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Gov. Bill Richardson will host two fundraisers in New Mexico next month to help Hillary Clinton retire the debt from her unsuccessful presidential campaign. Clinton will attend both fundraisers, which will be held in Santa Fe and Albuquerque on Aug. 17, according to a news release from Richardson. Both events are invitation-only. Clinton’s debt was $25.2 million at the end of June. Continue Reading
Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s new TV ad calls Democratic opponent Barack Obama “the biggest celebrity in the world” and compares him with scandal-plagued stars Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. Here’s the 30-second spot, which is airing in New Mexico, other battleground states and on national cable: The ad begins with huge crowds chanting Obama’s name, then flashes to images of him, Spears and Hilton. “He’s the biggest celebrity in the world. But is he ready to lead?” the ad’s narrator asks. “With gas prices soaring, Barack Obama says no to offshore drilling. Continue Reading
By Heath Haussamen The media on Monday shouted out the news that President Bush will leave office with a record deficit of $482 billion this year. The previous high came during another Bush-presidency year, 2004. Liberal Web sites were quick to pounce. The Huffington Post headlined its coverage of the issue “forever in your debt” with a photo underneath of Bush waving. Daily Kos labeled the deficit “Bush’s little parting gift to our nation.” There is a lot of truth in their criticism. Continue Reading
Apparently, Doña Ana County is a fairly independently minded place — at least when it comes to politics. Currently, 18 percent of the county’s registered voters have declined to state a party affiliation, and that number is growing: Some 33 percent of people who registered to vote from January to June in the county are independents. It’s no secret that independents are a growing sector of the electorate in America and that young people are at least partly responsible for that trend. Though national voter-registration statistics aren’t available by party affiliation, about a third of the nation’s voters call themselves independent. Doña Ana County’s percentage of registered independents is greater than the state average of 15 percent, and only Los Alamos County has as high a percentage of independents as Doña Ana. Continue Reading
Gov. Bill Richardson’s chief of staff, James Jimenez, is leaving to take another job and will be replaced by the governor’s deputy chief of staff, Brian Condit. A news release from the governor’s office said of Jimenez’s departure only that he is leaving at the end of August to take another job. Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said Jimenez will announce his plans next week. Two Rio Rancho news sources — The Observer and The Sandoval County Online Reporting Enterprise — are reporting that Jimenez is the leading candidate for the open city manager job in the state’s third largest city. Gallegos said Jimenez is not available for comment today because he is “tied up all day with negotiations.” Jimenez served as governor’s secretary of the Department of Finance & Administration from 2003 to 2006, when he was appointed as the governor’s chief of staff. Continue Reading
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce is gaining attention today for a controversial comment he made about how to solve the nation’s energy crisis. “At a time when we’re facing $4 gasoline, I think that you need people who’ve been in the energy industry to tell us what to do,” Pearce was quoted as saying in an article published today in the Los Angeles Times. Pearce is a U.S. House member from Hobbs and an oilman. According to the article, he was speaking in the context of defending the oil industry’s involvement in national politics. The article is about GOP congressional candidates facing a barrage of advertising attacking their ties to oil companies. Continue Reading
The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama plans to spend $20 million in the coming months to reach Hispanic voters across the nation. Obama National Hispanic Leadership Council Chairman Frank Sanchez called the effort “bold and unprecedented” today in a conference call with reporters. He said a recent study by the Hispanic Voter Project at Johns Hopkins University confirms that the money the campaign will spend to reach Hispanics is of “a size and scope that has never been undertaken in the history of presidential politics.” Linda Chavez Thompson, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, said on the conference call that she believes Hispanics will pick the next president because they play a key role in several critical battleground states. Sanchez said the money will be spent in every state to coincide with Obama’s 50-state strategy, but a high percentage of the money will be poured into New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Florida — swing states with large Hispanic populations. He said the money will be spent on voter registration and mobilization activities, paid advertising and efforts at online organizing. Continue Reading
By Dan Foley As the citizens of the great State of New Mexico prepare themselves for yet another special session, I thought maybe we should actually talk a little about the health care “crisis” facing our state. Over the last few years we’ve heard a lot of talk about the number of uninsured in this state, and there’s been considerable debate about that number. Advocates of universal care repeatedly state that there are 400,000 uninsured New Mexicans. What they don’t tell you is that roughly half, or 200,000 of those, are currently eligible for some state or federal program but have chosen not to sign up for them. I’m sure there will be a few folks who will tell you that’s because people don’t know about the programs. But if you have driven around our state, you know from billboards, radio and TV ads in every region that probably isn’t true either. Continue Reading
Is there a disconnect between Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Hispanic voters? An article in The Politico suggests that, despite McCain’s efforts to reach Hispanics in New Mexico and other states, he has a big problem. According to the article, one top GOP strategist who is now McCain’s pollster has long said that Republicans need 40 percent of the Hispanic vote to win. President Bush reached that goal in winning re-election in 2004. But recent polls, including one released last week by the Pew Hispanic Center, show McCain falling far short of that goal. Continue Reading
Registration for the inaugural Domenici Public Policy Conference is now closed. All available tickets for the New Mexico State University conference honoring retiring Sen. Pete Domenici have been snatched up, the university announced today in a news release. “We are elated about the conference and the excitement it has generated,” said Christina Chavez Kelley, NMSU senior assistant to the president and Domenici Legacy project manager. “We only wish we had more space to accommodate everyone who wants to participate.” A prominent list of speakers including U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, former Secretary of State James Baker, U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, former U.S. Rep. Manuel Lujan Jr. and Gov. Bill Richardson will speak at the at the conference, which will be held Aug. 20-22 at NMSU. Continue Reading
Take that, Martin Heinrich: Less than three weeks after the Democratic 1st Congressional District candidate released a poll showing him leading Republican opponent Darren White by three points, White has his own poll showing him in command with a six-point lead. The new poll, conducted by the Republican firm Public Opinion Strategies for the White campaign, has White leading 47 percent to 41 percent. The survey of 500 likely voters was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday and has a margin of error of 4.4 percent. The question that was asked of voters is not included in the polling memo, which you can read by clicking here. “Democrats may find they have to salivate over this seat a while longer. Continue Reading
Several lawmakers are expressing doubt about the governor’s special-session plans in light of falling oil and gas prices, but the governor’s office says there’s nothing to worry about. According to the revenue forecast from early July, the state will have $392 million for recurring expenses in next year’s budget and another $392 million for one-time expenses because of windfall revenues from oil and gas. The forecast was based on a number of factors, including oil prices of $134 a barrel and natural gas prices of $11.50 for each thousand cubic feet. Since then, oil and gas prices have dropped significantly. Today, oil is trading at about $124 per barrel and natural has dropped to below $10 per thousand cubic feet. Continue Reading
The newest polls show that the presidential race remains hotly contested in New Mexico, but in the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Tom Udall is maintaining a strong lead. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama had a five-point lead over Republican opponent John McCain in New Mexico in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll, released Friday. He was up 46 percent to 41 percent. Last month, Obama led in the group’s poll by eight points, and in May, he led by nine. The newest telephone survey of 700 likely voters was conducted Thursday and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points. Continue Reading
The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said state Rep. Nate Cote, D-Organ, will be re-elected. Of 241 voters, 138, or 57 percent, said Cote will win the District 53 race, while 103, or 43 percent, said his Republican challenger, Stanford Locke, will win. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading
The campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain will hold events in Las Cruces and other parts of New Mexico on Saturday. The campaign of the Democratic presidential candidate will host the grand opening of its Albuquerque headquarters, located at 117 Montclaire Dr. SE, at 5 p.m. In addition, it will hold neighborhood-team trainings in Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Las Cruces at 1:30 p.m. In Las Cruces, the training will be held at the Doña Ana County Democratic Party headquarters, 139 North Downtown Mall. Volunteers with the campaign of the Republican presidential candidate, meanwhile, will spend 12 hours — from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. — reaching out to thousands of undecided voters by knocking on doors and making phone calls in Las Cruces and Albuquerque. That will include more than 60 volunteers from McCain’s home state of Arizona who are traveling to New Mexico to help. In Las Cruces, the volunteers will meet at the Las Cruces NM Victory Headquarters, 121 Wyatt Drive, Suites 15 and 16, at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Continue Reading