Democracy for New Mexico

Counter Republican Anti-Social Security Blitz

From Democracy for America:

Get ready for the Republican anti-Social Security blitz.

A couple of weeks ago a right-wing front group called "USA Next" made national news when it started its anti-Social Security campaign with a bigoted, hateful ad. You helped create a backlash so strong that it spent the next few weeks licking its wounds.

But now they're back. USA Next is set to go on the air with its political hate speech in the next two weeks. You built the momentum -- we can't let up now. Ask your friends to petition media outlets to keep bigotry and distortions off the air:

https://www.democracyforamerica.com/StopUSANextInvite

Remember -- the USA Next ads come from the same Republican operatives who unleashed the swift boat attacks.

And USA Next isn't the only player -- it is just one of dozens of entities that funnel money from corporations and right-wing billionaires into our political process. They have pledged to spend whatever it takes to dismantle Social Security.

Their latest project: producing distorted polls to generate news coverage and "evidence" of support for their privatization agenda. It's part of a coordinated effort by corporate interests and conservative ideologues to wage a multi-front war on Social Security.

Fox News, of course, featured the results of the biased poll. But so did other news outlets -- they need to be put on notice that they will be held accountable for airing USA Next's distortions. Tell your friends to join the call for accountability now:

https://www.democracyforamerica.com/StopUSANextInvite

Conservative ideologues have been plotting the takedown of Social Security for a generation. And while we have done a good job getting the truth out so far, we can't rest.

The fight to save Social Security isn't over -- it has barely begun.

Tom Hughes, Executive Director
Democracy for America

DemocracyFest II Set for June in Austin

Are any of you planning on going to DFA's second annual DemocracyFest? Mary Ellen and I have registered and paid. If you want to attend, now is the time to complete your registration. Sounds like a terrific event:

From :

Celebrate Dean's Victory: Donate

DFA members and bloggers nationwide are urging progressives to donate to the DNC and DFA starting Saturday, February 12, as Dean takes office as the new DNC Chair.  Let's show the powers that be how much widespread grassroots support exists for Dean!

You can donate to the DNC by phone at 1-877-336-7200 (toll free), by mailing a check with this form, or by using the blogger donation tool below:

Contribution amount: $

To go to the donation page or to see how much "We've Got Howard's Back by The People" has raised so far for the DNC, click here.

And you can contribute online to Democracy for America via our own DFNM Bat! We need to ensure that the powerful organization founded by Dean can continue its important work from outside the Democratic Party, with Howard's brother, Jim Dean, as its new Chair. Come on New Mexican's -- swing this bat! Click below or go to our DFNM Bat page by clicking here.

We Did It! The Dean DNC Era Begins

From : Amid joyous cheers, Governor Dean was nominated for Chair of the Democratic National Committee by Denver Mayor Wellington Webb.

After a moving video tribute to Governor Dean from DNC Members, a few DNC members added their voices of support to the nomination. Like Jay Parmley, Chair of the Oklahoma State Democratic Party, who offered the reasons why he supports Governor Dean for Chair—"he knows what it takes to lead and he knows what it takes to win."

Alexandra Gallardo Rooker, Vice-Chair of the California Democratic Party, DNC Hispanic Caucus member, said, "My friend, Howard Dean, is a proud democrat... reminds me of how great a Party we are."

The nomination was brought to a vote by acclamation. The "ayes" thundered through the ballroom, there was not a nay to be heard. Governor Dean was named the new Chair of the Democratic National Committee to a standing ovation and cheers of "Howard Dean!"

Congratulations to newly-elected Chair of the DNC, Howard Dean!

“There are a lot of people in this city who are afraid I’m going to be very unorthodox — and I am,” Howard Dean told supporters Friday at a meeting of the Democratic National Committee in Washington.

And Dean has a for us as he moves to his new job:

ACTION ALERT: Letters to Editor

There's a column on the op-ed page in today's Albuquerque Journal by Michael Goodwin of the New York Daily News entitled, "Dean 'The Scream' Is Democrats' Gravedigger." Here's a link to the column at , which is easier to access than the Journal's subscription-only version.

Excerpts:

• OK, as Mark Twain might say, reports of the Democratic Party's death are premature. But come Feb. 12, they won't be. That's the day Howard 'The Scream' Dean is likely to win the job of national Dem boss. It's also the day the party ceases to be a viable alternative to George Bush.

• In public, there is silence from those who know that Dean will take the party over the cliff and into an abyss of fringe liberalism that has no foundation in the American populace. Dean and the extremists he represents shouldn't even be allowed to call themselves Democrats. Deaniacs is what they are.

• He was too far left for primary voters, the cream of the liberal crop. But now the 447 internal electors think he should be the face, voice and chief operator of the whole party. That tells you something about the state chairs and other special-interest shills supporting Dean.

So, Deaniacs (!), do you think this is a perfect time to send a letter to the editor at the Albuquerque Journal? When you do, reference this column so that your letter has a better chance of being printed. Keep it short and to the point and provide your full contact information including name, address and phone number as they usually check with you before printing a letter.

Albuquerque Journal: Snail mail - 7777 Jefferson St NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109. You can also compose and send your letter to the Journal online at the Congress.org site or at the Journal website. Here are some ideas for talking points.

I always wonder when I read this kind of diatribe exactly where they think the Democratic Party is now. We've lost two presidential elections, the House and Senate, and numerous state and local elections since the Republican-lite forces inside Washington and the Party have held sway. Nevertheless, insider "consultants" and pundits like Al From and others from the DLC wing of the Party keep insisting we must keep banging our heads against the same wall, expecting different results -- the classic definition of insanity.

Remember all the naysayers who succeeded in getting Kerry the nomination by convincing primary voters that Dean was "unelectable" because he had no foreign policy experience? How ironic that Kerry turned out to be "unelectable" because he was so worried about offending the "center" that his position was virtually identical to Bush's on many issues, including the Iraq war. I have high hopes for future success now that the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party will have some clout, don't you?

Dean is Last Candidate Standing

According to this CNN article, Tim Roemer has withdrawn from the race for DNC Chair leaving Howard Dean as the only candidate still in the race. Oh yeah. February 12th is gonna be a wonderful day!

Victory? Victory!

Wow. Wow. Wow. Not only has Governor Richardson finally jumped on the Howard Dean for DNC Chair train as it leaves the station, but both Simon Rosenberg and Donnie Fowler have quit the race and endorsed Dean. As Richardson said, Dean "won fair and square." Yes he did. All indications are that he now has more than enough of the 447 votes of the DNC for victory.

This is no small achievement, as we all know. Despite heavy opposition from Beltway insiders, Republican-lite pundits and consultants and those in the Party who evidently value personal power over Party success, we did it folks. We did it. Of course it's Dean himself who "did it" with a saavy, honest and personal campaign that focused on talking sense with the voting members, but I think we can all feel a part of it. When Dean talks, it's always about US and how WE can take our country and our Party back from those whose first allegiance is to corporate power and to hell with the ordinary people. Make no mistake. This is a victory for US.

How am I celebrating today? By digging in and getting to work, as I'm sure we'll all be doing in the days and months ahead. If you're in Albuquerque, be there or be square:

Democratic Precinct Activation Meeting
TODAY, 11:00 AM
IBEW Hall, 4921 Alexander Blvd NE
Click for map
(Bring a sack lunch)

Rally to Protect Our Public Lands
TODAY, 2:00 to 5:00 PM, Kimo Theatre
(More info here.)

And your thoughts on the apparent Dean victory?

(For old time's sake, here some links to the famous Faulkner Remix, the Thank You Howard Dean flash video and the Sacramento CA speech, "What I Wanna Know", that started it all off. Still not satisfied? Click here.)

NM DNC Members Now Endorse Dean for Chair

From Charlotte Roybal:

Good news. The NM DNC members have all endorsed Howard Dean. It has all happened since Monday. I spoke with John Wertheim, State Chair, today and he told me. I had talked to Gloria Nieto and she and Annadelle Sanchez who both went with the Hispanic Caucus on Monday. I spoke with Raymond Sanchez and he is on board. The one we forgot to ask is Patricia Madrid and I saw her today and she said she was on board now that her candidate dropped out. So good job DFAers and other for helping Dean.

I also attended the Progressive Democrats of America Conference in DC and would love to give a presentation  any progressive group in NM about it.  Let me know at (505) 930-0563 or email: croybal@aol.com  I also met with Chris Warshaw from DFA.

The web site is: www.pdamerica.com

Editor's Note: DFNM is an ally/partner organization of Progessive Democrats of America, and Howard Dean is a supporter. Here's a that support PDA.

DNC Hispanic Caucus Votes Overwhelmingly to Endorse Dean

As published on DFA's

The members of the Hispanic Caucus of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) voted overwhelmingly today to officially endorse Gov. Howard Dean for Chair of the national Democratic Party. The endorsement is the first from any DNC caucus to be granted and guarantees Gov. Dean at least 35 of the 45 votes in the caucus. Nine caucus members were unavailable to participate in the deliberations and voting, which took place via conference call today.

"Gov. Dean has proven himself to be a terrific fundraiser and he has the character and stature to speak for the Democratic Party," said Sen. Iris Martinez, Illinois General Assembly member and Secretary of the Hispanic caucus, "most importantly, Gov. Dean understands that rolling back the advances Republicans have made among the Hispanic electorate will be critical to not just winning back the White House but also to keeping crucial states in the Democratic column."

Governor Dean has a unique perspective on building the grassroots as demonstrated in his organization, Democracy for America and his presidential campaign. As governor, Dean created a record based on fiscally conservative principles while promoting equality and opportunity for all the citizens of Vermont. In extending its vote of confidence to Gov. Dean, the Hispanic Caucus expects Gov. Dean to use his energy, creativity and boldness to assist the Caucus and the Party to move the Hispanic community into becoming a solid base for our democratic agenda.

"Our decision today exemplifies the type of leadership we will exercise to help Chairman Dean reach out to the Hispanic community which will be the most critical voting bloc in every election in the foreseeable future," said Sen. Martinez.

DNC Hispanic Caucus Members Endorsing Gov. Howard Dean:

Steven K. Alari, Dr. Celita Arroyo de Roques, Cathy Bartolotti, Tonio Burgos, Luisette Cabanas, Linda Chavez-Thompson, Alvaro Cifuentes, Maria Echaveste, Edward Espinoza, Norma Fisher Flores, Nely Galan, Alexandra Gallardo Rooker, Maria Garcia, Carmen Gonzalez, Teresa Krusor, Dr. Miguel D. Lausell Esq., Debbie Marquez, Hon. Iris Y. Martinez, Hon. Ramona Martinez, Hon. Antonio Villaraigosa, Raul Martinez, Hon. Kenneth McClintock, Hon. Gloria Molina, Gloria Nieto, John A. Perez, Hon. Roberto L. Prats, Hon. Roberto Ramirez, Joe Rios, Lula Rodriguez, Mannie Rodriguez, Mirian Saez, Annadelle Sanchez, Hon. Oscar Soliz, Alexis Tameron, Hon. Art Torres, Norma Torres, Steven Ybarra
***********************
(Click for a Spanish language version of this article.)

Editor's Note: Notice the two names in boldface on this list. Both are voting members of the DNC from New Mexico. If you'd like to send a note of thanks to Gloria Nieto and Annadelle Sanchez, here is their contact info:

Gloria Nieto
1451 Santa Cruz
Santa Fe, NM  87505
505-474-7602
Glorianieto@comcast.net

Annadelle Sanchez
920 Denton ST
Espanola, NM 87532
505-753-4869

Also good to remember: Several other Hispanic members of the DNC from New Mexico are not on this list of Dean endorsements: Raymond Sanchez, Gov. Bill Richardson and Attorney General Patricia Madrid. The official election for DNC Chair will take place on February 12th. It will be interesting to see if these three vote for Dean then, despite not endorsing him now. I recall that Madrid was originally a supporter of Martin Frost, who dropped out of the race yesterday. No word on who Sanchez and Richardson are supporting.

Frost Drops Out of Race for DNC Chair

Can it be? Will Dean win this time? According to an AP article in The Guardian:

Former Texas Rep. Martin Frost dropped out of the race for Democratic national chairman on Tuesday, winnowing the field to front-runner Howard Dean and three challengers.

Frost's decision came hours after AFL-CIO leaders decided not to make an endorsement in the race for Democratic National Committee chairman.

Frost had counted heavily on organized labor to give him a boost and many in the AFL-CIO were prepared to back him at one point, but Frost had not shown the strength in the race to get an endorsement, union officials said.
[. . .] 
The decision Monday by state party leaders to endorse Dean prompted many in the party to comment that Dean is looking unbeatable. Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb dropped out of the race and endorsed Dean Monday.

UPDATE: Daily Kos has an excellent story on this, plus an excerpt of a remarkable letter from Donna Brazile giving advice to Dean. There's also some info on Rep. Nancy's Pelosi's involvement in the DNC Chair process. There are only three other candidates left in the race: Roemer, Donnie Fowler and Simon Rosenberg, and Dean has a big and growing lead in voting members.

UPDATE 2: They're dropping like flies. is reporting that Rosenberg is out and Roemer will be next, leaving only Donnie Fowler. And as the post explains, he's enmeshed in a scandal coming out of Michigan.