Democracy for New Mexico

NM-Sen: Wilson & Pearce Debate in Los Alamos

Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce faced off on Friday in Los Alamos as the two current members of Congress from New Mexico continued their often nasty battle to be the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate here. KRQE News 13 live-streamed the debate on its website and you can now view an archived video of the entire event here.

In her opening statement, Heather calls herself a "common sense conservative," citing the usual no taxes and for-the-family lines. She then rushes right into how she believes the family is the "fibre" of our nation. Well, except for GLBT families. She stresses in one of her first sentences how she's for marriage being reserved for "one man and one woman." You know the routine. How that's more "common sense" than Pearce's approach, I have no idea.

The two GOP candidates appear to be clones on most major issues. During the debate a major point of contention was who would be better at eternally increasing the nuclear weapons budget for Los Alamos National Labs while, at the same time, being against every other state's so-called "pork."

Wilson also deemed herself a "tough boot" for winning her past races in NM-01, perhaps to try and compensate for her strangely shaky voice during the debate, compared with Pearce's soft-talking but steadfast he-man routine.

On health care they both offered the weak, business as usual "market-based" prescriptions, although Pearce threw in the nugget that he believes health care savings accounts can cut the use of health care if you pile up some money in your account. Then, you'll be more likely to want to save it by taking an aspirin and nixing a trip to the emergency room. I'm not kidding.

I could go on, but why not view the video yourself (if you like to watch paint dry) or, better yet, read the Los Alamos blog The Bomb Town News Observer for an engaging first-hand account.

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OMG: Naked Lapels Shock Viewers of ABC's This Week

George Stephanopoulos and John McSame on today's This Week on ABC, sans flag pins on their lapels. What are we to make of this after last week's ABC debate that made a candidate's decision to wear or not to wear a flag pin on a lapel one of the defining critieria we should consider in choosing a president this year? And why wasn't Johnny badgered about why he wasn't wearing one? (h/t Crooks and Liars)

Then again, maybe we should pay more attention to this kind of story about the Repub prez nominee and his history of temper tantrums and rants.

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NM-01: 2008 1Q Totals for Heinrich and White

Heinrich's getting lots of attention from the netroots

Summary first quarter fundraising totals for two candidates in the NM-01 Congressional race have now been released ahead of the April 15th reporting deadline. Dem Martin Heinrich raised $200,000 this quarter, again matching the campaign's fundraising goal. That brings his total to an impressive $665,000 this election cycle in a primary race featuring three other candidates, in a state where all three Congressional seats and one Senate seat are open and filled with competitors chasing dollars.

Even better, Heinrich reportedly has nearly $350,000 in cash on hand, having run a fiscally prudent operation since he entered the race in August of last year. The campaign has emphasized grassroots outreach instead of expensive polling and consulting expenditures. As a result, a significant portion of Heinrich's financial support has come from small donors. He's received campaign contributions from more than 2,000 individuals to date.

In a statement Heinrich said, "I'm proud and humbled by the outpouring of support I’ve received from folks across this district. For months, we have focused on building both the grassroots and fundraising infrastructure that we will need to win in June and in November – and our huge successes at the convention and in this most recent fundraising period are proof that this campaign has what it takes to succeed."

Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, the GOP leadership's annointed candidate in the race, reportedly raised $233,000 in the first quarter of the year, bringing his total in the election cycle to about $447,000. He says he has approximately $300,000 in cash on hand, about $50,000 less than Heinrich even though White has only one nominal Repub primary competitor in Joe Carraro. Both the State Repub Party and the RNC have come out in support of White -- a rarity in a primary battle.

White's totals have to be disappointing to his campaign and the GOP alike. With little to no competition for donation dollars in the NM-01 Repub primary, you'd think White would be pretty much rolling in dough by now. Of course the Repubs have been lagging way behind Dem fundraising at all levels this election cycle. GOP donors have been mighty tight-fisted from the presidential race on down, reflecting a widespread lack of enthusiasm for both their candidates and their chances at a time when Repub positions on everything from the Iraq occupation to the economy are highly unpopular with the majority of voters.

Heinrich has consistently outraised all of his Democratic opponents, and is the clear frontrunner on the Dem side having garnered 56% of the delegate vote at the Dem's preprimary convention in March, double that of Michelle Lujan Grisham, his closest opponent. There's been no word yet on the first quarter fundraising totals from the other Dems in the primary race.

Also in the running are former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron, who entered the race right before the filing deadline, and attorney Robert Pidcock, a political newcomer. Both of them submitted additional petition signatures to get on the ballot after they failed to get the needed 20% of delegate votes for an automatic place on the ballot. Meanwhile, 600 of Vigil-Giron's petition signatures are being challenged by supporters of Lujan Grisham. If successful, the suit would keep Vigil-Giron off the ballot.

To see our previous coverage of the 2008 Congressional race in NM-01, visit our archive.

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Repubs Getting Nasty in NM US Senate Primary: Club for Growth Takes on Heather Wilson

The ultra-right-wing lobbying group, Club for Growth, is coming out early and hard against Repub Rep. Heather Wilson in her primary battle against Rep. Steve Pearce. They just released the video above hitting Wilson on her alleged "liberal" voting record on spending. If Heather Wilson is considered a liberal, we're all in trouble!

The hard right Pearce has long been a favorite of the Club for Growth. This is, after all, the Congressman who opposed expanding S-CHIP health coverage for children with every fibre of his being. I'm sure he'd at least be tempted to throw his mother off the train if he thought it would provide him some tax relief. Pearce and other pets of the Club for Growth think government spending should be limited to waging unending wars and building border fences. Well, and generous pork to their corporate friends. Children, seniors, the less fortunate? They can all take a hike in Pearce's insular world of the selfishly well heeled.

Check out the Club for Growth's stated policy goals:

• Making the Bush tax cuts permanent
• Death tax repeal
• Cutting and limiting government spending
• Social Security reform with personal retirement accounts
• Expanding free trade
• Legal reform to end abusive lawsuits
• Replacing the current tax code
• School choice
• Regulatory reform and deregulation

Now consider the world you see around you and absorb the fact that the Club for Growth and Steve Pearce entirely approve of what's happening to the economy and working people due to the self-serving agenda of the Repub right wing. In fact, they want more, more, more of the same. Their cronies win, win, win when that happens.

It can only help Dems that the Repub primary race for the U.S. Senate is getting so nasty so early. Neither one of the Repub candidates can hold a candle to the Dem candidate Tom Udall on wise economic policy, ending the war, forward-looking energy and environmental proposals or just about anything else. Their primary goal? Protecting the assets of their cronies. Just what America needs.

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House Repub "ROMP" Initiative Targets NM-01 Race

Here's another indication that the GOP will be sending big money from Washington into New Mexico's First Congressional District race. According to a new CQ Politics :

Its not uncommon for congressional leaders to steer fundraising assistance to party candidates who are in difficult races and in need of extra campaign cash. One such effort is the House Republicans’ “ROMP,” an acronym for Regain Our Majority Program, which has released its latest list of Republican candidates who will benefit from additional aid because they are politically vulnerable and/or have been targeted by the Democrats for defeat.

“ROMP 2008,” presently overseen by the political operation of House Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio, was recently established in papers filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). These records identify the 10 newest recipients of the program’s assistance.

Included in the first group of candidates targeted this year for special financial support is Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White. Rest assured that the Dems in D.C. will also be pouring money and support into the NM-01 race as never before. Apparently there'll be no holding back on the part of either party, although Dems are expected to have a distinct advantage because Repubs will be forced to defend so many of their seats this cycle and they're raising donations at a much slower clip than Dems.

At this point, the CQ rates the NM-01 contest as No Clear Favorite.

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:

-- Rick Davis arranged a cocktail meet and greet with McCain and a Russian businessman, Oleg Deripaska, so controversial that the US has revoked his visa -- at an economic conference in Switzerland. Davis' lobbying firm was trying to secure business with the Russian at the time, while the firm was already representing a competing political interest in Ukraine.

-- Mr. Davis, while working with the McCain 2008 campaign, also managed to procure a fat internet services contract from the campaign and kept lobbying for clients whose interests were opposed to McCain's own policy pronouncements.

--It seems that Davis has quite a few money-scandal skeletons in his closet:

Davis is a particularly easy target, having several money-related scandals in his background. A veteran of the Reagan administration, Davis ran McCain's presidential bid six years ago. He also founded a lobbying firm -- Davis, Manafort Inc. -- which has made at least $2.8 million lobbying Congress since 1998.

Over the past eight years, Davis' two roles often overlapped. In 1999, while he was McCain's campaign manager, his firm represented SBC Communications Inc. and Comsat Corp. At that time, both communications companies had controversial mergers pending at the Federal Communications Commission. The Senate Commerce Committee has legislative authority over the FCC, and McCain was chairman of that committee. Both mergers were eventually approved....

There's lots more on Davis, and other lobbyists who work for McCain, but you get the idea. Mr. Straight Talk's campaign is run by a prominent Crooked Talker.

McCain Attempts Mea Culpa
And where was McCain today -- on the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.? Trying to make amends for his history of colluding with the equality-impraired -- and battling against the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday -- by speaking at the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. Where he got booed, rained on and hassled. He also dissembled to the press about his dismal civil rights record, and became irritated when pressed. But at least he's not LIBERAL.

National Politicos Converging on New Mexico

Hillary Clinton will be jetting in and out of Albuquerque on Sunday for a big-ticket fundraiser organized by former Ambassador to Spain, Ed Romero:

At Clinton's fundraiser, invitees will pay $2,300 to be "sponsors," while "friends" pay $1,000 for the catered event of Spanish tapas, wine and sherry. Romero declined to say how much Clinton hopes to raise.

The guest list will include Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez, former state Democratic Party chairman John Wertheim and former Ambassador Joe Wilson and his wife, Valerie Plame, who says she was outed as a CIA operative after her husband criticized the Bush administration's handling of prewar intelligence on Iraq.

Payback for Gov. Bill Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama? I wouldn't be surprised. What I am surprised about is that the hosts are seeking funds for Clinton's lagging prez campaign at a time when local cash donations are in high demand here. With all three U.S. House seats and Domenici's U.S. Senate seat up for grabs, Dem candidates in New Mexico are scrambling hard for contributions, especially after so many resources went to support Gov. Richardson's prez run. Reports are abundant that the Clinton campaign is running out of cash and delaying payments to vendors, as pressure builds from many quarters for her to withdraw from an increasingly unwinnable race and Obama continues to snag endorsements from prominent superdelegates.

GOP Tamaya Huddle
Meanwhile, out at Santa Ana Pueblo's Hyatt Regency Tamaya near Bernalillo we've got a big meeting going on this week of the GOP State Party Chairs from all over the nation, led by Republican National Committee Chair Mike Duncan (right). Duncan has made it clear that the Repubs will be targeting New Mexico with everything they've got in the 2008 election cycle:

"New Mexico is a battleground target state for us," Republican National Committee chairman Mike Duncan told The Associated Press. "We recognize it's going to be an important state for us."

Darren White: GOP Beltway Fave
Besides touting the prez campaign of John McCain, the RNC is also taking sides early and rallying around the Congressional candidacy of Darren White in NM-01 -- to the detriment of the Party's other primary candidate, State Sen. Joe Carraro.

It's unusual for the national or state party to openly take sides in a contested primary race, but Duncan said party rules allow that when requested by a state's RNC members. New Mexico's three RNC members, who include state chairman Allen Weh, submitted a letter to the national party asking it to treat White as the presumptive nominee. The letter was sent after White received 85 percent of the vote of delegates at the party's preprimary nominating convention in mid-March.

Of course the RNC will be pushing hard for Darren White -- he was the Bush campaign's chair in Bernalillo County in 2004. Repub bigwigs know that Darren's loyalty will always be given first and foremost to the Beltway rightwing establishment. If elected (heaven forbid), he'll be a dependable supporter of the insider Repub agenda whether it benefits New Mexicans or not. White has always answered to the demands of the GOP extremists in DC. What's worse is that he seems to sincerely believe in the policies that have brought us a quagmire in Iraq, an economic tsunami at home, a compromised Constitution, a broken health care system and a dearth of good-paying jobs.

McCain (The American) Chooses NM for First TV Ad: What Middle Class Tax Relief?

Repub prez nominee John McCain launched his first TV ad of the general election cycle right here in New Mexico (above). The GOP must be nervous about all the incredible Dem energy being generated in NM by the lively contests in all three Congressional Districts -- and Tom Udall's positives in his race to take Pete Domenici's Senate seat. With strong candidates for Congress AND the Senate, Dems have a really good chance of turning New Mexico Blue, Blue, Blue in November -- especially if the Dem prez candidate can trounce McCain and give the downticket contenders a ride on his or her coat tails.

An American President Americans Have Been Waiting For?
Even though New Mexico's TV market is one of the cheapest in the nation, McCain's melodramatically staged ad doesn't seem to provide much bang for the buck. Everybody knows by now that McCain is a war vet and that he was courageous when captured by the Viet Cong. I also presume that everybody knows McCain is an AMERICAN, a word that crops up repeatedly in the ad. I guess the emphasis is meant to contrast McCain with that Dem candidate with the "foreign sounding" name -- Barack Obama.

Weak and transparent, isn't it? The ad's deep-throated narrator intones, "John McCain: The American president Americans have been waiting for." As opposed to that funny-named mixed breed sorta kinda Muslim guy running on the Dem ticket. You know. Obviously, those old standbys -- jingoism and fear, Republican style -- will be omnipresent in the GOP spin this cycle. What else do they have to run on? The truth about their policies hurts.

Middle Class Tax Relief?
What will McCain actually do for America besides have a narrator insist that "she is worth protecting"?  The ad whips in a line about "middle class tax relief," but offers not a scintilla of info on what that means. It does an abysmal job of explaining how McCain's sloganeering will translate into policies that are good for working families. It asks New Mexicans to look for someone that can “walk the walk,” but McCain clearly isn't walking the walk when it comes to providing tax relief for middle class Americans.

Despite his previous opposition, McCain has been trumpeting the wisdom of Bush's massive cuts for the rich for months now, with nary a word about any help for the middle and working class folks. Suddenly he's worried about the economic fortunes of ordinary Americans? I guess McCain is now ready to say and do almost anything to try and get elected president, even if it doesn't quite fit his carefully crafted rep as a "straight talker."

Here’s what McCain’s tax relief plan actually offers, according to an indepth analysis by the Center for American Progress Action Fund:

• Provides only 9 percent of its benefits to the bottom 80 percent of taxpayers
• Provides 58 percent of its benefits to the top 1 percent
• Would require, if paid for, massive cuts in benefits for middle-class taxpayers

As a presidential candidate McCain not only embraces the Bush tax cuts but also proposes massive additional tax cuts that are even more tilted against the middle class.

According to another careful analysis by the CAP Action Fund, the centerpiece of McCain's economic plan consists of more tax cuts for large corporations, including almost $4 billion in cuts for the top five oil companies. This, despite the fact oil companies have been raking in record profits thanks to the high price of crude oil and the weak dollar.

Just Another Bushie
Although McCain continually wraps himself in the flag -- and exploits his past service to the nation to gain political leverage -- his policies clearly show he's more loyal to multinational corporations and the wealthy elite than he is to the majority of Americans. His economic policies favor the haves, not the have nots who've gotten such a bum deal over the past eight years. His economic proposals aren't designed to serve the traditional American values of offering opportunity and a level playing field to all, no matter how much patriotic verbiage is inserted into his ads.

Like Bush, it's evident that McCain serves the interests of the wealthy elites -- not those of the common man or woman in America. Look beyond the flag waving to the policies he's promoting and you'll see that all McCain is offering is more of the same cynical policies that got us into this economic quagmire to begin with. Just what America and Americans don't need.

Hey Heather Wilson: Return the Vitter Cash

From Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington:
Washington, DC – In light of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s call for candidates and members of Congress to return soon-to-be former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s (D) donations, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) wonders why members and the National Republican Senatorial Committee have not returned Sen. David Vitter’s (R-LA) contributions. As widely reported, Sen. Vitter has solicited prostitutes in the past. Rather than being condemned and ostracized, Sen. Vitter received a standing ovation at a Republican Caucus luncheon after his transgressions became public.

Government officials must obey all laws, not just those with which they agree. We do not, however, advocate returning legal campaign donations made by officials who broke the law when the contributions are in no way tied to the illegal activity. Nevertheless, we note that what is good for the goose should be good for the gander and, therefore, point out the following contributions made by Sen. Vitter:

2006 Cycle:
National Republican Senatorial Committee – $25,000
House members:
Charles Boustany, Jr. (R-LA) – $1,000
Steve Chabot (R-OH) – $2,500
Jim Gerlach (R–PA) – $2,000
Deborah Pryce (R-OH) – $2,000
Mark Souder (R-IN) – $2,000
Heather Wilson (R-NM) – $2,000

Senate members:
Bob Corker (R-TN) – $10,000
John Ensign (R-NV) – $5,000
Orrin Hatch (R-UT) – $5,000
Jon Kyl (R-AZ) – $6,000

2008 Cycle:

Senate member:
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) – $1,000
***
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.

For more information, please visit www.citizensforethics.org or contact Naomi Seligman Steiner at 202.408.5565/nseligman@citizensforethics.org.

NM Repub Senate Pre-Primary: Pearce 55%, Wilson 45%

This AP story has the details. Rep. Steve Pearce (NM-02) had predicted a "huge victory" over Rep. Heather Wilson (NM-01) in the Repub Pre-Primary for U.S. Senate, so his win by a little less than 10 points was a definite let down at the NM GOP's Pre-Primary Convention at the Albuquerque Marriott Hotel. Expect the battle between Peace and Wilson to escalate in the weeks between now and the June 3rd primary while Dem rival Rep. Tom Udall (NM-03), who has no competition in the Dem primary builds his campaign and bolsters his already strong support statewide. Kate Nash has the complete results