Is the guv doing enough to ensure a smooth election?

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Should Gov. Bill Richardson be doing more to ensure the November election runs smoothly in New Mexico? In an article published today, Trip Jennings of the New Mexico Independent explores that question. “New Mexico stands on the cusp of a possible election day meltdown that could turn the Land of Enchantment into the Florida or Ohio of 2008,” Jennings’ article, “Jet-setting guv courts Election Day disaster,” begins. “But Gov. Bill Richardson, the self-proclaimed go-to guy in New Mexico’s hour of need, has been traveling the world in service to Barack Obama and has done little to ensure that New Mexico will have a smooth election. He even has joked about voting in New Mexico.” The governor’s office, Jennings writes, is directing questions about elections preparedness to the secretary of state. Continue Reading

Federal candidates share views on economy, bailout

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(This article has been updated.) Most analysts agree that the United States is facing its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. With that in mind, I asked every federal candidate from New Mexico for statements on the financial crisis, the proposed $700 billion bailout plan and the steps that must be taken to ensure the financial stability of the United States. Here are their responses: U.S. Senate race Republican Steve Pearce said he opposes the bailout plan. “The proposed reform establishes a dangerous precedent. If the proposal is not effective — and there is no guarantee from its proponents that it will be — the financial sector will be back at the government trough for trillions more in bailouts,” Pearce said. Continue Reading

We’re crashing: Can we find a way to land safely?

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In a recent conversation, my dad summed up the current financial crisis better than I could have: We’re trying to figure out how to engineer a controlled crash landing instead of allowing an all-out nosedive into the ground. I believe he’s right. The situation is that serious. Democrats and Republicans alike, in their words and actions, have indicated that the collapse of America’s financial markets may be imminent if Washington doesn’t step in and do something drastic. Such a collapse could send us into the next Great Depression. Continue Reading

A host of new TV ads

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There are more political ads on television right now than anyone can keep up with, but I believe these are all of the new ads airing in New Mexico related to the federal races. Here’s Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s new Spanish-language ad: Here’s Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall’s new ad: Here’s Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate Ed Tinsley’s new ad: Here’s the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s (DCCC) new ad attacking Tinsley: Here’s an ad from Freedom’s Watch attacking 1st Congressional District Democratic candidate Martin Heinrich: And here’s the DCCC’s ad attacking Heinrich’s Republican opponent, Darren White: Continue Reading

C. de Baca won’t resign; executive board backs him

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Bernalillo County Republican Party Chairman Fernando C. de Baca won’t resign, and his county party’s executive board voted this morning to back him, setting up a standoff with state GOP leaders who have called for C. de Baca’s resignation. Several media outlets are reporting on the county party board’s decision to stand with C. de Baca, including 770 KKOB-AM radio reporter Peter St. Cyr, who has audio of an interview with county party executive board member Doug Antoon. Antoon accused BBC News of being “a rather very liberal international broadcasting company.” He said the organization was taking C. de Baca’s comment — that Hispanics won’t vote for a black president because, as conquerors, they consider themselves above blacks, who came to America as slaves — out of context because of its political agenda. And, in the interview with St. Continue Reading

2nd District candidates agree to another debate

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The 2nd Congressional District candidates have agreed to another debate. Following Republican candidate Ed Tinsley’s challenge last week that Democrat Harry Teague agree to an additional debate focused entirely on the economy, the two candidates agreed on Monday to an Oct. 23 debate that will be televised on KOB-TV, Tinsley said in a news release. “Our voters will now have an opportunity to judge for themselves who is best to look out for their interests on Capitol Hill, where negative, partisan attacks aren’t going to get the job done,” Tinsley said in the release.“We face the largest overhaul of government regulators since the Great Depression,” said the statement from Tinsley’s campaign. “… Continue Reading

C. de Baca also said older Hispanics resent blacks

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There’s no audio recording to prove that Bernalillo County Republican Party Chairman Fernando C. de Baca actually said last week that Hispanics won’t vote for a black president because, as conquerors, they consider themselves above blacks, who came to America as slaves. But there is an audio recording of a separate interview in which C. de Baca spoke about the same subject. The comments that have caused controversy and sparked calls from the top leaders of his party for C. de Baca’s resignation were reported by BBC News blogger Jon Kelly in a Friday blog posting. C. de Baca also gave an interview last week to Ros Atkins, an on-air reporter for BBC News, and those comments have not been publicly circulated in New Mexico, until today. Bill Dupuy, a radio reporter for KSFR-FM in Santa Fe, obtained audio of the interview and shared it with this site. Continue Reading

White is clearly the best choice in CD1 race

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By Dan Foley I have to tell you how surprised I have been to hear Martin Heinrich claim he was not a lobbyist. If you are paid to influence elected officials, I believe that qualifies you as a lobbyist. There is no exception because you lobbied on behalf of the environment. Give me a break. Whenever Heinrich got his paycheck each month, you can bet it wasn’t signed by “The Environment.” This just goes to highlight the problems of hypocrisy the Democrats are going to face as they continue to try to attack Republicans at every turn. Continue Reading

Top GOP leaders call for C. de Baca’s resignation

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Two top GOP officials — U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici and state party Chairman Allen Weh – say Bernalillo County Republican Party Chairman Fernando C. de Baca should resign because of racially charged comments he was quoted as making last week. “Fernando C de Baca should resign,” Domenici told the Albuquerque Journal. “The Republican Party cannot let a high-ranking official remain in an active position having made this kind of statement. It’s a wrong statement to make. That’s not what Republicans believe.” Weh agreed. Continue Reading

White hits Heinrich in new TV ad

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Republican 1st Congressional District candidate Darren White is out with a new, hard-hitting TV ad accusing Democratic opponent Martin Heinrich of wanting to raise a number of taxes. Here’s the 30-second ad: Heinrich has been running an ad attacking White for days, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has been attacking White for weeks. White made sure to point that out at the beginning of a news release announcing his first negative TV ad, calling the ad a “contrast issue ad.” But there’s no contrasting in the spot, which doesn’t say a thing about White. Here’s the script: “An economy slowed, jobs lost, families struggling,” the narrator states. “Martin Heinrich’s record? Continue Reading

Slow-moving housing authority probe frustrates some

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The office of Attorney General Gary King still has nothing new to report about the more than two-year-old investigation of the scandal that toppled most of the state’s affordable housing system in 2006, and that has some frustrated. “We are still reviewing info,” King’s spokesman, Phil Sisneros, said late last week. When he took office almost 21 months ago, King pledged to make the investigation a top priority. But Chris Herbert, executive director of the Region VI housing authority, which survived the collapse of most of the state system, said he’s “frustrated by the lack of any action.” “Those of us involved in the low-income housing industry would like to see some justice actually done,” he said. “Those who perpetrated the wrongdoing continue to go unpunished, while their legitimate counterparts in other parts of the state are saddled with a black eye.” There has been some response to the scandal. Continue Reading

Another poll has Obama and Udall moving ahead

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Another poll suggests growing leads in New Mexico for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall. Obama leads Republican opponent John McCain by 11 percentage points — 53 percent to 42 percent — and Udall leads Republican opponent Steve Pearce by 20 points — 57 percent to 37 percent — among likely voters in New Mexico in the Public Policy Polling survey released today. The survey of 1,037 likely voters was conducted Wednesday through Friday and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points. One highlight of the poll was McCain’s 2-point lead — 49 percent to 47 percent — among white voters, compared to Obama’s 14-point lead — 59 percent to 35 percent — among Hispanics. “New Mexico is probably the state Bush took in 2004 that Barack Obama will have the easiest time winning this time around,” Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling, said in a news release. Continue Reading

Fundraising brings high-profile politicos to NM

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A number of high-profile, out-of-state politicians will be in New Mexico on Sept. 30 to raise money for political candidates. Gov. Bill Richardson will be joined by Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius at a fundraiser in Las Cruces for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. And former Massachusetts Gov. and presidential candidate Mitt Romney will be in Albuquerque for a fundraiser for GOP U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce. The Obama fundraiser begins at 5:30 p.m. for those who contribute at least $2,500 and at 6:30 p.m. for those who contribute $500 or more, according to the invitation. Continue Reading

BBC News blogger stands by his story (updated)

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A BBC News blogger says he quoted Bernalillo County Republican Party Chairman Fernando C. de Baca accurately and in the proper context in a recent posting that has stirred controversy. Jon Kelly wrote in an e-mail that he is “100 percent confident” in his quoting of C. de Baca, who he cited in a Friday blog posting as saying that, “The truth is that Hispanics came here as conquerors. African-Americans came here as slaves. Hispanics consider themselves above blacks. They won’t vote for a black president.” That set off a firestorm of criticism of C. de Baca from the campaigns of GOP presidential candidate John McCain and 1st Congressional District candidate Darren White and others. Continue Reading

Guv: NM in better financial position than most states

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Gov. Bill Richardson says New Mexico is in a better position than most states to weather the current economic crisis, and he’s hopeful that the federal government will “quickly follow through with its promises to intervene and restore confidence in the financial markets.” The Bush administration has proposed a $700 billion bailout plan to buy mortgage-related assets that have been a drain on the economy. Congressional Democrats are negotiating with the administration over the details. The historic move comes during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Following a Thursday-evening meeting of Washington leaders, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. and chairman of the Senate banking committee, said those leaders were told “that we’re literally maybe days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system.” Richardson said in a news release that he met with top financial experts, including state Treasurer James B. Lewis, on Friday to discuss the situation. Continue Reading