Chávez reaches out online as criticism continues

Progressive Democrats sure aren’t making the road ahead in the U.S. Senate race easy for Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez. But that isn’t stopping him from trying to use their favored method of communication – the Internet – to reach voters.

A couple of weeks after he held a conference call with progressive bloggers in New Mexico to try to begin a dialogue, the mayor isn’t getting any love – and that’s an understatement. U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, who just jumped into the race, is getting just about all the support of progressive Democrats.

Barbara Wold, who was on the conference call with Chávez and runs the site Democracy for New Mexico, wrote today that Chávez has been beaten up in the blogosphere since entering the race, and she links to some of the postings.

“I guess that’s what happens when a politico has a sudden expedient ephiphany (sic) that leads him to try to pretend he’s someone he’s not in order climb up a big, big rung on the political scale,” she wrote. “Marty has just burned too many bridges and backstabbed too many people to get away with it. Too many in New Mexico know him for who and what he is, no matter how many top notch campaign consultants he hires to repaint the picture.”

And Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, who runs the nationally influential liberal blog Daily Kos, had some incredibly harsh words for Chávez on Monday:

“Everyone wants Chávez out of the primary, suggesting he run for one of the House seats opened up by this Senate race. Me, I’d rather see Chávez’ career destroyed by Udall in this primary once and for all,” he wrote. “The last thing we need is his corrupt ass in Washington in the House, stinking up the Democratic brand and making Latinos look bad. So I hope he’s stupid enough to stay in the Senate race. I’ll have fun seeing him go down in flames.”

The criticism isn’t deterring Chávez, however. He’s vowed to stay in the race despite pressure to get out, and continues saying his record makes him better suited than Udall for a general-election match-up against Steve Pearce or Heather Wilson.

And he’s continuing to reach out through the Internet. At 6 p.m. today, Chávez will hold an online, video town-hall meeting, which you can attend by clicking here. He will take questions, and wants feedback on the Iraq war, health care, the environment, the economy and “how to reverse the damaging policies of the Bush Administration,” according to a news release.

“This will not be a canned campaign speech,” Chávez said in the release. “This is a chance for you to join hundreds of your fellow citizens for an online conversation about the future of New Mexico and our nation.”

No special equipment, beyond an internet connection and Web browser, is needed.