Democracy for New Mexico

Cheney in Albuquerque Monday 8.6.07

Cheney's high school yearbook photo

VP Dick Cheney will emerge from his cave in an undisclosed location and be in Albuquerque on Monday, August 6. He's set to address the joint opening session of the Marine Corps League's national convention at the Marriott Hotel located at 2101 Louisiana Boulevard NE. According to the meeting agenda, Cheney will be speaking to the convention from 10:30 to 11:00 AM. No word yet on any other events scheduled for Dick while he's in town.

I wonder if he'll try to raise some bucks for the faltering Repub team while here. Or maybe he'll just have a conversation or two with Pat Rogers or another of the NM Repub biggies about how to illegally keep Democratic voters off the rolls with voter caging techniques or trumped up claims of "voter fraud."

As we previously reported, Bush himself will be attending a fundraiser for Sen. Pete Domenici in New Mexico sometime in late August.

Karl Rove must be fretting about the GOP's chances in New Mexico in 2008. With the House Ethics Committee meeting behind closed doors to hear testimony about  Rep. Heather Wilson's pressuring phone call to fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, Sen. Pete Domenici entangled in a similar controversy on the Senate side and Rep. Steve Pearce voting against a recent House resolution to establish that permanent bases won't be built in Iraq (that passed by a 399-24 margin), Rove has his work cut out for him.

Heinrich, McCamley in Top 20 House Race Fundraisers on ActBlue

State	CD	Candidate	Raised on Actblue	Contributors
CO	2	Jared Polis	$128,216	266
MA	5	Niki Tsongas	$118,887	341
MA	5	Jamie Eldridge	$102,420	570
ME	1	Chellie Pingree	$97,000	210
IL	10	Dan Seals	$68,073	218
CA	26	Russ Warner	$66,946	199
MO	6	Kay Barnes	$58,859	82
AZ	3	Bob Lord	$55,705	145
TX	10	Dan Grant	$54,150	132
NY	26	Jon Powers	$48,375	217
NY	29	Eric Massa	$48,255	423
CA	4	Charlie Brown	$45,738	943
FL	8	Mike Smith	$42,820	62
NM	1	Martin Heinrich	$35,149	172
MD	4	Donna Edwards	$34,260	522
NC	8	Larry Kissell	$30,687	265
CT	4	Jim Himes	$25,813	48
MT	AL	Bill Kennedy	$17,366	67
MA	5	Barry Finegold	$16,250	16
NM	2	Bill McCamley	$13,930	47

Chart by SwingStateProject.com. (h/t )

Two Democratic candidates for U.S. House seats -- Martin Heinrich, running in NM-01 for a chance to challenge incumbent Heather Wilson, and Bill McCamley, running in NM-02 for a chance to challenge incumbent Steve Pearce -- are in the top 20 for funds raised for 2008 Congressional campaigns at national online netroots website ActBlue. Second quarter fundraising ended yesterday at midnight.

As you can see on the chart, ActBlue Heinrich donations rank 14th with $35,149 from 172 online donors, including $800 raised this quarter at the Democracy for New Mexico Netroots page dedicated to his campaign. Las Cruces candidate McCamley, with a 20th place finish this quarter on ActBlue, raised $13,930 from 47 internet donors. THANKS TO ALL WHO DONATED!

Considering the hundreds of races at play around the country, and how early we are in the 2008 election cycle, these are impressive numbers indeed. Moreover, most of the other candidates on the top 20 list are from states with much larger and more affluent populations. Clearly, many New Mexico grassroots Dems are excited about these candidates and are willing to put some dollars on the line to help jumpstart their campaigns.

Official campaign reports on fundraising totals from all sources will be available by mid-July. Let's hope the off-line donations are as impressive at this stage of the game as those made via ActBlue.

ActBlue just celebrated its 3rd anniversary on the web. A total of $24,767,583 has been raised online via ActBlue since 2004!

Rep. Steve Pearce Has His Head in the Sand: The Video

Adding to their Heads in the Sand on Global Warming campaign, the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund has released a new video (above) that pixilates our predicament with Republican Rep. Steve Pearce (NM-02) and his obtuse nonresponses to the threats of global climate change. Pearce wants to keep things just as they are because so many of his big donors make lots of money producing fuels that create greenhouse gases. He'd rather sacrifice the future of our children and grandchildren -- and maybe even the planet itself -- by defending the status quo instead of facing reality and supporting the actions necessary to address one of our most urgent problems.

You can check out the particulars of Pearce's disturbing record here. For instance, did you know that Pearce voted against the environment on 20 out of 20 related bills in the 109th Congress? He earned a zero percent score for 2005 and a zero percent score for 2006 in the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund scorecard.

Pearce to let him know what you think of his Head in the Sand approach to our environmental future. After all, he's supposed to be representing all the people, not just his favorite promoters of pollution. While you're at it, you might want to lend a hand to one of the Democrats who want to challenge Pearce in 2008 election:

• Al Kissling for Congress

Also see our previous post on Head-In-The-Sand Pearce. Click to support the work of the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, including their radio ad targeting Rep. Steve Pearce's dismal environmental record.

Of course, Pearce is just one ally of the Republican campaign to stop the advancing movement towards renewable energy. Be sure to check out the excellent Rolling Stone article, The Secret Campaign of President Bush's Administration to Deny Global Warming, for the dirty details.

Remember, the Republican members of Congress in our state -- Rep. Steve Pearce, Rep. Heather Wilson and Sen. Pete Domenici -- all stick with the Bush agenda no matter what. Can the planet stand another term from any of them?

Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund Launches Ad Campaign Targeting Rep. Pearce on Global Warming Issue

Group Launches "Heads in the Sand" Internet and Radio Campaign focusing on Five Anti-environmental Congressmen

WASHINGTON - Yesterday, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund (Defenders Action Fund) launched a targeted radio and web campaign -- www.headsinthesand.org -- to hold accountable Congressman Steve Pearce as one of five anti-environmental congressmen who have their "heads in the sand" on global warming. The five Congressmen – also including Reps. Ken Calvert (CA), John Doolittle (CA), Dean Heller (NV), and Rick Renzi (AZ) – have ignored the facts on global warming because of the undue influence of corporate polluters and their lobbyists.

"Americans want action now on global warming," said Defenders Action Fund President Rodger Schlickeisen. "But extreme anti-environmentalists in Congress, like Rep. Pearce, continue to have their heads stuck in the sand on energy policy while taking money from big oil and polluters. We're launching the 'Heads in the Sand' campaign to hold these members accountable to their constituents."

Visit the campaign's Steve Pearce page to learn more about Pearce's deplorable environmental record, as well as listen to the radio ad that will be airing in New Mexico 2rd Congressional District.

“Congressman Pearce’s way of thinking is out of sync with America and … the values of New Mexicans.” - 2007, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance

All five congressmen have a record of anti-conservation, pro-global warming votes and have accepted significant donations, in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars, from Big Oil and other corporate polluters.  The four congressmen who served in the 109th Congress scored 5 percent or lower on the Action Fund's latest Conservation Report Card. On Wednesday, Reps. Pearce and Heller – both members of the House Natural Resources Committee – voted against legislation to help combat global warming and protect wildlife from its impacts.

"We're looking to send a clear message that the American people won't tolerate representatives who continue to favor big polluters and their special interests," Schlickeisen said. "Despite the overwhelming scientific consensus, there are still members of Congress with their heads in the sand on global warming. That's why we're launching this new project to hold these five lawmakers accountable for endangering our wildlife, our wild places and our children's future."

"These are just the first five members we're targeting; any anti-environmental member who favors oil and gas money interests and obstructs meaningful effort to combat global warming could be next," added Schlickeisen.

To listen to the ads, visit www.headsinthesand.org.

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.

Editor's Note: Also see the Politico blog for another report on the Defenders' campaign. For current info on what's going on in the Congressional race in NM-02, including two announced Democratic challengers, see this post on Heath Haussamen.