Democracy for New Mexico

Hillary Says She and McCain Ready for Presidency, Not Obama

If this isn't the most disloyal statement by a Democrat running for the nomination in decades, I don't know what it is. Coming down to the wire in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island, Hillary Clinton is praising John McCain as she bashes Obama. I'll say that again -- she's praising McCain. According to a statement Hillary made to reporters at a press conference in Fort Worth today, only she and McCain have the "experience" necessary to be president.

The irony about the "experience" she cites is demonstrated in the second part of the video above, while she's making her Senate floor statement supporting her vote for Bush's Iraq invasion. She cites her "experience" of eight years in the White House to justify her vote. Got that? Her EXPERIENCE convinced her to vote for Bush's unilateral war based on lies -- lies that multitudes around the globe saw through from the get go. And the life experience-rich McCain? He voted right along with Hillary to get us into this horror. Apparently, it's that same "experience" that's convincing him it would be peachy keen to stay in Iraq for 100 more years.

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Joel Davis Kicks Off Campaign for State Senate, District 10

The Friends of Joel Davis cordially invite you to join us for the first event in support of Joel Davis, Democrat for NM Senate District 10! Joel Davis is a positive voice for change!

When: Wednesday, March 5, 6:00 PM
Location: Q-Bar in Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town
800 Rio Grande Boulevard NW, Albuquerque
View MAP  Phone: (505) 401-7901

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Large Turnout at Pre-Primary Convention of Bernalillo County Dems

State Party Chair Brian Colón revs the crowd

Note: I'll post some video clips and more photos later from Saturday's DPBC Convention. Here's my first installment.

As you may have noticed, Democrats are supercharged these days, turning out in droves at primaries, caucuses, campaign offices and party meetings all over the country. Bernalillo County Dems are no exception. The meeting room was packed at Saturday's DPBC Pre-Primary Convention at the Cibola High School Performing Arts Center on Albquerque's West Side.

Rep. Tom Udall urges Dems not to take anything for granted

With 646 delegates apportioned to the County, this was New Mexico's largest county party gathering among the confabs being held in counties around the state to elect delegates to the State Pre-Primary Convention. A total of 459 credentialed delegates (including the alternate replacements) were present at the DPBC Convention. Attendees filled the seats, lined the back of the room and formed delegate knots conferring in the hallways and at the tables of the candidates.

DPBC Parliamentarian Tim Keller, DPBC Chair Ana Canales

Unlike other counties where Dems elect their state delegates at their pre-primaries, Bernalillo County's elections of state delegates and alternates took place previously at ward/precinct meetings. The delegates to the State Convention were confirmed at the DPBC Pre-Primary. The State Convention is set for March 15, 2008 at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho.

The DPBC Pre-Primary agenda also included discussing and passing resolutions to be forwarded to the state level, hearing from 2008 candidates and generally touching base to gear up for our June primary and the general election in November. Not to mention gossiping, hugging, sharing Repub jokes and downing all those little treats provided by campaigns.

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Thursday: Sen. Cisco McSorley Reelection Celebration

From the Committee to Elect Cisco McSorley Senate District 16, 415 Wellesley Place NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106: You're invited to celebrate with Cisco McSorley as he prepares to run for re-election as New Mexico State Senator. Please join us Thursday, March 6 from 5:30 - 7 PM at O'Neill's Pub in Nob Hill at 4310 Central Ave SE, ABQ 87108. More info: mcsorley4nm@earthlink.net.

Ortiz y Pino: A Time Traveler's Guide to the 2009 Legislature

This is a guest blog by Jerry Ortiz y Pino, a Democratic State Senator who represents District 12 in Albuquerque.

You don’t have to own a crystal ball to realize that next year’s New Mexico State Legislative session will face an enormous agenda of unfinished business ... even before it tries to address the next generation of great new ideas coming down the pike.

In an earlier piece (in the The Sun News) I described what I think will have to be the next session’s main preoccupation: finding additional tax revenue to keep the Ship of State afloat.  We are coming out of an unprecedented period of economic prosperity in New Mexico.  Revenues have been growing at a rate sufficient to permit both generous tax cuts and ambitious program growth.

That period is now just about at its end.  Adjusting to the new realities of State Finance may be painful.  It will certainly require some additional courage or creativity on the part of a Legislature which has grown accustomed to rarely having to say “no” to any of the interests seeking its assistance.

However, even in the new era of economic belt-tightening which we are entering, there still will need to be solutions devised for the most troublesome of our social problems.  Pleading our state’s poverty as an excuse can never replace determined action. Our very real poverty is simply a complication we have to deal with in confronting the knottiest of our problems.

Here are a dozen guideposts to help keep track of the action leading up to next year’s legislative battles.  These are: three big ticket items; three time bombs; three cries for justice and three leftovers on the table.

Three Big Ticket Items for Our Shopping Cart
There are three big expenditures lurking over the horizon, awaiting action.  We ran away from them this year, postponing the inevitable for twelve months, hoping for some kind of fiscal miracle to spare us from shelling out the almost one billion in total new dollars that they will require.  That miracle isn’t going to occur.

In 2009 I believe we will have at last to stop running from them.  The ultimate cost of resolving them is only growing more difficult with each passing year, not easier.  Each of them is estimated to require $300 million or more (in 2008—by next year they will all have bigger price tags).

These three major purchases are the new public school funding formula; the bail-out of the public employees’ health insurance fund, and the Governor’s health care reform package (or some acceptable alternative to it).  All three have another characteristic in common: the longer we wait to act on each of them, the more expensive the ultimate hit will be.  We can run; we can hide, but we can’t escape.

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Lazy Sunday

I'm feeling relaxed and lazy this Sunday so I thought I'd ditch the political writing and instead offer you a couple of alternative ways to waste spend your time.

For political junkies: Try fooling around with the presidential delegate calculator, courtesy of Forbes.com. Delegates already won by Obama and Clinton are built into the calculation, and the tool allows you to punch in the results you predict in outstanding primaries and caucuses to get revised delegate counts and a myriad of permutations. What combination of wins will propel your candidate (or the opponent) to victory in the delegate count?

For aging tech enthusiasts: Check out this detailed wiki of obsolete skills related to computers, electronics and other things that require some degree of technical acumen. You can edit the entries or add your own. How many obsolete practices can your overloaded, deteriorating brain remember? Be honest. For starters, I confess that I remember changing the ribbon on a typewriter, dialing a rotary phone and operating a ditto machine.

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Clinton vs. Obama: Compare and Contrast

Will.i.am's new video above vs. HRCin08's video below.

And then there's the Clinton campaign's new fear not hope phone at 3 AM TV ad:

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NM-03: Luján Open House Sunday

From Ben R. Luján for Congress:
The Ben R. Lujan for Congress Campaign is hosting an open house from 2 to 6 PM, Sunday, March 2. We hope you’ll join us, share your ideas and enjoy a bite to eat. Come talk with the candidate, see our new headquarters and learn about our campaign to bring New Mexico values to Washington!

• WHAT: Grand Opening of Ben R. Luján for Congress Campaign Headquarters
• WHERE: 1516 Paseo de Peralta, across from New Mexico Bank & Trust and next to Bulldog Gym
• WHEN: 2-6 PM, Sunday, March 2
• Click for Flyer

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NM-01: Repub Insiders Threaten Their Own

Must read: Dennis Domrzalski's post today about the threats received by Joe Carraro, Mark Boitano and Janice Arnold-Jones from Republican insiders warning them not to enter the NM-01 Republican primary -- or else. Powerful Repubs made it clear in no uncertain terms that current Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White (right) was the annointed nominee chosen by insiders and that anyone challenging that decision would be the target of a smear campaign or worse. Now the New Mexico Attorney General's office is reportedly looking into whether they should launch a full-scale investigation into the threats against Carraro:

The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office is checking out allegations that state Sen. Joe Carraro, an Albuquerque Republican, was threatened with a vicious smear campaign—including threats bring up and 20-year-divorce case an embarrass his children—if he went through with his decision to seek his party’s nomination for the First Congressional District seat.

The AG’s office is analyzing information to see if it warrants a full-blown investigation, said office spokesman Phil Sisneros.

“He (Carraro) has talked to the Attorney General about his concerns and his concerns have gone into the hopper,” Sisneros said. “The usual process is that we determine if there is something actionable, if there is something we can do. It is an analysis of the information. It was just last week that we spoke to the senator.”

Carraro has also reportedly contacted the FBI about the threats, which he deems to be "extortion":

He says the feds should be involved because some of the threats involved a former state Republican Party official who now works in Texas. “These people should be in jail the way they’re threatening people,” Carraro said.

As for the other two Repubs who considered entering the primary in CD-1,

State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, R-Albuquerque, and state Sen. Mark Boitano, R-Albuquerque, said they received similar threats when they were considering runs for Wilson’s seat. Arnold-Jones said operatives threatened to go after her 20-year-old daughter, a student at the University of New Mexico.

Boitano, a legislator for 12 years, said he was informed through his campaign manager that he would be attacked for being a member of the Unification Church if he chose to run for Wilson’s seat.

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If You're Not Part of the Solution, You're Part of the Problem

From the Democratic Party of New Mexico:
The Democratic Party of New Mexico is recruiting Neighborhood Leaders across the Land of Enchantment. The job of a Neighborhood Leader is simple and easy. You agree to take responsibility for contacting your friends and neighbors in your immediate area and talking to them about our Democratic nominees and the issues that matter most. If you are interested in becoming a Neighborhood Leader please contact Northern Field Organizer, Crystal Romero, or Southern Field Organizer, Miriam Diemer, by telephone at (505) 830-3650 or crystal@nmdemocrats.org and miriam@nmdemocrats.org.

We also need volunteers in our office to assist with data entry and reception duties. If you are interested in volunteering at the Albuquerque office please contact DPNM’s Volunteer Coordinator, Buck Glanz, at 505-830-3650 or buck@nmdemocrats.org. We have three hour shifts throughout the day and we need your help. Please specify your availability. 

DNC Trainings in New Mexico
There will be a series of trainings taking place next from Sunday, March 2nd thru Thursday, March 6th all across New Mexico focused on the Neighborhood Leader Program. Parag Mehta, Democratic National Committee Training Director will be heading up the curriculum for each of the events. Find a training near you and make a difference in your community:

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