in Los Alamos)

Editor's Note: Those who attended the Democratic Party's State Central Committee Meeting in Socorro in April will recall the initial planning session for a Progressive Caucus that was held at the end of the meeting. The DPNM has invited us to form a Progressive Caucus that will join other caucuses in the Party structure, including Young Democrats, Democratic Women, Veterans, Native Americans and Hispanics. All progressive Democrats from around the state are encouraged to attend this initial steering committee meeting. You don't have to be a member of the SCC or hold any office in the Party. Now is the time to share your views on what the focus and structure of the Caucus should be. Come on down!

Caliente!

(Above: Mayoral Candidate Eric Griego with his team's First Place Ribbon in the traditional Red Chile category, and Governor Richardson.)

By all accounts the First Annual Chile Cookoff to benefit the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County was a huge success and netted more than $2700, as well as a fax machine (and a crisp $100 bill) donated by Governor Bill Richardson. Read all about it and see a list of the winners at the DPBC website (scroll down on the main page). Also check out coverage on the new local political blog, SoyBlue, and be sure to click on the Cookoff Photo Album on the right-hand side of the page there.

What a terrific effort by all the organizers, volunteers, sponsors, bands, chile teams, judges and tasters! Those in attendance included Governor Richardson, Ex-Sen. Richard Romero, Public Regulation Commissioner Jason Marks, Councilman and Mayoral Candidate Eric Griego, State Party Chair John Wertheim, Mayoral Candidate Judy Espinoza and DPBC second Vice Chair Daniel Ivey-Soto. Congratulations and thanks to all who participated!

(Above: Ward 28A's Shay Rose [left], of the True Blue Chile Team that won 2nd place in the Chile Verde category, with the Guv and participant. Click photos for larger images.)

DNC Releases Long-Awaited 2004 Ohio Election Report!

You can download a copy of the DNC's Voting Rights Institute report at the DNC site and read Chair Howard Dean's comments. Dean quote:

"The results show that our election system failed the citizens of Ohio in 2004, and in particular failed African Americans, new registrants, younger voters and voters in places using touch screen machines.

"More than a quarter of all Ohio voters reported problems with their voting experience.

"Twice as many African American voters as white voters reported experiencing problems at the polls."

TheBradBlog has the full text of comments made upon its release today by Voting Rights Institute Chair, Donna Brazile. Brazile quote:

"African American voters were far more likely to have their registration status challenged and to report experiencing intimidation at the polls than other voters. 16% of African Americans reported experiencing intimidation at the polls as opposed to 5% of whites.
...
Counties using touchscreen machines had far more problems than voters in other counties."

The report also lays out a series of 23 recommendations for improving the voting process nationwide. What's your take on these?

DNC Funds Used to Strengthen County Parties in NC

Editor's Note: Here's a piece on how the the North Carolina Democratic Party is using its money from the DNC to strengthen its state party and, perhaps even more importantly, its county parties. I think it raises some issues we would do well to ponder here in New Mexico, with the DNC assessment visit happening later this month, followed by an anticipated investment of DNC funds in the DPNM.

My name is Jerry Meek, and I'm the head of the North Carolina Democratic Party. I'm the one spending your money.

Many of you have given money to the DNC recently to go to state parties. Giving is not always easy in the Bush economy. Thankfully, my job is not to give, but to spend what you have sacrificed to build a better party. North Carolina was the first state to be 'assessed' by the DNC, and we're about to receive our first slug of money to spend on organizing. As someone who's spent years in the party, and who has given my fair share to candidates, I don't see giving money as a 'gift', actually, but as an investment. And since this time I'm not giving, but spending, I owe you a report on how we're using the resources you provided.

The money you gave is helping us organize our state. We are hiring three regional organizers -- an Eastern, Central, and Western Political Director. The Western Political Director is on staff, and the others will come on board in the next few weeks. All three of them are on the DNC payroll. The goal is to address some longstanding weaknesses that we've had in the North Carolina State Democratic Party.

First, I need to give you some background on Democratic party politics here in my state. The last several years have been spent rebuilding our party infrastructure and building a strong state organization. The fruits of this showed in 2004 when North Carolina was the most successful state in the South for Democrats--we re-elected a Democratic Governor, the Democrats captured control of state House and increased our majority in the state Senate. These are proud achievements and show that North Carolina has all the makings of a "Blue" state. But we can do better. Like the national party, the North Carolina Democratic Party is challenged by the need to move the party outside of Raleigh and go back to the grassroots. For the last several decades, county parties have been starved of resources, talent, training, and data. This is showing up in a lack of effective outreach, poor lists, and a sense of alienation from the party among grassroots activists. I ran to become the North Carolina Party Chair earlier this year on a platform of changing the culture of centralizing political power in this state, and moving it out to the people on the front lines. This was the first competitive election for the party chair position in recent memory, and grassroots activists made their concerns very well known. We have been successful at the state level, but with strong grassroots organization, we can make North Carolina a state that the Democrats carry in presidential elections -- something that hasn't happened since 1976!

This is not pie-in-the-sky thinking. North Carolina is a state that could go Democratic in a few years in Presidential elections. Despite our cultural conservatism, the electorate is slowly shifting away from the Republican party because of demographic trends. The "research triangle" is attracting out-of-state residents who vote Democratic on a national level, and I believe that with hard work, effective outreach, and a strong identity, we can make this a swing state.

What we're going to do with the organizers you paid for is work on upgrading the county organizations so that they can become the focal points of political activity. Many of these organizations do not have a good technical infrastructure, or the knowledge of how to use data to contact voters. The people who staff them are great volunteers, dedicated, and eager to work hard -- I want to make sure that when we push resources and data out to them, they are prepared to use those resources and data to maximum effect. The organizers will spend a great deal of time on training. First, they will help us assess what each organization needs, and then will help create training platforms around the unique needs of each county. As we build the party, we will modify the training programs accordingly, and swap best practices around the state.

What you gave will have real, tangible effects in organizing North Carolina. There will be more Democratic Board of Education members, Mayors, Legislators, and Governors. More people will be involved in politics because of the investments you made. The greatest change that you are helping foster, however, is not just electing Democrats in North Carolina. That is an outgrowth of what you are really paying for, which is allowing people who never thought they mattered to come into politics and prove that it is the people that make this country run. That's what the Democratic Party stands for in North Carolina, and that's what all of us are helping to build.

Thank you for your investment, and we here in North Carolina hope to steward it wisely.

Support Howard Dean Day: Wednesday 6/15

Read about how to Support Howard Dean Day

Visit the Dean Speaks for Me site

We've Got Howard's Back: Swing the Bat!

Click for other Dean Speaks for Me graphics

And hooray for Wesley Clark!

UPDATE:
You can also toss a few bucks towards the DFA effort
to get more attention paid to the
infamous Downing Street Memo.
Just for old time's sake. Howard Dean is no longer at DFA
of course, but our work continues!

DNC Assessment Team Coming to Town

As many of you may have heard, the DNC is working to put organizers in to all 50 states. However, before organizers are hired in any given state, the DNC does an assessment of the state, the state party and the conditions on the ground. The DNC assessment team will most likely be hitting the ground sometime in the last week of June. We don't know for sure. If ever there was an opportunity to have your voice heard and make it count, it would be when they hit the ground.

Most likely, the DNC Assessment Team will have their agenda set by the State Party. There's been no official indication as to when they will be here in the last week of June.

If you are interested in meeting with members of the DNC Assessment Team call Vanessa Alarid, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, at 505-830-3650 or email her at vanessa@nmdemocrats.org

If any of you are successful, please let us know.

Dean Speaks for Me

Click above image to sign the petition. Pass it on.Read all about this effort and put one on your site.

Sound Off: Beltway Dems Whining Again

This Daily Kos diary, "Beltway Dem Insiders Whine, 'Dean Stole our Golden Goose!'," says it for me. Enough already with the cheapshots from the likes of Bill Richardson, James Carville, Nancy Pelosi, John Edwards and Joe Biden, Dems apparently most concerned with building or retaining their own clout. We're back to the fight between personal kingdoms and what's good for the Party, and if the Party expects to recoup any of its losses in 06 and 08, they'd better start telling their elected officials to start putting the Party first.

Governor Richardson , while admitting that Dean is doing a good job as DNC Chair, stated that Dean is not the Party's spokesperson. Once-liberal House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the same thing. I guess they and certain other Dems are afraid that Dean might actually be "mistaken" by rank and file Democrats as their spokesperson, given how he has a spine and the nerve to call out the Republicans without hemming and hawing.

To me, their responses underline how the complainers have mustered only weak defenses, if any, on behalf of our core values. Of course, if Dean is getting all the media coverage, it's tempting to get some for yourself by criticizing him and asserting that you are the "real" spokesperson for the Party. If the Party gets hurt in the crossfire, so be it. What are they so afraid of? Isn't the opposition party supposed to operate in opposition to the party in power, especially when the Repubs are lying, abusing power and worse?

So Dean said the Republican Party is composed mostly of white Christians these days. That's a fact, and it's been truer with each passing year since Civil Rights legislation was passed in the 60s and Nixon's Southern Strategy kicked in. So he said the Repubs don't seem to care about minority voters having to wait in line for 8 hours to vote because many of them haven't worked a day in their lives. Seems obvious to me. A large and powerful sector of the Republican Party is made up of the investor class.

These statements are controversial? By acting like they are, certain Dems are playing right into the hands of the infomercial media and the global corporate cabal that gains from a focus on non-issues like this. Good job. Meanwhile, Dem voters like us have been called unpatriotic, elitist, self-centered, anti-American, sinners and worse by the Republican spokesmonkies. Oh, how they must laugh when they see certain Dems kneejerk to apologize the minute Dean or anyone else uses red-meat rhetoric nowhere near as insulting as theirs.

Even if these Dems believe our rhetoric should be more dainty, it would be easy to use these opportunities to drive home the Dem message instead of being apologetic and distancing. They could say that it's true that radical fundamentalist Christians have taken over the Repub Party's levers of power and are working to obliterate the separation of church and state that's been honored by traditional religions since America was created. They could say that the Republican Party, with its elitist tax cuts, refusal to raise the minimum wage from 1997 levels and ongoing attempts to privatize social security is obviously serving our richest citizens to the detriment of working people nationwide.

We also keep reading leaked and often unsourced quotes about how Dean is failing in the fundraising department. And yet, he's raised more at this juncture than any DNC Chair in history:

Despite the polemics that were sure to follow Dean's assuming the role of party chairman, his primary duty is to raise money. Though the Republican National Committee has raised money at a rate of 2-to-1 on Democrats in the first quarter of 2005, Dean himself has been effective. In the first four months, under Dean's stewardship, the DNC has raised nearly $19 million -- more than under any other Democratic chairman in an off-election year.

I know that as progressives, we take alot of heat when we criticize Dem elected officials, leadership or the Party itself. We are accused of being devisive and damaging. Yet when the likes of Carville and other insiders repeatedly, and often inaccurately, whine about Dean and publicly or privately undercut what he's trying to do as DNC Chair, we're supposed to see this as a positive?

I'm sure this battle between the base and the fatcats will continue. Between the business-as-usual insiders and the bottom-up-strategy grassroots. Between those who think gold cufflinks and big spender contacts are IT and those who believe Party-wide reach-out to the base, boldness, passion, accountability and transparency are what's missing. Which side thinks more about holding onto personal clout and that of its monied clients and contributors than strengthening the Party of the People? You know the answer. Follow the limousines. Or the shiny new, state purchased private jets.

Shouldn't all these Dem apologists, most of whom strongly opposed Dean for DNC Chair, be speaking instead about this? Read it and weep over at Make Them Accountable. One more thing, Dean may not speak for Biden or Richardson, but he speaks for ME.

Barbara Wold

YOUR BERNALILLO COUNTY PARTY NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!

From Terri Holland, Executive Director, Democratic Party of Bernalillo County:

We need 20 electronic roasting pans to keep the chili warm at our Chili Cook-Off on Saturday, June 18th.  We would need to have them dropped by the county Headquarters before Friday the 17th at 130 Alvarado NE, Suite 400 between 8 AM and 5 PM (or we can pick them up at your home).  Please call me at 256-1855 and let me know if you can help.  The environmental department insists that we use either roasting pans or NSF approved crock pots.  If you have either one - we would be so grateful.  They would be available for pickup the following Monday.

We also are in need of a copier, a fax machine, enclosed storage shelves, several side chairs for an office, copy paper,  coffee pot, microwave and smaller regular refrigerator or dorm type refrigerator.  If you have any of these items to spare please call.

We are now at the headquarters 5 days a week, 8 am until 5 PM.  Stop by anytime, I'd be happy to visit with you. Thank you.
**********
Editor's Note: If you can't be a cook at the DPBC Chili (Chile) Cookoff Benefit, please attend and bring your friends and neighbors! Click on the Cookoff link under Coming Events on the right-hand sidebar on this page for a flyer with all the info.

Visit the for a copy of the rules for those interested in entering the Cookoff competition.

Rep. Xavier Becerra and Councilor Miguel Gomez Set for Social Security Town Hall

House Ways and Means Committee Member, Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Participates in Town Hall on Social Security with City Council member Miguel Gomez
                               
Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' Social Security Task Force Visits Albuquerque to Discuss the Pitfalls of Privatization

ALBURQUERQUE, NM –New Mexicans United to Protect Social Security announces that Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-CA), an opponent of the president's scheme to privatize Social Security and a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, will participate in a Social Security town hall meeting this Wednesday, June 1, at 10:00 AM with City Councilmember Miguel Gomez.

Congressman Becerra, along with Councilman Gomez, will discuss the president's disastrous Social Security privatization plan that will slash middle-class benefits and lead to explosive new debts, adding $5 trillion over the next 20 years to our national debt, which is already at the unacceptable $7.8 trillion.

WHO:  Social Security Town Hall with Congressman Becerra and City Councilman Miguel Gomez -- Open to the Public

WHEN:  Wednesday, June 1st at 10:00AM

WHERE:  Los Volcanes Senior Citizens Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico

(Editor's Note: Click for a map and directions to Los Volcanes)