Democracy for New Mexico

Robinson, Taylor, Silva: Fallen Dem Incumbents File Sour Grapes Lawsuit Alleging Campaign Finance Fraud

Note: Also see my later post on this, published on Sunday, 8/3/08.
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Ah, now I get it. I posted the other day about the melodramatic whining and harumphing coming from certain blogs about the operations of certain local nonprofits and those who manage and donate to the organizations. The nonprofits have been circulating facts about legislative voting records and promoting a number of mainstream issues like expanded health care and ethics reform. Oh, horrors, not that!

Now I see that the alligators and eyes on Albuquerque were likely serving as mouthpieces for a concerted effort to create a useful reservoir of talking points. It appears they were preparing the way for the forces of business-as-usual to take action in court to try and get things back to the way they used to be. Back to when folks paid less attention to what their legislators were doing up there at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe and information sources were few.

New Mexico FBIHOP made the catch on a KRQE report that three long-time Dem incumbents who lost their June 3rd primary elections to reform Dems -- Shannon Robinson, James Taylor and Dan Silva -- filed a joint lawsuit late Friday. Among other things, the suit alleges that campaign finance fraud on the part of certain nonprofits cost the plaintiffs their seats. Get this: three legislators known for their antipathy towards campaign finance and ethics reform -- and often accused of being in cahoots with special interests -- are now claiming progressive reform candidates beat them soundly by employing unethical means. Do you hear the hypocrisy sensors going off all over Albuquerque? Woooo-woooo!

According to KRQE:

The lawsuit, filed minutes before court closed for the weekend, named the winning candidate, several nonprofit organizations and their managers and alleged illegal campaign tactics warrant voiding the election.

... It's a void election," Robinson told KRQE News 13. "When fraud so permeates the election as this, and it is done intentionally, it has to be voided."

Robinson filed the election contest on behalf of himself and the other two. Their chief claim alleges $180,000 from two nonprofit organizations was transferred to six other organizations to pay for attack ads. Shuffling the money that way was done to let the winning candidates avoid reporting the source of contributions to the secretary of state, the suit claimed.

Griego, Chavez, Keller: Incumbent Topplers

I see. It wasn't that Eric Griego, Tim Keller and Eleanor Chavez beat the three incumbents through their vastly superior field operations and voter outreach. It wasn't that the three worked hard to personally knock on doors for months in their districts. They didn't win because they garnered widespread support by taking strong positions on issues that matter to voters. And, of course, the voters weren't tired of being represented in Santa Fe by politicos who had completely lost touch with them.

No, according to the vanquished incumbents, they were beaten because the winners cheated somehow. Sour grapes from bitter losers. Well, it IS hard to see your little insular kingdom crumble to the forces of people power.

Read on:

"These people were reckless," Robinson [right] said. "They disregarded the campaign finance laws; they disregarded the ethics laws of New Mexico. They also disregarded the federal tax laws."

Those alleged violations plus other irregularities led to a "substantial difference in the three elections contested and would have changed the results had the fraud not occurred," according to the suit.

Not much response yet from the sued parties:

Two of the winning candidates, Keller and Griego, said they hadn't seen the lawsuit.  However they said Robinson and the other losers are resorting to a sour-grapes lawsuit.

And, so far, the only stories out there about the suit are the two I've cited. However, I'll bet that Monday morning's alligator post has been written for quite some time now. There's been what looks like a deliberate and longish rollout of the framing for this legal action by the champions of the monied lobbying classes. Count on it: When candidates of the people start winning, entrenched power cliques move quickly to try and stop the progress in its tracks -- before it multiplies.

You can see previous posts on the primary legislative races of those who filed suit in our 2008 Legislative Race archive.

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Bernalillo County Dems to Host Fundraiser for Convention Delegates

The Democratic Party of Bernalillo County is hosting a
Unity Lasagna Dinner for all Bernalillo County Delegates
To help with their expenses for the upcoming
Democratic Convention in Denver
Door Prizes-Raffle-Music-Fun-Food!!

Saturday, August 9, 5:00-7:00 PM
Plumbers and Steamfitters Hall-510 San Pedro SE
Tickets are $20.00 each
Call Terri Holland at 604-3589 or Richard Cooley at 268-2439

Sunday: Sandoval County Dem Wine Tasting Reception

From Democratic Women of Sandoval County: A wine tasting reception for federal, state and local Sandoval County and surrounding area candidates will be held on Sunday, July 27, from 4:30 to 6:30 PM, at Anasazi Fields Winery, 26 Camino de los Pueblitos, Placitas. The guest speaker will be Martha Burk, author of "Your Money and Your Life: The High Stakes for Women Voters in '08 and Beyond." Taste the wines, munch on cheese and snacks, enjoy live music, greet your neighbors, make new friends, volunteer for your favorite candidates. Sponsored by Democratic Women of Sandoval County. $10 donation requested. Candidates and one guest admitted free.

Janice Saxton, President, Democratic Women of Sandoval County, 867-1139

Thursday: NARAL Pro-Choice Political Update

Invites you to a
Pro-Choice Political Update
with
Newly elected local pro-choice leaders
& NARAL Pro-Choice New Mexico

Get an inside look at the upcoming general election
and our progress in electing a pro-choice Senate in NM.
We need your help to elect more pro-choice leaders!

Thursday, July 24, 6 - 7:30 PM
907 Silver Ave SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Refreshments will be served.
$75 suggested contribution

Please RSVP to Anathea Chino at (505) 243-4443 or achino@prochoicenm.org. Due to the political nature of our work, contributions to ChoicePAC are not tax-deductible.

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A New Mexico Gem: Arthur Alpert (and Ruminations on The Line)

Have you been reading Arthur Alpert's (right) pieces on the New Mexico Independent each Friday? I have. Check out this week's post, which considers Pete Domenici's newfound admiration for CAFE standards and suggests how Pete might share his experience.

As Alpert's NMI bio says:

Once upon a time, Arthur Alpert was a newspaperman (N.Y. World-Telegram & Sun), TV producer-writer-host (news, documentaries), magazine contributor (New Republic, Washington Monthly) and journalism teacher. In New Mexico, he was news director at KGGM-TV, editor of Prime Time monthly and columnist for the Albuquerque Tribune.

I was reminded just how witty, informed and articulate Alpert is during his recent appearance as a guest on The Line panel on KNME's New Mexico In Focus, which airs every Friday night at 7:00 PM and repeats at 6:00 AM on Sundays. Mary Ellen and I were bravo-ing out loud as Alpert calmly eviscerated some of the more fact-less and clue-less pronouncements of regular panelists Jim Scarantino, who often claims to be an independent, and Scott Darnell, a paid NM GOP operative. Gumption!

Let's hope the show's producer, Kevin McDonald, and The Line's host, Gene Grant, invite Alpert back soon and often to provide some much-needed balance and heft to the show. UNM Law School Prof. Margaret Montoya, a regular panelist, does a bang-up job for the liberal side of the spectrum -- but it's often hard to counteract the one-two punch of Scarantino and Darnell if the guest panelist is reticent to join in the fray or trends to the right.

By the way, Scott Darnell will be departing The Line panel shortly to attend Harvard's JFK School of Government -- rather ironic, that -- and I wonder who will be chosen to take his place. Let's hope that if it's another professional paid by the Repubs to hawk their talking points, someone with a similar professional profile from the Dem side will be included on the panel regularly to offset that slant.

Of course my real hope is that Darnell will be replaced with someone whose positions are less lock step and whose thinking is more nuanced and unpredictable than Scott's has been. I think the show needs less rigid ideology and more spontaneity in Darnell's successor, if you know what I mean.

Thankfully, Scarantino wanders a bit on the ideology scale on some issues, although his oft-expressed, uncritical love for all things Pete can be tiresome -- at least to me. And his penchant to bring up polygamy every time the topic of gay marriage or domestic partnerships arises gets on my nerves. Hey, we all have our pet rants. Jim is Jim and he can be smart and funny if the topic is right. But he's like a broken record on Domenici and the environment, and he usually offers few facts or cites to back up his arguments.

Don't get me wrong. I think Kevin McDonald, David Alire Garcia, Gene Grant and everyone else involved with New Mexico In Focus does an excellent job of bringing local issues into, well, focus. I just think the show could benefit from some tweaking to make the panel segment more provocative and balanced.

Do you watch The Line on New Mexico in Focus? What do you think?

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Large Turnout for Saturday's Progressive Community Kickoff (Vids, Photos)

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish speaks to the activists

See photo album at Flickr and event videos at YouTube.

Ed Yoon (blue shirt), Diane Denish, Defenders, America Votes folks

Saturday's Progressive Community Kick-Off Day of Action, hosted by the America Votes coalition and Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, was packed with participants energized to bring progressive change to New Mexico this November.

Droves of door-to-door canvassers took to the streets on issues like the economy, the environment, health care, education and family and women's issues before and after a rally and lunch at the offices of SEIU - Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund in Albuquerque.

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish explains what's at stake

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, State Auditor Hector Balderas, UNM's Dr. Shadi Battah, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund Campaign Manager Ed Yoon, and America Votes New Mexico Director Jennifer Ford were on hand to motivate the crowd and discuss what we need to do to ensure that progress is made a myriad of domestic issues.

Hector Balderas says we're part of a great movement for change

Educating voters on the issues and getting them out to vote will be the priorities, and anyone interested in helping can contact America Votes at 228-1452, Defenders of Widllife Action Fund at 255-2326, or any of the organizations that make up the expansive America Votes coalition.

Hector Balderas talks about reaching out to new voters with hope

Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund plans to lead canvasses DAILY from now until November 4th. Many other America Votes coalition organizations will be active as well. Get hooked up and volunteer.

Hector Balderas and family ready for change

Also, if you haven't yet entered to win a 2008 hybrid car that will be awarded this November by the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, visit wrong4nm.org/.

And because M.E. promised, here's Hector Balderas Jr. explaining why his dad would make a great lieutenant governor.

Click on photos for larger versions. All photos and videos by M.E. Broderick.

See our complete photo album on this event at Flickr. View all our videos from this event on this YouTube playlist.

Important Note: We'd like to provide you with better digital photos and video clips but we need to buy better equipment to do that. We want to replace our current digital camera plus add a compact video camera within the next  month because we'll be the only New Mexico blog that's part of the official DNC State Blogger Corps at the Dem Convention in Denver. It will also be expensive to pay for our travel and hotel costs to attend the Convention, where we'll be seated with New Mexico's delegation.

If you'd like to donate for new equipment and/or help us with our Convention costs, just click on the Donate button on the upper left-hand corner of the page or contact me at dfnm_albq AT comcast.net to learn where to send a check. Many thanks to those who have donated so far -- you know who you are!

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Saturday: Lt. Gov. Denish Headlines Progressive Community Kick-Off Day of Action

America Votes and Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund are inviting New Mexico’s greater progressive community to a kick-off for the general election season with a “Day of Action” rally and activist mobilization. Lt. Governor Diane Denish, State Auditor Hector Balderas and Dr. Shadi Battah will be on hand to rev up the crowd:

WHERE:
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund /
SEIU International Headquarters
1600 San Pedro Dr. NE, Albuquerque
(between Lomas and Menaul)

WHEN: Saturday, July 12, 2008

WHAT:
Canvasses Launch: 9:00 AM
Return for Lunch
Rally with Lt. Gov. Denish and Others: 12:45 PM -1:15 PM

For more information contact David Kirk:
Office: (505) 255-2326
Mobile: (202) 288-6951
DKirk@defendersactionfund.org   

America Votes coordinates independent electoral activity to create a permanent progressive infrastructure nationally and in the states. Our coalition partners share innovative strategies and resources to maximize our electoral impact. America Votes ensures that massive progressive voter mobilization campaigns build lasting capacity and works with 28 partner coalitions in New Mexico.

The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund (www.defendersactionfund.org) provides a powerful voice in Washington to Americans who value our conservation heritage. Through grassroots lobbying, issue advocacy and political campaigns, the Action Fund champions those laws and lawmakers that protect wildlife and wild places while working against those that do them harm.

Hey Barack, Listen Up

Here's a video from Sen. Russ Feingold in response to the many messages he's getting encouraging him to keep fighting the dangerous FISA bill that will now be heard when the Senate reconvenes next Tuesday. He summarizes what's wrong with this bill, and says our letters, phone calls and emails are making a real difference in this fight. We need to keep up the pressure -- on our Senators and our presumptive presidential nominee.

As currently written, the bill would provide retroactive immunity to telecoms without their having to enter a court of law to try and justify their complicity with illegal acts by President Bush. Even worse, the bill would give unprecedented and wide-ranging access to all our international communications without a court overseeing the process.

How could any Democrat vote for such a constitution-shredding bill? Ask Senator Obama -- if he follows through with his stated intention to vote for the FISA bill with or without telecom immunity. Despite his campaign's previous statement that he'd support a filibuster of any bill that contained retroactive immunity, Obama suddenly seems to believe that the dangers of terrorism justify throwing our privacy rights and laws in the trash can. Can anything be farther from the truth or sound more like a Bush-Cheney-McCain punchline? Is Obama really no better than the likes of Rep. Steny Hoyer, who pushed this bill on the House side?

Tonight's Obama Meeting
We attended the Obama campaign meeting tonight at the Plumbers' Hall in Albuquerque and it was apparent that Obama's incredibly disappointing and dismissive statement about the FISA bill was much on people's minds. Obviously, the 60+ people who showed up tonight to touch base with the new field organizers and get certified as voter registrars are gung-ho Obama supporters. And yet the enthusiasm of many seemed subdued and unfocused.

There was a fair amount of whispering and muttering going on in the crowd about Obama and FISA, as well as a few other stances he's taken recently. Several people even challenged the organizers about Obama's upcoming FISA vote, saying they'd have a very hard time going door to door to encouage people to vote for Barack if he backed the bill as written.

Meanwhile, outside the meeting, clumps of people expressed their disappointment and confusion about the Obama campaign's recent tack toward the Dem spinelessness we've come to know and abhor. No, not more of that, please. We've had enough.

Danger Ahead for Obama?
If I were Obama or any of his advisors, I'd be more than a little wary about these early danger signals within the ranks of those who need to be passionate in their support if the campaign's field strategy is to succeed. I can't imagine any of us abandoning the nominee based on his wrong-headed FISA vote, his unnecessary criticism of Wesley Clark's reasonable remarks about McCain or other similar disappointments, but it sure would make it harder to nourish a healthy sense of enthusiasm for the work that's ahead. Or to dig deep to donate generously to his campaign.

Is Obama willing to risk that in order to try and avoid criticism from the fearmongering hyenas of the punditry and the right? Hasn't he learned the most important lesson we've learned from what we've endured over the past decade or more? The hyenas will attack in the very same way whether Obama toes their line or not.

WE know this. Why doesn't Obama? Maybe he'll start getting the picture from what's become the fourth largest group on my.barackobama.com.  “Senator Obama­ Please Vote NO on Telecom Immunity –­ Get FISA Right” is five days old and growing fast. Their mission statement says: “We are a proud group of your supporters who believe in your call for hope and a new kind of politics. Please reject the politics of fear on national security, vote against this bill and lead other Democrats to do the same!” Click here to join the group, which currently has more than 9600 members. And read this by one of the folks who started the group. Here's a wiki that makes it easy to take action.

Much will be revealed next week. As Feingold says in the video, "I teased some of my colleagues and said we can celebrate the Constitution on July 4th and maybe when we come back you'll decide not to tear it up." Get it, Barack? Get it, Sen. Bingaman?

Let's keep up the contacts between now and next Tuesday and let those who are supposed to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law know we're watching and that we understand, very specifically, what's wrong with this bill. And with any Senator who votes for it in its present form.

P.S. As usual Glenn Greenwald says it all and says it well.

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DFA Campaign Academy Draws Praise; Plus New DFA Nightschool Session Tonight on Getting a Campaign Job

NM-03 candidate Ben Ray Lujan, DPNM Chair Brian Colon

See more photos from this event at Flickr.

DFA Chair Jim Dean, NM-01 candidate Martin Heinrich, Jon Blair

Democracy for America's intensive, two-day Campaign Academy held at the UNM Law School in Albuquerque this past weekend was received enthusiastically by everyone I spoke with. Don't take my word for it -- read what two participants in the weekend training have to say about the experience. Check out posts about the Academy by Matt Reichbach and .

Martin Heinrich (NM-01), DFA Chair Jim Dean, Ben Ray Lujan (NM-03)

DFA trainers Matt Blizek, Jennifer Coken and Michael Cook presented the bulk of the material, with Allan Oliver of Governor Richardson's office and Joe Casados of the Democratic Party of New Mexico providing specialized instruction in communications and the Party's VoterBuilder file. The Campaign Academy included lecture presentations as well as small, hands-on breakout sessions, and was jam-packed with info useful to anyone involved in progressive politics. The workbook handout alone was worth the (very reasonable) price of admission.

Michael Cook conducts breakout session

On Saturday, Democratic Party of New Mexico Chair Brian Colon welcomed the attendees to kick off the weekend. We were also delighted to have DFA Chairman Jim Dean in attendance to remind everyone how critical New Mexico will be on November 4th and, most importantly, how dedicated we need to be to grassroots activism if we want to help create a True Blue New Mexico.

Allan Oliver leading breakout session on communication

Candidates Martin Heinrich (NM-01), Ben Ray Lujan (NM-02) and Jason Marks (PRC) were also on hand to say hello and soak up some knowledge. A bunch of studious staffers from Tom Udall's office and the Coordinated Campaign took advantage of the training, as did NM House candidates Janice Saxton (HD 22) and Craig Cosner (HD 67).

Energy was high throughout the two-day Academy, and DFA trainer Matt Blizek was full of praise about the level of engagement of participants. You could feel it in the air -- Dems are ready to put their grassroots activism on the line so we can win up and down the ticket in November.

More than 14,000 people across the country have been trained by DFA on the ins and outs of running for office, campaigning and volunteering effectively. If you missed this opportunity to attend the Academy in person, you can get similar training online on a variety topics via DFA's top-notch, interactive Night School program. Topic-specific materials, including mp3s, are available for download, or you can purchase DVDs. You can also subscribe to Night School podcasts to stay current on each month's offering.

Tonight: How to Get a Campaign Job
In fact, there's a new, hour-long Night School session on Getting a Campaign Job set for tonight, June 25 at 6:30 PM MDT:

Campaigns are gearing up in all 50 states right now, and they need passionate and well trained campaign staff. On Wednesday July 25th, Democratic GAIN President Amy Pritchard will be joining DFA Night School for an hour long training on 'Getting a Job on a Campaign'. We'll offer tips on touching up your resume and how to build and leverage your professional networks both on and offline as part of our Night School series.

See more photos from this event at Flickr.
All photos by M.E. Broderick

DFA-Democracy for America helped to organize and coordinate the Albuquerque Training Academy and is a Democracy for America coalition partner. DFA, headquartered in Burlington, VT, is our nation's largest progressive political action community. With over 675,000 members nationwide, DFA is a grassroots powerhouse working to change our country and the Democratic Party from the bottom-up.

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Prompting Discussion Today: Taos Conservation Area

Read John Arnold's excellent article No Slam Dunk at the New Mexico Independent. It presents competing versions of what went wrong with a proposal to legislate a national conservation area in the vicinity of Taos, how Jim O'Donnell of the Wilderness Alliance got blamed and fired for it and what role Sen. Jeff Bingaman and his staff played in the situation. If you're so inclined, join in the discussion in the comments section of that article. I did.

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