Democracy for New Mexico

(Updated) NM Dem Caucus: All Unofficial Results Except Provisionals

UPDATE 2/14/08: See the final numbers released by the Democratic Party of New Mexico, including all ballots including provisionals.
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Yesterday, the Chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico Brian S. Colón announced that the final totals for the regular and absentee ballots. See below the fold for the tallies.

“Today’s canvass results for regular and absentee ballots provide hard evidence that New Mexico Democrats are ready for change in the White House,” said Chairman Colón.  “From ending the war in Iraq to providing solutions on health care and education, these two candidates have energized Democrats in every part of our state.  With an official turnout of 54% more than the last caucus, the 2008 Democratic Caucus turnout was absolutely unprecedented.”

In this year’s Democratic Caucus, a total of 157,354 cast an absentee, regular or provisional ballot for a Democratic Presidential candidate. Whereas, according to final tallies from the Democratic Party approximately 102,100 Democrats voted in the 2004 Caucus.

Continue reading "(Updated) NM Dem Caucus: All Unofficial Results Except Provisionals"

Chaotic Dem Caucuses Were Held In ...

This is from today's Albuquerque Journal column by Jim Belshaw:

So, with confusion as our motif, we move on to the Democratic caucus. First, a few descriptive passages:"

• "Complete chaos."
• "The decision to have only one caucus site ... appears to have been a bad one."
• "Caucus leaders ... are allowing people to vote by blue slip."
• "Confusion reigns."

That was in Nebraska, not New Mexico. The quoted material comes from a newspaper reporter at the Omaha World-Herald.

Let's try another caucus.

• "We ran out of chairs."
• "We ran out of sign-in sheets."
• "We ran out of pens."
• "We ran out of tables."
• "We ran out of everything here except for people ... I had to climb up on the table and shout. I felt like I was under siege ..."

That's not New Mexico, either. It comes from a Democratic caucus worker in Washington state.

Then there was Maine. A reader of the Talking Points Memo blog checked in via iPhone at the beginning of the Democratic caucus:

"I am at the Portland caucus now and things here are very chaotic," he wrote. "The line stretched around the block 30 minutes before the doors opened and now encircles the entire block. There are far more people trying to get in than the high school can hold."

Something's going on out there, no?

Continue reading "Chaotic Dem Caucuses Were Held In ..."

Tonight in ABQ: Stephen Kinzer & Folly of Attacking Iran Tour

NATIONAL TOUR: THE FOLLY OF ATTACKING IRAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2008, at 7:30 PM
UnNM Continuing Ed Conference Center
1634 University Blvd NE, between Indian School and Menaul
(plenty of extra parking to the north and in back)
Click for FLYER (pdf)
Reception & Refreshments to Follow

STEPHEN KINZER, author, All the Shah's Men
Dr. Michael McCally, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Justin Logan, Foreign Policy Analyst, Cato Institute

Continue reading "Tonight in ABQ: Stephen Kinzer & Folly of Attacking Iran Tour"

(Updated) FISA Fight Moves to U.S. House

UPDATE: Also see this guest post on the national blog Down With Tyranny about FISA by NM-01 Congressional candidate Martin Heinrich.
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I'm not going to regurgitate all the horrors we've witnessed with Sen. Jay Rockefeller and a bunch of other Senate Dems totally capitulating to Bush's demands on warrantless surveillence and telecom immunity. Most of you know this issue as well or much better than I do. Instead, I'll recommend that you read this post by mcjoan at Daily Kos and take action NOW to urge Dem House leaders Pelosi and Hoyer and other Reps to reject the provisions contained in the Senate version of the FISA bill and stick with the tougher protections of the House version -- the so-called RESTORE Act, which does NOT include retroactive immunity for lawbreaking telecoms. Just clicks away.

Continue reading "(Updated) FISA Fight Moves to U.S. House"

NM Legislators: Do You Support Clean Elections?

Gotta love it. Clearly New Mexico's Alicia Lueras Maldonado asked a number of New Mexico Legislators about their views on the Clean Elections bill currently being considered at the Roundhouse and posted a video (above) of their responses.

HB564, sponsored by Rep. Gail Chasey, would provide a public financing option for all statewide races in New Mexico similar to a measure enacted previously for Public Regulation Commission candidates and appeals court judges. In fact, Democrat Jason Marks is running for reelection to the PRC this cycle using the public financing option. Unfortunately, HB564 is currently mired in the House Appropriations and Finance Committee. You know why.

Continue reading "NM Legislators: Do You Support Clean Elections?"

Today's Potomac Primaries: DC, Maryland, Virginia, Plus Democrats Abroad

Dem presidential primaries are underway today in the District of Columbia (15 delegates), Maryland (70 deleagates) and Virginia (83 delegates). Also, the final results of balloting conducted at various locations overseas by Democrats Abroad (7 delegates) are due. All eyes are on Barack Obama to see if he will sweep the contests today as he swept the four held this past weekend by large margins. Recent polling shows him with substantial leads over Hillary Clinton in both Maryland and Virginia. No recent polling has been done in DC, but earlier caucuses there demonstrated strong support for Obama. Voting sites in Maryland and DC close at 6PM MST and in Virginia at 5 PM MS. CNN will have results tonight.

NM Caucus: 15,100 Provisional Ballots Checked

If you'd like to volunteer to help with provisional ballot qualifying at REDW in Albuquerque or donate some snacks or beverages for the volunteers, click for more info. They need all the help they can get to finalize the process before the Party's February 15th deadline for certification.

Yesterday afternoon, the Chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico Brian S. Colón announced that the Party made further progress with the qualification of provisional ballots. The qualification process works to assure that voters are registered and have not already cast a ballot.

“We’ve made significant progress qualifying provisional ballots,” said Chairman Colón. “Our volunteers have checked more than 15,100 provisional ballots and identified 5,466 registered Democrats—so far. At the same time, we are conducting a second search to a more extensive database to make sure that we count those provisional voters who are registered and have not already cast a ballot.”

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Help Eric Griego Gather State Senate Petition Signatures

From Eric Griego for State Senate:
We are getting a great response to our efforts to collect nominating signatures to secure my place on the June 3 primary ballot. As volunteers and I have gone door-to-door, the response to my candidacy for State Senate District 14 has been overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic. Please help me continue this effort by volunteering to help. We will be walking most weekends for the next four to six weeks. Please come join a petition gathering walk. Here are the dates during the rest of February for collecting nominating signatures: 

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(3 Updates) Ethics: Aren't You Sick of the Unnamed Alligators?

"Birdies" told me so.

UPDATE 3: See my later post that follows up on this one and reports on the "campaign limits contest" proposed by some alligator.

UPDATE 2: Be sure to read this post at Clearly New Mexico for more detail on the handling of ethics and campaign finance reform bills at the NM Legislature this year. It tells it like it is. Quote:

The fact of the matter is that Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, AARP and numerous other organizations have been actively pushing Clean Elections, Contribution Limits and an independent Ethics Commission for three years.

... the real question we all should ask and keep asking: Why are some legislative leaders putting the deep freeze on ethics reform - and right before a big election no less?

UPDATE 1: If you want more commentary on the corrupting influence of money, insider cronies and powerful lobbyists at the Roundhouse, be sure to read this piece over at Duke City Fix, this post over at m-pyre and at NM FBIHOP. They're all cookin' with gas.
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Too cowardly to speak their piece in public, too many of the most status quo/reactionary legislators, hangers on and lobbyists for elite special interests are content to leak unsourced material by taking on the personnae of the much cited Alligators over at Joe Monahan's place. It's a convenient ploy that can be used to try and gain political advanatage -- whether or not such Alligators really exist in terms of a specific issue. Who's to say where the gossip and spin are really coming from and why? After all, I could put all kinds of statements onto DFNM and claim "birdies" told me so. Who's to argue? There's no proof one way or the other.

The lastest of these stealth attacks clearly aims to convince folks that ethics and campaign finance reforms don''t have a chance in the Legislature AGAIN this year. Even more egregious is the lame excuse being pushed that the ethics package won't pass -- and maybe even shouldn't pass -- because the reformers want too much reform. Ain't that a hoot? Yes, after all the horrendous corruption scandals here and just about everywhere else in the nation due to unrestrained corporate money flowing into the system and everyone looking the other way, we have some nerve demanding that a handful of reforms -- that are supported by the public by a 70-85% margin -- be enacted. If only we'd be more patient. Quote:

Back at the Roundhouse, as our Alligators predicted, major ethics legislation appears dead. Are the ethics lobbyists asking for too much at once? That's a complaint we're hearing. Critics say after years of failure, ethics advocates should push for one big ethics bill a year, not big ethics packages. They argue if you get one piece of the pie each year, after a couple of years you would have a whole pie. Perhaps the donors to Common Cause will think about that in light of yet another unsuccessful session.

No, actually I know that donors to Common Cause and others who have long been fighting to get recalcitrant politicos to face the music and play by some rules will hold LEGISLATORS responsible if this year's ethics package doesn't pass. I know, those who reap the benefits of unfettered campaign "contributions" and don't want anyone looking into ethics allegations with a law with teeth don't want anything passed at all. And if the citizenry gets too loud, they may surrender some tiny piece of turf but never all the pieces that would create a real wall against corruption. "Alligators" are like that.

Another Example of Insider Crapola
If you want more evidence that much of what Monahan and his "Alligators" say is mostly a bunch of hooie, coming directly from the perches of the elite, dig these paragraphs offering a cure for the kinds of caucus/primary problems that are being experienced all over the nation this year:

Continue reading "(3 Updates) Ethics: Aren't You Sick of the Unnamed Alligators?"

You're Invited: 2/13 Fundraiser for Martin Heinrich

Please join us at the home of Linda Joyce
for a House Party Fundraiser with
Democratic Congressional Candidate
Martin Heinrich
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Wednesday, February 13, 2008
5:30-7:00PM
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13220 Executive Ridge Dr. NE
Albuquerque, NM 87112
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Please consider making an investment in New Mexico’s future
with your contribution of $25, $50, $100
or whatever your finances will allow!
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Hors d'oeuvres, dessert, beer, wine and soft drinks provided.
Please RSVP to Linda at (505) 292-2611
Click for invitation (doc)