Democracy for New Mexico

Meet Campaign Staff at DPBC Third Thursday Meeting

From the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County:

DPBC THIRD THURSDAY MEETING
Thursday, July 17th, 6:00 PM
UNM LAW SCHOOL, ROOM 2401
1117 Stanford NE, Albuquerque, Map

Come meet campaign staff: Josh Geise from the Coordinated Campaign, Adrian Saenz from the Obama Campaign, and staffers from the Heinrich and Udall campaigns. They will be available to answer questions and discuss the coordination of the different campaigns. All are welcome.

Alsok mark your calendar for the DPBC Labor Day picnic  on September 1st honoring our labor partners. Location and time to be determined.

Netroots Nation Day 1: New Mexico Through Texas Panhandle

Tower in clouds

I know there's a lot of politics going on, but right now I'm more interested in seeing the wide-open skies, billowing thunderheads, horizon-stretching landscapes and weird juxtapositions of new and old along the roads we're traveling to Austin. We sped out of Albuquerque going East on I-40 later than we planned, which is a tradition of sorts. The best laid plans and all that. It was good to finally get beyond the still surprisingly sprawl of Edgewood and Moriarty and into the reddish rocks and table mesas of Santa Rosa and Tucumcari. Ah.

Donley County Courthouse in Clarendon TX

Then into the Texas Panhandle, through the oddly suburban, mall-filled outskirts of Amarillo into the older, much funkier section of town with all the grain elevators, farm equipment centers and clumps of trailers where workers live. Onward past the awful stench of a large feedlot and down 287 headed South and a little East, dipping into what used to be heavy-duty cotton country, but now has mostly peaches, cattle, melons and soybeans as far as I could tell.

Another side of the Courthouse in Clarendon

Every now and then you hit a small town. Many of them seem half-deserted but still half alive, abandoned houses mixed in with nicely kept homes. Lots of chock-full "antique" shops, many housed in what used to be gas stations. Quirky and sometimes elegant architecture in the older town centers, with massive churches and courthouses from the late 1800s, and red brick streets extending for blocks from the main squares.

Directly across street from County Courthouse

We stopped and explored a bit in a place called Clarendon. You really should click on the name and check out its illustrious history. I've included a handful of photos here from Clarendon, all taken within a half-block or so. The contrasts, the contrasts.

Half a block from Courthouse: One-of-a-kind gas station of yore

Beyond the small Clarendon College on the Western edge into a hodgepodge of a town. Peaceful, if a bit melancholy. It has a very homey feeling, despite its rough edges. Swallows squeaking and swooping. Pudgy green trees I couldn't identify. A spectacular courthouse that had been recently and beautifully restored by the State of Texas. A plaque said it's the oldest functioning courthouse in the Panhandle, first opened for business in 1891. This town, originally a Methodist outpost known as a "sobriety settlement," was evidently very, very prosperous at various times from cattle and cotton.

Justice of the Peace across from Courthouse

Nearby, in Palo Duro Canyon, was the massive JA Ranch, co-owned by John George Adair of Ireland and Charles Goodnight, who spent his later years in Clarendon. Goodnight is perhaps the most famous rancher in Texas history. His life was full of firsts and adventurous escapades, including establishing what became known as the Goodnight-Loving Trail with his partner Oliver Loving. I could go on. In his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove and its sequels, Larry McMurtry based the relationship between Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call on the relationship between Goodnight and Loving.

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NM-01: Heinrich Raises $500,000+ in Six Weeks

This is impressive indeed. Because I'm in a motel in Quanah, Texas about half-way to Austin and Netroots Nation, I'll just post the Heinrich campaign's press release on this as is. It says it all, anyway. Congratulations go out to Martin, all the campaign staff and volunteers and the more than 1,200 people who donated to the cause this past six weeks. Bravo!

Albuquerque, New Mexico – Democrat Martin Heinrich's congressional campaign continues to rapidly gain momentum as his fundraising skyrocketed in the most recent financial reporting period.  Heinrich raised $510,571 from over 1,200 contributors in just six short weeks, besting former Bush-Cheney Campaign Chair Darren White's fundraising efforts for the past three months.

Despite President Bush raising $317,000 in a matter of hours for White's struggling campaign, Heinrich's broad base of grassroots support was able to significantly beat back the Washington Republican financial machine.  Heinrich has consolidated Democratic support and closed the financial reporting period with an impressive showing of $354,165 cash on hand.

"In my conversations with residents from Mountainair to Los Lunas to Albuquerque, one thing has become clear:  New Mexicans are starving for real leadership and a new direction.  I am encouraged that so many people are taking an active role in getting our country back on the right track, and I am honored by their support," said Heinrich.

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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.

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Obama Campaign Knock's Bush Call for Offshore Drilling

Here's the Obama campaign's statement in response to Bush's lifting of the executive order banning offshore drilling:

"If offshore drilling would provide short-term relief at the pump or a long-term strategy for energy independence, it would be worthy of our consideration, regardless of the risks.  But most experts, even within the Bush Administration, concede it would do neither.  It would merely prolong the failed energy policies we have seen from Washington for thirty years. Senator Obama believes Americans need real short-term relief, which is why he has proposed a second round of stimulus with energy rebates for working families. And over the long-term, Senator Obama understands that our national security and the survival of the planet demand a real strategy to break our dependence on foreign oil by developing clean, new sources of energy and by vastly improving the energy efficiency of our cars, trucks and our economy.  He is ready to lead such a transformation," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

And what about the Bush-McCain call for oil shale extraction? Sen. Ken Salazar, the moderate Dem from Colorado, answers with some facts. Fact, you know, those things avoided by those pushing the myth that more drilling and extraction can solve all our problems with energy. And damn the environment of course.

This Just In: Al Unser Sr. Sues Darren White, 3 Deputies, Bernalillo County Commissioners

According to KOB:

Indy racing legend Al Unser Senior has filed a federal suit against Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, three of his deputies and Bernalillo County commissioners claiming his rights were violated when he was arrested in 2006.

Unser was taken into custody at the perimeter of a crime scene. Deputies allege he was failing to follow orders. Unser claims that authorities knew he had done nothing wrong and that his rights were violated when authorities elected to put him on trial. Unser was found innocent by an Albuquerque jury.

Should make Darren White's claims to be the GOP's "law and order" candidate in the NM-01 Congressional race just a wee bit weak. I'm sure a lot more will be revealed on this story. Should be riveting.

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Parting Shot on McCain

We're packing our bags, getting read to head to Austin for Netroots Nation, but I had to add a parting shot about McCain's visit to Albuquerque. Amidst all the hoopla and often fawning coverage of McCain, I wish someone would have thought to ask him why he flew in on a plane and then got into his massive, Straight Talk Express-decorated bus to go to the Hilton.

Talk about a double whammy of gas guzzling. Think about it -- McCain was flying here while his bus was driving here from wherever it was last used to hawk his alleged "straight talk" on the campaign trail. No wonder McCain wants to drill everywhere regardless of the consequences. He'd better start encouraging the oil companies to start using all those leases they've left undrilled while they lobby for Congress to open up even more land and water to drilling.

Using Interior Department data for its analysis, The Wilderness Society reports:

More than 44 million acres of public lands are leased for oil and gas development, according to a new Wilderness Society analysis of Interior Department data. The analysis points to an explosion of drilling on federal lands, with 7,124 drilling permits (APDs) issued in 2007, a new record for the Bush Administration. Nationwide, the leasing is outstripping the oil and gas industry’s capacity to drill, as industry is drilling on only a quarter of the leases they hold.

And we've seen the price of gas come down magically after all that increased drilling, haven't we? Of course not. Thanks in large part to the hedge fund cronies and other poorly regulated speculators in the oil market who are artificially driving prices up. And don't forget all those interest rate drops in response to mortgage and bank failures that are effectively driving down the value of the dollar so everything costs more. What a racket. And remember, McCain is getting campaign money from many of the very people perpetrating the racket. Straight talk indeed.

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NM-Sen: Udall's New Ad and Statements Tackle Gas Prices with The Facts

I really like the new ad by U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall, which goes up on the air tomorrow. It takes on the issue of exploding gas prices and what we can do to address the problem. Number one on Tom's list of what we can do right now? Stop hedge fund speculators from driving up prices unnaturally. Rah.

The new ad follows on the heels of Udall's Friday round table on gas prices in Albuquerque, which you can read about here (with photos). Also, watch the video above of Tom's statement to reporters at the round table. Unlike the soundbites favored by much of our MSM, the video gives you a more complete statement about oil prices and energy policy by Udall. AND READ THE FACTS BELOW THE FOLD.

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Off to Netroots Nation in Austin

2007 blogger convention in Chicago had a Dem prez candidate debate

We'll be leaving tomorrow for Netroots Nation, the blogger convention that was formerly known as Yearly Kos. It's in Austin this year, and there's something very satisfying about large numbers of progressives piling into the state that's home to Bush's faux-ranch. I like to see this as an omen of things to come -- a Blue, Blue Texas not far off in the future. I guess I'm feeling optimistic today. When it's time to leave town I get like this. You know, all that on-the-road-again corniness.

We like to mosey some, so we're heading out a bit early and taking the long way. The convention officially begins on Thursday with a myriad of caucuses and an evening keynote by DNC Chair Howard Dean. H-O-W-A-R-D  P-O-W-E-R! You know, the guy many of us kiddingly curse for getting us so involved in politics and activism, which made our formerly (somewhat) peaceful -- if cynical -- lives into serial mini-dramas filled with jarring ups and downs. He always used to tell us that voting earns a person a mere, mediocre grade of C on the citizenship scale. And just think, most Americans don't even do that much.

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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

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