Democracy for New Mexico

True Blue New Mexico: Last Chance to Help Our Congressional Candidates

Martin Heinrich, Ben Ray Lujan, Tom Udall, Harry Teague

Daily Kos is running a series called "Listening to the Locals," and today they're featuring New Mexico. Matt from NM FBIHOP  did the excellent diary and it's now front-paged on Kos. Check in here, add your comments and, most importantly, donate a few bucks to the cause! I know many of us are pretty tapped out now, but even $5 or $10 can make a real difference as we count down to election day.

Click on image to donate!

We really CAN win these races this year. As I'm sure you've all noticed, the energy on the ground here is outrageous and all the candidates, their staffs, the DPNM coordinated campaign and the tons of volunteers are working their butts off. I've never witnessed anything like it.

But as Matt says, it can be difficult to raise the kind of money needed by all the candidates in a state that's so huge, but which has a small population. Our Congressional Districts are so HUGE -- especially NM-02 where Harry Teague is running. The state of Pennsylvania would fit inside its boundaries with room to spare. That's a lot of ground to cover in terms of travel, voter contact and advertising budgets.

We've never had all four seats up for grabs at the same time -- let alone a presidential race to boot -- so donations, especially late in the game, can be hard to come by. All the campaigns need our help to battle in the last days against the smears of the GOP and Freedom's Watch.

Over the course of this election -- from the primaries on -- Matt and I have gotten to know the candidates very well as they've all been highly accessible, open and available to bloggers and everyone else. We've come to know them on a first name basis, and I know many of you have too.

I'm sure Matt will agree that Tom Udall (U.S. Senate), Martin Heinrich (NM-01), Ben Ray Lujan (NM-03) and Harry Teague (NM-02) are not only effective candidates and true Dems, but top-notch human beings as well. Honest, caring, dedicated to change, fun, smart and great to talk to. They are with us, all the way. They are one with our hopes and dreams. They will work hard in Washington for the things we care deeply about. But first we have to make the last push to help them win their races.

So I urge you to do what you can to help make New Mexico a Blue State in '08. We are SO close to having a True Blue New Mexico and your donations can be instrumental in ensuring our success. You can give to all our Congressional candidates on the page, as well as to Obama. 

However, we're making a special push today for Martin Heinrich in NM-01 and Harry Teague in NM-02 because they are both in very tight battles -- where the GOP and shady groups like Freedom's Watch are very active.

Please given what you can, not matter how small, to bring our candidates down the home stretch. And thanks for all you do and have done for months and years now -- all of you!

After Midnight ...

... it'll be too late. Too late to donate to one or all of our True Blue New Mexico candidates before the end of the second quarter campaign finance reporting period. Consider donating even $1 or $5 to help remake our state into a True Blue New Mexico. If we'd all do our part, the totals would rise dramatically. Lots of small donations can often overcome the influence of big donations from all the wrong people to the GOP candidates running against our Dems. But to make it work, we all have to participate.

Take Martin Heinrich's race for Congress in NM-01. Bush flew into town recently and raised more than $300,000 in whopper donations from GOP bigwigs for Repub Darren White. How do we help to undercut that advantage? By clicking here and donating even a few bucks to Martin Heinrich's campaign. Martin's aiming to raise at least $75,000 $100,000? online by midnight tonight. Can we help put him over the top?

You can plug in an amount at the top of the ActBlue page to be split among the five True Blue candidates or you can scroll down and give only to one or two. But I do hope you give something, whatever you can, before tonight at 11:59 PM.

Down-Ticket Races
Are you more motivated to give to candidates in down-ticket races? You can easily do just that on ActBlue too. Whether you live in their districts or not, onsider donating to these Dems in contested New Mexico legislative and other races:

New Mexico State House Races:

Janice Saxton (website)
Dem candidate for NM House in HD 22
ActBlue page

Ben Rodefer
Dem candidate for NM House in HD 23
ActBlue page

Ellen Wedum (website)
Dem candidate for NM House in HD 59
ActBlue page

Craig Cosner (website and address for check)
Dem candidiate for NM House in HD 67

More New Mexico House candidates

New Mexico State Senate Races:

Jeff Carr (website)
Dem candidate for NM Senate in SD 7
ActBlue page

Victor Raigoza (website)
Dem candidate for NM Senate in SD 10
ActBlue page

Tim Eichenberg (website)
Dem candidate for NM Senate in SD 15
ActBlue page

Jessica Wolfe (website)
Dem candidate for NM Senate in SD 21
ActBlue page

More New Mexico Senate candidates

Bernalillo County Clerk:

Maggie Toulouse Oliver (website and donation button)

Did I leave out a favorite candidate of yours? Let me know in the comments and I will add the name to my listing.

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True Blue New Mexico: Win a Chance to Hike with Heinrich

Heinrich speaks at DFA Campaign Academy yesterday in ABQ

Martin Heinrich's NM-01 Congressional campaign is retooling now that primary season is over and attention gets refocused on defeating GOP nominee Darren White on November 4th. For one thing, the campaign office has moved to a new location at 4105 Silver SE in Albuquerque, just south of Central near the corner of Montclaire and Silver.

A new fundraising blitz is also underway. Martin needs us to help him replenish his campaign coffers after an intense (and expensive) primary contest. The goal is to raise $35,000 by the end of this month when the current FEC fundraising quarter ends -- and you can track progress at the their website's rapidly filling balloon. As an added incentive to donate, you'll be entered into a drawing for a chance to take a hike (literally) with Martin when you donate to his campaign via his website OR our True Blue New Mexico page. As Heinrich explains, everyone who donates before Midnight on June 30th will be entered in the drawing for the hike -- and Martin knows hiking:

As many of you know, I served as Executive Director of the Cottonwood Gulch Foundation for many years. In that capacity, I managed six figure budgets, oversaw scores of employees and provided outdoor educational experiences for hundreds of kids. I also gained a deep appreciation for New Mexico's outdoors.

Everyone that contributes online between now and the end of the quarter will be entered into a drawing to go hiking with me on one of my favorite trails in the district. So, please, contribute today and let's send a message to Darren White that cozying up to George Bush isn't the kind of leadership New Mexicans are looking for!

FILL THE BALLOON! CONTRIBUTE $25, $50, $100 OR MORE TODAY!

Let me be blunt. We spent a lot of money uniting the Democratic Party with a strong win on June 3rd. I need your help to refill our tank so that we can be ready to fight the George Bush-funded smears that we all know are coming.

By the way, both Robert Novak and Chris Cillizza predicted last week that Heinrich has an excellent chance for victory in November. Cillizza rates the race as #9 in his top picks for a change to Dem:

9. New Mexico's 1st (Open seat, R): As expected, Bernalillo County Sheriff (R) and former Albuquerque City Councilman Martin Heinrich (D) won their respective party primaries on June 3. White's chances were struck something of a blow, however, when Rep. Heather Wilson (R), who has held the 1st District since 1998, lost in the Senate primary. That means White won't have the advantage of Wilson driving turnout in her political base come the fall. Still, this is a race to watch as it features two quality candidates in a district that is as evenly split along partisan lines as any in the country. (Previous ranking: 10)

True Blue New Mexico was launched last Monday by this blog and New Mexico FBIHOP, and both of us featured personal messages by True Blue New Mexico candidates during the past week. Please give what you can to get the campaigns off to a rousing start now that the general election has kicked off in earnest.

I also wanted to give a shout-out to Avelino Maestas at Live From Silver City for designing our smashing True Blue New Mexico logo, and putting up with a slew of emails as we planned the launch. Thanks, Ave!

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True Blue New Mexico: Tom Udall on the Clear Choice We Have This Year

We're very pleased to feature a personal message from True Blue New Mexico candidate Tom Udall, our outstanding candidate for U.S. Senate. Tom took time away from his busy schedule in Washington to reach out to us this morning and talk about what's at stake in November.

During this past week, DFNM and New Mexico FBIHOP also published guest posts from fellow True Blue candidates Martin Heinrich, Harry Teague amd Ben Ray Lujan, which you can see here and . Now we need some help from you. Please donate whatever you can afford to demonstrate real Democratic UNITY up and down the ticket in New Mexico this year. Rep. Tom Udall tells us why it's so important:

I’d really like to start off by saying thank you to both Democracy for New Mexico and New Mexico FBIHOP for hosting True Blue New Mexico 2.0! It is an honor to have the support of DFNM and NMFBIHOP. I know how hard you all work to bring new stories to light, support candidates, and hold those of us that are in office accountable – and I know that you’ll keep my feet to the fire throughout this campaign. New Mexico really benefits from your service, so keep it up!

I am running for the Senate because it really is extraordinary what’s happened over the last eight years. George Bush and Steve Pearce took a surplus and lost it. They took a strong military and exhausted it, they took an impartial Department of Justice and politicized it and finally took our reputation in the world and destroyed it. We’ve gone from being a beacon of hope to a defender of torture and pre-emptive war.

This choice that New Mexicans have in this election could not be more clear. We can continue the policies of a failed president and a Congress that was thrown out of office or we can return government to the proposition that it should pay its bills, abide by the constitution, strengthen the middle class, honor our veterans and respect the lives of our soldiers.

I’m running for the United States Senate because we have to do what’s right for New Mexico. 

That’s why I’ve worked with both Senators Bingaman and Domenici, along with Governor Richardson to keep Cannon Air Force Base open when it was threatened. It is why I am fighting to expand the mission of Los Alamos to create new jobs in counter-terrorism and alternative energy research.  It isn’t just the right thing to do for New Mexico, but the right thing to do for our country.

That’s the standard we have to live up to. As New Mexico’s Attorney General, I prosecuted corrupt public officials even though they were fellow Democrats. Big Special Interests went crazy when I wrote the law requiring utility companies to use more renewable energy, but it didn’t matter - because it was the right thing to do.

There’s a lot of work to be done to bring change and we can’t wait until November. I am fighting right now in Congress to do right by our veterans  - and I want to thank both and Democracy for New Mexico for helping me to publicize our work on the New GI Bill. We need to stop the Big Oil profiteers from running up the price of gasoline, end this war in Iraq and start doing right by our troops. We need to reform No Child Left Behind and start helping our schools do better. We have to take responsibility for our planet and restore respect for one another in Washington.

We here in New Mexico are the inheritors of a great legacy. The Camino Real was the cultural and physical center of this great continent. We have a chance to lead this nation again – and with your help, alongside Martin, Harry, and Ben Ray , we will.

-Tom Udall

Please click here and give what you can to support our True Blue New Mexico candidates. If everyone reading this post would donate even a dollar per candidate, our totals would quickly add up -- and our candidates would have more of what they need to get out in front early, and stay there. You know what to do.

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True Blue New Mexico: Ben Ray Luján on Standing Up for New Mexico and the Change We Need

This is a guest post from True Blue New Mexico candidate Ben Ray Luján. We previously posted personal messages from fellow True Blue candidates Martin Heinrich and Harry Teague, which you can see here. Check back tomorrow for a post from Tom Udall, our candidate for U.S. Senate.

Thank you to Democracy for New Mexico and New Mexico FBIHOP for the opportunity to speak directly to New Mexico’s progressive community. Without a dedicated and active progressive community, we would not have the opportunity to elect strong Democrats to represent New Mexico in November. 

At New Mexico FBIHOP, I wrote about why the 3rd Congressional District race is important. Here I want to write about my priorities, and the change I’ll bring to Washington.

After eight years of the Bush Administration’s failed policies, we need to refocus our economy on the middle class, cover the uninsured, develop renewable energy and end the War in Iraq. This is the change New Mexico and the United States needs.

I have already fought for change as a Public Regulation Commissioner. When I arrived at the PRC, it was mired in scandal. Now, the PRC is a well-respected agency. It’s more consumer-friendly and there’s been a greater focus on renewable energy development. Under my leadership as Chairman, we closed loopholes that allowed health insurance companies to deny coverage, and we took on big corporations when they tried to take advantage of New Mexicans.

My experience fighting for change has prepared me to go to Washington and find real solutions for the people of New Mexico. I’ll work to expand renewable energy production, refocus the economy on the middle class, provide health care coverage for the uninsured and give our teachers the resources they need to educate our children, which starts with scraping by No Child Left Behind. I’ll also work to end the War in Iraq and take care of our veterans, ensuring they get the benefits they earned and deserved. I’ll put the people of my district first in every decision I make, and I'll always stand up for New Mexico.

We must elect strong Democrats to bring the right change to Washington. It’s up to you to make your voices heard early. Help me stand up for New Mexico. Now is the time for you to turn New Mexico and the country True Blue.

Thank you for your support.

Ben Ray Luján

Please click here and give what you can to support our True Blue New Mexico candidates. If everyone reading this post would donate even a dollar per candidate, our totals would quickly add up -- and our candidates would have more of what they need to get out in front early, and stay there. You know what to do.

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True Blue New Mexico: Harry Teague on Why We Will Win

This is a guest post from True Blue New Mexico candidate Harry Teague. Yesterday, Martin Heinrich guest blogged here and at , and tomorrow we'll have Ben Ray Lujan.

This year, we have a chance to bring real change and results to the working families of Southern New Mexico. Despite a high profile Republican Senate race and many competitive local GOP races, more democrats turned out to vote than did Republicans in the June 3rd Primary in the New Mexico 2nd District.  I received over 70% more votes than Ed Tinsley, with 20,206 votes to Tinsley's 11,469.  We demonstrated our ability to compete across the district, carrying 15 of 18 counties, including the traditional Republican strongholds of Eddy, Chavez, and Lea Counties, where we received between 55%-85% of the vote.   

I also received strong financial support, raising and spending over $1.2 million, more money than any other Democrat in a 2nd Congressional District primary and general election combined. Our campaign has been upgraded from "likely Republican" to "lean Republican" by the Cook Political Report, and today, we were added to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's exclusive "Red to Blue" program.

The momentum is on our side, but I can't do it without you.

I want to bring our brave men and women home from Iraq. I want to use that $3 billion a week here at home, on healthcare, alternative energy, and education. And I want to change Washington and get results for working families.

But I need your help to do that.

Sign up for our e-mail updates, volunteer a few hours of your time, or consider donating just a few dollars to my campaign. Your help will make the difference this November.

Thanks for everything you do, and I look forward to seeing you on the campaign trail.

-Harry Teague
Campaign Website: https://harryteagueforcongress08.com/

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NM-03: Ben Ray Luján Endorses Barack Obama

Note: Ben Ray Luján is live-blogging today at 4:30 PM MDT at Daily Kos. Click to participate.

Welcome news from Ben Ray Luján, the Dem nominee in NM-03, that he has formally endorsed Barack Obama for President. Luján is expected to be a big help in marshaling support for Obama in Northern New Mexico and other areas of the state, as well as convincing former supporters of Hillary Clinton to unite behind Obama. Unity!

"Senator Barack Obama has inspired and invigorated Americans who want change in Washington," said Luján. "He's spoken honestly about how we can put people first and move past the failed policies of the Bush Administration. I am proud to endorse Barack Obama for President. At this pivotal moment in history, we need new leaders with vision, judgment and a commitment to change who will work on behalf of the American people."

"We must come together as Democrats to achieve our goals and stand up for the American people," said Luján. "Juntos podemos. We can end the War in Iraq. We can provide health care for all. We can make our economy work for the middle class. We can develop renewable energy to lower prices and create jobs. Sí, se puede. This is what New Mexico needs, and this is what America needs. I look forward to working with Sen. Obama and Rep. Tom Udall to stand up for the people of New Mexico and our great country. Juntos podemos."

"Senator Obama has the vision, judgment and experience to solve the problems facing our families and our country in the 21st century," said Luján. "He was right from the beginning on the Iraq War, and he knows from firsthand experience as a community organizer the importance of putting people first. Senator Obama is the leader who will change how Washington works and move past the failed policies of the Bush Administration to end the War in Iraq, fix our economy and expand renewable energy production."

Barack Obama and Ben Ray Luján are two of the candidates we are supporting in our True Blue New Mexico, which we launched Monday with New Mexico FBIHOP. Please visit the site and contribute so that our candidates have what they need to start the general election season with a bang. Even a single dollar contributed to each candidate will help if we all pitch in.

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True Blue New Mexico: Martin Heinrich on the Case for Change

Yesterday New Mexico FBIHOP and the DFNM blog launched True Blue New Mexico 2.0 with a post explaining what we're up to. Today we each have a special guest post by NM-01 Congressional candidate Martin Heinrich giving us his take on what's at stake this year:

I’d like to thank Democracy for New Mexico and New Mexico FBIHOP for this opportunity. The contribution that these and other blogs across the Land of Enchantment make is a testament to the strength of our American democracy.

Over at , I talk about why this is a race that we can win and here, I’m going to focus on why we must win.

This year, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

The Earth is heating up. Gas prices are out of control. Wages are stagnant. Millions lack health care. And, we’re stuck in an endless war.

After two terms of the failed policies of George Bush and Dick Cheney, it’s time for real change.

On the Albuquerque City Council, I took on the tough fights and delivered for working families. I fought for an increase in the minimum wage not because it was easy – but, because it was the right thing to do. We brought people together across party lines to give hard working New Mexicans a raise.

In Congress, I’ll take on the tough issues.

I’ll work to end the war in Iraq, bring our troops home and invest the $300 million a day that we’re spending over there turning America’s economy around and helping middle class families here.

I’ll work to break America’s oil addiction and create jobs by investing in the clean technologies of the future. And, I’ll work to make sure that all Americans have access to high quality, affordable health care.

My opponent, George Bush’s Bernalillo County Campaign Chair, is an acolyte of the President. He supported banning people who refused to sign a loyalty oath from seeing the American President speak. He said that under George Bush, the "economy is strong and getting stronger." It’s no wonder that President Bush came to Albuquerque to raise of $300,000 to help elect Sheriff White.

Sheriff White is an out of touch George Bush Republican and out of step with mainstream New Mexico values.

We have a lot of work to do between now and June 30th. That’s the last day of the second quarter and we know that Darren White raised hundreds of thousands of dollars thanks to his friend and ally President Bush. It’s up to us to close the gap and fight back. This is our opportunity to turn New Mexico’s First Congressional District – a district that voted for Al Gore and John Kerry – blue.

Together, we can change Washington.

- Martin

P.S. Make sure to follow on my campaign blog, www.martinheinrich.com/blog!

We'll have a post by one of our True Blue New Mexico candidates every day this week. Be sure to check back, and be sure to click here and give what you can. If everyone reading this post would donate even a dollar per candidate, our totals would quickly add up -- and our candidates would have more of what they need to get out in front early, and stay there.

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Pitch In to Create a True Blue New Mexico

New Mexico FBIHOP and the Democracy for New Mexico blog are re-launching the True Blue New Mexico campaign today -- this time with the Democratic candidates for all the federal races.

You can donate at the True Blue New Mexico ActBlue fundraising page, where you'll find the full slate of Democratic candidates New Mexicans can vote for come November.

This year, voters around New Mexico and across the country have voted for change in record numbers, and not just for presidential candidate Barack Obama but for more local races as well. Progressive candidates already shocked incumbents in state Senate and House primaries earlier this month.

This Is Our Moment
In 2008, New Mexicans have a chance for a true change -- a golden opportunity to make a True Blue New Mexico. There are more Democrats than Republicans registered in the state, and Democrats control both the state Senate and House. Yet in federal offices, Republicans hold a 3-2 advantage, including a 2-1 advantage in the House. This year, that can change -- and change dramatically.

When Sen. Pete Domenici decided to retire due to medical problems, it created a scramble for his seat that eventually enveloped the entire House delegation. All three representatives decided to run for the Senate seat. Candidates for their now-open House seats popped up everywhere.

After the dust settled, Democrats were left with five great candidates for federal office: Sen. Barack Obama in the Presidential race, Rep. Tom Udall in the Senate race, Martin Heinrich in the 1st Congressional District, Harry Teague in the 2nd Congressional District and Ben Ray Lujan in the 3rd Congressional District.

Watch for Candidate Guest Posts This Week
Throughout week, these candidates (except Obama) will be letting you know on both Democracy for New Mexico and New Mexico FBIHOP why they deserve your vote and your donations. Tuesday, Martin Heinrich will write on both blogs, followed by Harry Teague on Wednesday, Ben Ray Lujan on Thursday and culminating with Tom Udall on Friday.

Why Now?
But why now? The simple answer is EMILY -- Early Money is Like Yeast, and as the old saying goes, it helps to raise the dough. Please donate now. Every early dollar helps. Money donated on October 20th, just a couple weeks before the election, is not as valuable as money sent now. Money sent now can be used to hire staffers, it can be used to raise more money -- it is incredibly valuable to candidates.

Some of these candidates will be in extremely close races -- but with your help, they can make a True Blue New Mexico for years to come.

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NM GOP: We've Got a Secret (Or Two)

Coco over at Duke City Fix takes up the continuing saga of the privatized Repub Congressional candidate debate held on Saturday morning at JB's restaurant in Albuquerque. The story's been bouncing around the blogs since Friday.

Although initially billed as a public event, the GOP decided to ban the media and anyone other than Repub insiders from the scene. Since the secret nature of the forum was revealed, Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White (above right) has remained firmly in the keep 'em out camp, while perennial candidate , a State Senator, has come out against the ban:

"I invited the press," Carraro told the crowd. "I have nothing to hide."

Monahan reported on Friday that Rory Ogle was the guy who decided to exclude all media, angering KOB-TV and other local media. Rory also claimed both Carraro (left) and White agreed to the media ban before the event, explaining that the candidates would be more "candid" that way. I guess whenever cameras are around they intend to morph into evasive double-talkers. Remember that when these candidates emerge from their secret cocoons and into full campaign mode.

Who is GOP spokesman Rory Ogle? A blogger on Clearly New Mexico fills us in:

A curious aspect of this story is that it highlights the increasing visibility of Ogle, a former Republican state representative (District 28, Bern) as a spokesman for GOP party insiders.

Many will recall that it was Ogle who resigned from the legislature in 2004 after being arrested and charged with aggravated battery on a household member and domestic violence. It was reported that he picked up a twin bed headboard and threw it at his wife, seriously injuring her right hand.

When you have a past like that, as significant numbers of Repub politicos do these days it seems, you tend to get attached to secrecy and avoiding the press at any cost. Of course, this kind of paranoid strategizing can make it difficult for candidates to reach voters. Apparently the NM GOP is content to have their candidates preach only to the choir right now.

Come to think of it, it might not be a bad idea to keep their real views hidden from voters until the election. When you've uttered the kind of nonsense that often issues from Carraro, and you're connected at the hip to Bush-Cheney like White -- who chaired their campaign in the county in 2004 -- I imagine it might be considered prudent to keep them under wraps as long as possible.

An Antidote to Secrecy
As an antidote to all this right-wing spin, I suggest you sign up to support the campaign of Martin Heinrich, who's running on the Dem side in NM-01. He's for transparency in government, not secrecy. Martin needs donations of time and money FROM YOU to win this race. Visit his website to learn more, and/or contribute some bucks via the NM netroots True Blue New Mexico project.

You can also run to be a delegate to the Democratic Pre-Primary Convention set for February 7, 2008, and vote for Martin there. Here's how.

For our previous coverage of the 2008 NM-01 Congressional race, visit our archive.

Guest Blog by Bill McCamley: All You Need is Rove?

This is a guest blog by Bill McCamley, who's a Democrat running for Congress in NM-02. Bill is one of the candidates the NM netroots is supporting in our True Blue New Mexico effort. Please donate if you can.

What Martin Heinrich wrote yesterday about Karl Rove and George Bush is absolutely true.  Rove is “the epitome of everything that’s wrong with Washington,” and I encourage you to read Martin's comments about how Rove and company have poisoned the political atmosphere in Washington.  However, I want to focus on one particular reason why Rove, President Bush, and the Bush Administration have been so destructive: They put politics and greed over competent governance.

From the string of unqualified and incompetent officials they chose to put in Bush’s Cabinet—for example, Michael Brown and Alberto Gonzalez, to name just two—to the billions of dollars lost in unmonitored no-bid contracts in Iraq, to letting industries completely decide their own regulatory policies, this Administration has been one long nightmare of incompetence.

As 2008 kicks off, the evidence of this incompetence just gets stronger.  The economic divide between “haves” and “have-nots” continues to grow wider.  With a recession either looming or already underway, families throughout New Mexico—and especially the many poor counties in the 2nd Congressional District— will find it harder to make ends meet.  The Bush Administration still has no plan to end the War in Iraq.  And almost fifty million Americans—including one in five New Mexicans—still have no health insurance.  These facts will be the legacy of Bush and Rove.

Instead of this failure and the politics of fear, there is another way. 

We Can Work It Out
Since I got into this race last April against Steve Pearce, I have been talking about the need for change in Washington—and not just change as some broad, generic concept.  I have been talking about a very specific kind of change: A change to focus on results. 

In Doña Ana County, we have shown what results we can achieve when we work together to get things done for the people we represent.  As County Commissioner, I worked to reform the County’s healthcare system, to establish the first paid County Fire Department, to strengthen the County’s ethics policies, and to bring new jobs and opportunity through negotiating policies that assist border development and high-tech job creation. It’s this record and this focus on results that I want to take to Washington.

What will it take to achieve this in DC?  It’s going to take commitment.  It will take a commitment to stand up a fight for what is right, not what is politically easy.  It will take a commitment to work extremely hard from the moment the election is decided.  And it will take a commitment to work together with people from all parties who are fed up with partisan bickering (and that includes many Republicans and independents).  I promise you that those are all commitments I will keep when I get to Washington. 

Of course, we’re going to have to ask for some commitments from you, if we want to make this a reality.

With A Little Help from Our Friends
This True Blue New Mexico effort is a great step toward uniting New Mexico Democrats and the netroots to bring real change to Washington.  Both FBIHOP and Democracy for New Mexico deserve credit and thanks for organizing this drive.  Now we need your help.  Can you support our campaign and the TrueBlue effort?  We thank you for your support.

For more information on our campaign, please check out our website: www.billmccamley.com.

This is a guest blog by Bill McCamley of Las Cruces, a Democrat who's running Congress our Second Distict in Southern New Mexico.

To donate online to one or more of the True Blue New Mexico candidates, click here. If we want excellent candidates to be successful in their campaigns, we need to support them now with donations and volunteer time. Please give what you can afford to support these Democrats -- no donation is too small, no number of hours of volunteering is too few.

To read our previous posts on this effort, visit our archive.

Guest Blog by Martin Heinrich: Beyond the Politics of Rove

This is a guest blog by Martin Heinrich, Democratic candidate for Congress in NM-01. He's one of the candidates featured on the NM netroots' True Blue New Mexico page.

Karl Rove is the epitome of everything that’s wrong with Washington and the Republican establishment. He’s the king of political dirty tricks and smear campaigns. His Machiavellian tactics have no moral compass and are divisive at a time when the nation is ready to unite for progress.

The politics of Rove are the politics of lies, thoughtless partisanship, deception and personal attacks. He allegedly sanctioned a racist push poll that wrongly claimed that fellow Republican John McCain had fathered an illegitimate black child. He was tied to a homophobic push poll that asked voters whether they are "more or less likely to vote for Governor [Ann] Richards if [they] knew her staff is dominated by lesbians." This is the same Rove that used the slash and burn politics of personal destruction to paint a genuine American patriot and Vietnam War hero, former Senator Max Cleland (D-GA), as a friend of Osama bin Laden.

It’s not just campaign tactics that define Karl Rove. As a Bush Administration official, Rove played a key role in the run up to the war in Iraq. He chaired meetings of the White House Iraq Group and devised communications strategies that the White House used to sell the disastrous war to the American people.

If orchestrating the sale of the Iraq War wasn’t bad enough, Rove was also investigated for his role in the Valerie Plame Affair. And, he was allegedly one of the prime movers involved in the U.S. Attorney scandal, which included firing New Mexico’s US Attorney David Igelesias.

At a 2006 White House holiday party, New Mexico Republican Party Chair Allen Weh complained to Rove that former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias failed to bring down politically motivated indictments during the campaign. Rove responded to Weh saying: “He’s gone.”

Today, Karl Rove is back in New Mexico helping his friend Allen Weh. He’s raising hundreds of thousands of dollars from hard right wing oil and gas fatcats. That’s money that will be used by New Mexico Republicans to employ Karl Rove’s style of slash and burn politics of personal destruction.

Together, we can fight back.

One of the things I am most proud of is my record of bringing people together and bridging the partisan divide.  On the Albuquerque City Council I brought business interests together with conservationists and citizen activists to craft an archeological ordinance and to conserve billions of gallons of our limited water resources.  Even when I successfully pressed an increase in the minimum wage, I kept my door open to those who disagreed or did not support the effort.  Had I not taken that inclusive approach, tens of thousands of hard working New Mexicans might not have gotten the raise they deserved.

I believe passionately that our adversaries need not be our enemies.  The Karl Rove approach ensures politics are mired in unnecessary partisanship -- even common sense solutions like the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan (S-CHIP), which would give health care to tens of thousands of uninsured New Mexican children, are stymied by the kind of extreme partisanship that Rove represents. 

We can do better, and when I am in Washington, we will.

Obviously, Karl Rove has taken an early interest in New Mexico and you can be sure that he’ll be following this race very closely. That’s why I need your help. I need the resources to fight back against Rove’s politics of personal destruction.

Together, we can send a message to New Mexico Republicans that the smear and fear tactics of Rove have no place in New Mexico. I hope you’ll help by supporting my campaign and the New Mexico blogosphere’s True Blue New Mexico effort with a generous contribution.

This is a guest blog by NM-01 Democratic Congressional candidate Martin Heinrich.

To learn more about the NM netroots' True Blue New Mexico effort to raise campaign donations for NM Congressional candidates read our previous post or donate directly at the True Blue New Mexico page on Act Blue.

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

If you'd like to submit a guest blog for possible publication on this blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand side of the page.