Thinking of King and Altamirano

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By Carter Bundy This year’s legislative session, unusually, started on the actual birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It also started without the leader of the Senate, President Pro Tem Ben Altamirano, who passed just after Christmas. As we work on our New Year’s resolutions, we could all do worse than to emulate their excellence. Very different paths Dr. King and President Altamirano don’t seem to have too much in common. They hailed from different parts of the country, with different backgrounds. One was a minister and civil rights leader, the other a long-time politician. Continue Reading

Changing ‘change’

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By Carter Bundy John Edwards and Barack Obama would, in my humble opinion, each make a fine president. Their ideas are progressive (with one notable exception discussed below), their hearts are in the right place and each has some good experience inside and outside Washington. What I don’t like are their absurd attacks, mostly on Hillary Clinton but also on Governor Richardson, that somehow having been part of a previous administration precludes one from being an agent of change. If anything, in this case, the opposite is true. Edwards’ big line to differentiate himself from Clinton and Richardson is “there are two candidates of change left now,” as though Hillary and Big Bill are totems of the Bush Republican status quo. Continue Reading

In Iowa, anything can happen on Thursday

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By Carter Bundy I complain as much as anyone about how the horserace aspect of campaigns overshadows substantive policy discussion. But it’s a love-hate thing, because there’s nothing quite as exciting in politics as the first truly wide-open presidential race in 80 years. 1928 was the last year that neither party had an incumbent veep or president run for its nomination, and the lack of a pre-ordained frontrunner in either party means that the horserace is going to be tight all the way down the stretch. It’s caucus eve, and the Iowa Democratic Caucus is a total toss-up. Hillary, John, and Barack have all been ahead in recent polls, although generally Edwards has been about five points back. Continue Reading

PoliSci Petri dish

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By Carter Bundy We’re about two weeks away from finding out the answer to a classic political question: Which force is stronger, negativity or likeability? The GOP race in Iowa is setting up nicely to answer that very question. I like Ike Two widely-held beliefs of presidential politics are about to be tested. Often, they’re not in conflict. This year, though, only one will be proven right. Continue Reading

Herding Dems?

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By Carter Bundy “I belong to no organized political party. I’m a Democrat.” So goes the well-worn cliché attributed to Will Rogers, and for many of us, to borrow from Homer Simpson, it’s funny because it’s true. The other cliché is that getting Dems together is like herding cats. That’s almost true, but most years, herding cats is easier. This year, though, something’s going on, nationally and in New Mexico. Continue Reading

Golden opportunities

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By Carter Bundy The Rio Grande Foundation and AFSCME are essentially philosophical polar opposites. We’re talking 2007 Patriots and Dolphins opposites. Yankees-Red Sox opposites. Hannity and Colmes opposites… no, wait, not Colmes. How about Michael Moore and Ann Coulter? Continue Reading

You might be a political junkie if…

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By Carter Bundy This one is for the real hard-core political – and math – junkies. If you’ve ever spent half an hour (or more) playing with one of those interactive Electoral College maps to figure out what combinations of states will yield 270 electoral votes, you’ll love how Iowa Dems select delegates to the national convention. The Iowa Caucus serves the same general purpose as a traditional primary – to elect delegates in the presidential nominating process. That’s where the similarities end, though, and the craziness starts. The precinct-based Iowa Caucus doesn’t even result in the election of state delegates to the national convention – only precinct delegates to the county caucuses. Continue Reading

Iowa Thanksgiving

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By Carter BundyIowa is 91 percent Caucasian. That’s not the future of America – it’s barely even reflective of its past. Critics of the Iowa/New Hampshire stranglehold on the presidential nominating process have a completely valid point when they say it’s absurd that, essentially, voters from one ethnicity virtually decide the nominees for each party. Beyond that, Iowa and New Hampshire are far more rural than the communities in which most Americans live. Finally, it’s not even like there are many people in those two states. Continue Reading

Poli Sci Theater 2009

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By Carter Bundy As most political junkies know, my union has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. So I fully expect this post will be read with the understanding that I’m not just in Iowa City to get the skinny on what really happened with Steve Alford – although that is a cool side benefit of being in the center of Hawkeye Nation. Of course, many of the readers (and anonymous commentators) of this and similar political blogs have horses in any number of races, especially this year in New Mexico, so that comes with the territory. After over a week in Iowa, one thing is striking: how generally pleased many Dems are with their choices for president. I can’t really speak to the GOP side because I haven’t run into too many Republicans, but I’ve met a fair number of Dems and the general atmosphere is one of optimism and, above all, energy. Continue Reading

Sisyphus vs. Hercules

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By Carter Bundy Anyone with the good fortune of traveling to or studying other countries has had the dark, strange, but satisfying experience of learning that people everywhere, regardless of system of government, believe that their politicians are corrupt and do the bidding of more powerful people. It’s satisfying because there’s something comforting in knowing that we’re not alone. It’s dark, though, because government should, and can, represent the best of what we want. After all, we get to decide who goes to Santa Fe or Washington. The sentiment is also strange because those who do the voting complain about the results. Continue Reading

Ethics reform, Part Dos

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By Carter Bundy A few weeks ago I wrote about limiting gifts to legislators but also giving them a decent salary for the massive job they do. This week, I’m going to take on lobbyist regulations and sunshine laws. Coming clean: lobbyist disclosure Let’s tackle the simplest reforms first: There’s no question that we need more transparency so that legislators, voters and other lobbyists can all know who is doing what for whom. The Governor’s Task Force on Ethics Reform had three great suggestions: First, with computers being nearly ubiquitous in New Mexico (or at least access to free computer time, like at libraries), there’s no reason to not have a state-of-the-art, web-based filing and reporting system. A second proposal is far lower-tech: lobbyist badges. Continue Reading

Sadness and gratitude for the salt of the earth

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By Carter Bundy This past week was a tough one for the labor community in New Mexico. Three of our best, most respected leaders passed, and no matter how active we are, they brought things to the table that simply can’t be replaced. Manny Herrera: the people’s representative State Rep. Manny Herrera, from Bayard, lost his battle with cancer. He was a rock-solid representative from salt-of-the-earth country, and made us all proud to be associated with labor. Just last year, some of our members in Santa Fe met with Rep. Herrera to seek his support for increasing the minimum wage and for the right of child care providers to form unions. Continue Reading

Cleaning House, Part 1: Low-hanging fruit

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By Carter Bundy Ethics reform is like playoff baseball. It’s complicated, surprising and long. In reviewing the recent recommendations of the Governor’s Task Force on Ethics Reform, there are really three sets of issues: campaign financing, transparency and legislator income. Each of the three topics deserves its own column, so let’s start with the low-hanging fruit: legislator income. Give ‘em a break: Time for legislator pay Here’s the best-kept secret in New Mexico politics: Many of our state legislators work nearly year-round, full-time, at representing their districts. Continue Reading

New Mexico: Nothin’ could be finer

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By Carter Bundy As if you needed another reason to live in the Land of Enchantment. New Mexico is already the most diverse, culturally cool and beautiful state in America. Darn good weather, too. It’s also the most exciting place in America for presidential politics. No other state was decided by as few votes in 2000 and 2004 (with Gore winning by 366 and W by 5,988), and only two other states (Iowa and New Hampshire) changed colors. Continue Reading