Democracy for New Mexico

Hillary in ABQ: One Hour Plus, 200 Dems, $150,000

Clinton cups her ear as reporters ask her about Mark Penn at Albuquerque's Sunport after her fundraiser (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

The price of admission to the fundraiser for Hillary Clinton Sunday afternoon at former Ambassador Ed Romero's home in Albuquerque was given as either $2300 (the maximum that can be donated by an individual to a candidate in the primary cycle), or $1000 for "friends." According to a story in the Albuquerque Journal, about 200 "elite Dems" (obviously NOT including Gov. Bill Richardson) attended the event, and more than $150,000 was reportedly raised for Clinton's campaign. That comes out to about $750 per attendee, nowhere near the suggested donation levels per person if the numbers are correct. If each donor gave even the lower suggested amount, the event should have raised $200,000. A number of attendees reportedly brought their children or grandchildren so maybe that accounts in part for the lower per person figure. The hosts, however, seemed pleased:

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, one of the co-hosts of the fundraiser, said $150,000 was an initial goal but added it appeared Sunday's total will be more than that. "We exceeded our goal," said Romero, who served as ambassador under Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton. "Everybody's happy with (the event), including the candidate."

According to the Journal story, Clinton was gung ho about her chances in the race:

"I want to tell you, the campaign is going so well," Clinton said. She said anyone who believes she should bow out of her race against Barack Obama, who leads in the delegate count, should take a lesson from college basketball's Final Four.

"Why should anybody play North Carolina? You saw what happened last night," Clinton said, referring to Kansas' upset win over the Tar Heels.

A major problem with her analogy, however, is that there are only so many "points" available for her to win in the remaining primary cycle. Unless Clinton achieves miraculous results in the 10 remaining contests -- as in 65-35 splits in every state -- she won't have enough pledged delegates or enough of the total popular vote to overtake Obama's leads in those categories. Her only hope would seem to be to convince enough superdelegates to back her so she can best Obama in total delegates, despite the will of the voters. Or she could hold out hoping that the Obama campaign implodes in a dramatic fashion, with our without assistance from her campaign.

Arriving around 4:30 PM, Hillary spent a little more than an hour at the reception in Albuquerque's foothills, having jetted in from a previous event in Montana on a day when news broke that Mark Penn was forced to relinquish his role as the chief strategist in her campaign. According to Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams, Penn himself, as well as his polling firm, Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, will still be involved in the campaign but in a diminished role.

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4/10: Young Professionals Benefit for Raigoza for NM Senate

From Victor Raigoza for State Senate District 10:

You're Invited to
A Party of Young Professionals In Support of
Victor Raigoza, Candidate for State Senate
Click for Flyer (doc)

Thursday, April 10, 2008, 5:30–7:00 PM
The Downtown Blackbird Bouvette Bar & Restaurant
509 Central Ave. NW
(Downtown b/w 5th and 6th St. on Central)
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Suggested Contribution Level: Guests - $25

Contributions should be made payable and can be sent: c/o Committee to Elect Victor Raigoza; 901 Copperhead Ct. NE; Albuquerque, NM 87113; or at www.victor4senate.com. RSVP to a HOST or (505)306-8872 or Miller24601@gmail.com

(Updated) Three Women Represented by John Wertheim Challenge Vigil-Giron's Signatures

UPDATE: A later story by The New Mexican's Steve Terrell identifies the women filing the lawsuit on Friday and links the research done on the suit to volunteers for Michelle Lujan-Grisham:

The suit was filed by former Rep. Harriet Ruiz, Albuquerque lawyer Whitney Buchanan and Albuquerque resident Rosemary Sanchez. But John Wertheim, the attorney for the women, said the research for the suit was done by volunteers for one of Vigil-Giron's primary rivals, Michelle Lujan-Grisham, a former state health secretary.

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According to this AP story, three so far unnamed women represented by attorney and former NM State Party Chair John Wertheim are challenging more than 600 petition signatures submitted by Dem Rebecca Vigil-Giron in her effort to get on the primary ballot in the Congressional race in NM-01. Vigil-Giron failed to get the votes of 20% of the delegates at last month's Dem preprimary convention to automatically qualify for the ballot. The story reports:

That would leave her 100 names short of the required 1,214 signatures of registered Democrats in the district. The women's attorney, John Wertheim, says his clients feel the election is very important and it's important to play by the rules.

John Wertheim is known to be a strong supporter of another candidate in the First District primary race, Michelle Lujan-Grisham. Martin Heinrich is the clear frontrunner in the race, having gotten more than 56% of the votes in the four-way balloting at the Dem preprimary, and having raised the most campaign funds by far to date. He also has a slew of endorsements. The other candidate in the race is attorney Robert Pidcock, a newcomer to electoral politics.

NM-03: Luján to Hold Town Hall Tonight in Las Vegas

From Luján for Congress:
Public Regulation Commissioner and Congressional candidate Ben R. Luján invites Las Vegas residents to a town hall today to discuss the issues that are important to them. The town hall will be held at Memorial Middle School Auditorium, 947 Old National Road, at 6 PM on Saturday, April 5. Doors will open at 5:30 PM. The meeting is part of his Standing Up for New Mexico Tour, in which the candidate will visit every county in the 3rd Congressional District at least once before the June 3 Democratic primary.

"I want to stand up for the people who make New Mexico great. This campaign is about people, and we want to talk to New Mexicans about what's important to them," Commissioner Luján said.

McCain's Lobbyist Campaign Manager Wows the Crowd at Tamaya

UPDATE: Also see Ali's post at Clearly New Mexico for her take on the meeting and a video clip.
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McCain campaign manager Rick Davis at GOP meeting
in Bernalillo, New Mexico today

Not really, but he probably thinks he did. Republican lobbyists like Rick Davis who have ties to both the telecom industry and Ukrainian/Russian oligarchs are like that. They're used to getting attention and they're used to getting their way. Surprised that alleged "ethical reformer" and "maverick" John McCain has a lobbyist running his campaign? You shouldn't be. His campaign staff is loaded with them.

Words and actions are apparently two different things in McCain's world. Tell the people what they want to hear and then do what your corporate masters dictate to maximize profits. It's the oldest game in the book, and it's used unsparingly by our oldest presidential candidate.

Liberals!
Davis spoke today at the confab of GOP state party chairs and RNC bigwigs that's underway at the pricey Hyatt Regency Tamaya out at Santa Ana Pueblo near Bernalillo. Besides predicting victories and trying to convince his fellow Repubs that all is well in right-wing electionland this year, Lobbyist Davis pulled out this chart to try and impress the troops:

No, your eyes aren't fooling you -- there's a dirty word in plain sight on that humongous chart. LIBERAL! Davis must have thought he was very clever, showing how the percentage of Americans who identify Obama and Clinton as LIBERAL has been climbing. As if that's a bad thing or, as the chart claims, that our Dem prez candidates are "well to the left of the American electorate."

I guess it all depends on how you define LIBERAL and LEFT. Davis might be surprised to learn that polling continually shows that the majority of Americans agree with the core values held by LIBERALS. They're strongly for ending the quagmire in Iraq. They're demanding universal health care in no uncertain terms, and schools that turn out well-rounded, articulate human beings rather than test automatons. They want greedy, bottom-line obsessed financial institutions and corporations reined in to serve humans instead of the other way around. They want to be paid a living wage. They want to switch to renewable energy and clean up the environment. They want unrigged justice and a level playing field for all. And they want to keep the lobbyists like Davis as far from the political process as possible.

Mr. Lobbyist
Just who is McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis and what does he do for a living? Christy Hardin Smith of Firedoglake and Huffington Post offers some tasty tidbits:

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Obama 40 Years Down the Road: Let's Bend That Arc ...

Video of entire speech. Here's the full text.

You know, Dr. King once said that the arc of the moral universe is long, but that it bends toward justice. But what he also knew was that it doesn't bend on its own. It bends because each of us puts our hands on that arc and bends it in the direction of justice.

So on this day – of all days –
let's each do our part to bend that arc. 

Let's bend that arc toward justice.
Let's bend that arc toward opportunity.
Let's bend that arc toward prosperity for all.

And if we can do that and march together – as one nation, and one people – then we won't just be keeping faith with what Dr. King lived and died for, we'll be making real the words of Amos that he invoked so often, and "let justice roll down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream."

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NM-03: Wiviott Asks for Your Input on Questions for Petraeus & Crocker

I like this a lot. Imagine -- a candidate asking potential constituents for advice and input on an issue of supreme and timely importance. NM-03 Congressional candidate Don Wiviott is reaching out to New Mexicans for questions they'd like him to forward to General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker when the two testify next week on the situation in Iraq.

This Wednesday, General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker will testify before the House Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees about the situation on the ground in Iraq.

Next week, I'm going to unveil a series of tough questions that I would ask General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. I'm going to send those questions to the media and to members of the committees. I have an idea of what I'm going to ask - but, since it will be my job to represent you, I want to know what questions you think should be asked of General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. Please, visit my website and submit your question.

Almost every Dem candidate is for ending the Iraq quagmire, but it's impressive that Wiviott is doing what he can now, as he runs for office, to try and make a difference. This effort comes close on the heels of Wiviott's pledge last week in support of A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, which Darcy Burner, Dem Congressional candidate in WA-08, and Major General Paul Eaton and other distinguished experts worked together to produce. Wiviott is among 48 U.S. House candidates and four Senate candidates who have so far stepped up to endorse the plan. He's clearly making the Iraq occupation a centerpiece of his campaign.

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Commemorating Dr. King: Green Jobs Can Create Pathways Out of Poverty

From NMYO: April 4 marks the 40th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. To commemorate the event, staff and volunteers from New Mexico Youth Organized (NMYO) will travel to Memphis, TN this weekend for the Dream Reborn conference. Dream Reborn is an effort to honor the legacy of Dr. King by simultaneously addressing the issues of climate change, job creation and civil rights. 

NMYO Executive Director Keegan King explained, "Green jobs-blue collar jobs in green sectors of the economy-can create pathways out of poverty for young people. This goes to the core of Dr. King's teachings about equality for all. By providing job training for such things as solar panel installation, manufacturing, water treatment, recycling and sustainable agriculture, we can develop promising career paths right here in Albuquerque."

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Join "An Inconvenient Ride" in Santa Fe

From the City of Santa Fe:
A Call to all Santa Feans and Others with Bikes:
Join “An Inconvenient Ride”
When: 3:30 PM on Wednesday, April 9
Where: Harry’s Roadhouse, Old Las Vegas Highway

The City of Santa Fe invites Santa Fe cyclists and anyone with a bicycle to join students from Seattle on Wednesday, April 9, as they raise awareness of communities that are making a tangible difference in the environment. The students have received a ceremonial tree in Washington DC and will ride through cities, including Santa Fe, that have signed on to Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels’ climate protection program. On their journey, the students will collect over 10,000 signatures from Governors, Mayors and students in a show of support, and commitment, to protecting the environment.

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April 9: Equal Voices for America's Families Town Hall Meeting

From EVAF: Equal Voices for America's Families is a campaign for a family-led movement for social change. The goal is to change attitudes and policies affecting poor and working families. Over the next year, America will hear directly from families. Campaign members are hosting a series of town hall meetings across the US to develop and mobilize support for a national platform that addresses issues of concern identified by famlies. The campaign will also hold a national town hall in Los Angeles, Chicago and Birmingham on September 6, 2008.

EQUAL VOICES FOR AMERICA'S FAMILIES
ALBUQUERQUE TOWN HALL
APRIL 9, 2008, Registration begins at 5:30 PM
SOUTH BROADWAY Cultural Center, 1025 Broadway SE

Food, child care, and transportation available. For More info: Call Pat at 298-0577 at 6-9 PM or email at Phines44@aol.com.

Working together - we can change local, state and national policies to create a more just society. Representatives from ABQ Town Hall will be invited to Los Angeles. COME HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD! Elected officals are invited to listen!

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