Dodd says Washington needs more Pete Domenicis

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U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., spoke on Thursday about the civility and respect that is sorely lacking in Washington today. A discussion after his speech with the man he travelled most of the way across the country to honor, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., provided a glimpse of what Washington once was and what Dodd hopes it will become again. The brief exchange on what to do about the conflict between Georgia and Russia came as the two senators shared the stage in the Corbett Center Ballrooms at New Mexico State University. They agreed on most points, but Domenici told Dodd he thought it would be more difficult to convince Russia to leave Georgia than Dodd suggested. That discussion was sandwiched between Domenici sharing a humorous story about Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. Continue Reading

A time to praise: Officials honor Domenici

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The man who has dominated New Mexico politics in recent years today made a humble acknowledgment. “I am going to make an admission that I never, never make,” Gov. Bill Richardson said to the retiring U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici. “Had I run against you, you probably would have beat me.” Richardson was speaking during a ceremony to honor Domenici at the Domenici Public Policy Conference at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. His remark came after he recalled an encounter he had with Domenici shortly after he was appointed energy secretary in the late 1990s. Richardson said he went to Domenici — then the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee — to inform him of his appointment. Continue Reading

Teague airs first general-election TV ad

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Democratic 2nd Congressional District candidate Harry Teague is out with his first television ad of the general-election season. The new ad is a personal look at the candidate, who went to work in the oil fields when he was a teenager and has built that into a business with 250 employees. Here’s the ad: The ad is running on broadcast and cable television and on radio in Spanish and English, according to a news release from the Teague campaign. “To tell the voters where I want to take our country, first I need to tell them where I came from,” Teague said in the release. Continue Reading

Udall to hold events in Las Cruces today

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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall will hold two campaign events in Las Cruces today as part of his two-week “Doing Right by New Mexico Tour.” Udall will hold a “meet and greet” at 6:30 p.m. at East Picacho Elementary School, 4450 N. Valley Drive. He will then host a town-hall meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Oñate High School, 5700 Mesa Grande Drive. Udall has focused on making gains in Doña Ana County — located in the district of his GOP opponent, U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce — during this tour. He kicked off the tour last week with events in Sunland Park and Anthony. Udall will also appear this morning at 10 a.m. at the Domenici Public Policy Conference at New Mexico State University. Continue Reading

McCain woos Hispanics, Dems and independents

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Listen to McCain’s 25-minute interview with me and three other reporters, conducted on his campaign bus after today’s town-hall meeting, by clicking here. John McCain’s town-hall meeting held today in Las Cruces was obviously aimed at attracting Hispanic, Democratic and independent voters. The Republican presidential candidate, who characterized himself as the underdog in the race, spoke about Hispanics during the event held earlier today, and he also asserted his independence from his party and special interests. “I don’t work for a party. I don’t work for a president. Continue Reading

Legislature spends cash but rejects policy changes

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The New Mexico Legislature adjourned from its special session today having appropriated hundreds of millions of dollars but rejecting major policy changes. Gov. Bill Richardson, in a news release, characterized the work of the Legislature as a “good, solid, yet modest effort that helps New Mexico families.” “The winners are kids, working families and our most vulnerable citizens,” Richardson said. “While the Legislature did not go as far as I would have liked to cover all children with health insurance, I believe modest but solid gains were made toward that goal.” The Legislature approved $32.5 million for health care, including $20 million to expand coverage to children, $10 million to treat developmentally disabled children and $2.5 million for mental-health services. In the category of tax relief, the Legislature approved a tax rebate that will cost the state $55.8 million, a working-families tax credit that will cost $7.8 million, home-heating assistance that will cost $1.9 million and an increase in child-care assistance eligibility that will cost $7.2 million, according to Richardson’s news release. The Legislature also appropriated $200 million to complete outstanding road projects, $3.2 million to provide school-bus fuel assistance to schools, $5 million to repair bridges and roads damaged by recent flooding in Ruidoso and Otero County, and $1.6 million in supplemental funding for the November election. Continue Reading

Udall responds to Club for Growth attack ad

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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall is out today with a new TV ad responding to an attack ad unveiled this weekend by the Club for Growth. Calling the group an out-of-state ally of his Republican opponent, Steve Pearce, the Udall campaign announced its ad today in a news release. Here’s the 30-second spot: “A Washington special interest wants to pick our senator,” the ad’s narrator states. “First they falsely attacked Heather Wilson (Pearce’s primary opponent). Now it’s Tom Udall.” “On energy, Tom Udall says do it all. Continue Reading

Kemp to campaign for McCain Thursday in ABQ

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Former Republican vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp will attend a shooting contest in Albuquerque on Thursday to kick off John McCain’s New Mexico sportsmen coalition. The event will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Calibers Shooting Range, 5600 Holly Ave. NE. The event, an invitation from the campaign of the current Republican presidential candidate states, will feature a shooting contest. The winner will receive a “special prize” from the campaign, according to the invitation. Continue Reading

McCain’s new Spanish radio ad hits Obama on taxes

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John McCain’s new Spanish-language radio ad continues his recent trend of taking aim at Barack Obama’s celebrity, but the ad is primarily an attack on the Democratic presidential candidate’s economic policies. The 60-second ad, which is airing in Colorado, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico, begins with the narrator saying, in Spanish, “Fame must be grand for Barack Obama. But is he ready to lead in tough economic times?” The ad then goes on to attack Obama for having a “grand history of raising taxes,” and states that his campaign promises “would mean even more taxes on income, electricity, small business, seniors, your life savings, your family.” “Painful taxes — when times are tough enough,” the narrator says. You can listen to the Republican presidential candidate’s new ad by clicking here. Update, 8:15 p.m. Obama spokesman Carlos Sanchez released this statement: “A negative ad is a negative ad no matter what language it is in. Continue Reading

Obama gives interview to Las Cruces Sun-News

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The Las Cruces Sun-News got a chance on Monday to conduct a phone interview with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and used the opportunity to talk primarily about immigration and the state’s defense-related government facilities. The question the Sun-News didn’t get answered because an Obama handler cut off the interview was whether the candidate will return to the Las Cruces area before the election. The interview came during Obama’s Monday trip to Albuquerque. You can listen to the full interview with reporter Diana Alba by clicking here and read her article here. Continue Reading

Herrera tells nonprofit to register as a PAC

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Secretary of State Mary Herrera has told New Mexico Youth Organized (NMYO) to register as a political committee and comply with the state’s campaign reporting laws, but the group says it will contest that demand with legal action. “After consultation with our legal counsel at the Office of the Attorney General, it appears that New Mexico Youth Organized is operating as a political committee,” Herrera’s letter, sent late today, states. Eli Il Yong Lee, executive director of the Center for Civic Policy (CCP), the parent organization for NMYO, said both organizations “strongly disagree” with Herrera’s decision. “We will purse all legal remedies at our disposal,” he said in an e-mail. Herrera’s letter does not provide any legal argument to back up its claim that NMYO has been operating as a political committee. Continue Reading

Senate approves scaled-back tax, health-care bills

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The state Senate today approved smaller tax rebates than those proposed by Gov. Bill Richardson and a scaled back health-care bill, again rejecting the governor’s plan. On a vote of 36-2, the Senate approved a bill that would give more than 700,000 taxpayers rebates. Each person making $30,000 per year would receive $50 under the bill approved by the Senate. “This funding provides New Mexico’s single mothers, senior citizens and people having trouble making ends meet some relief,” Sen. Bernadette Sanchez, D-Albuquerque and the bill’s sponsor, said in a news release. “Higher prices at the gasoline pump and higher food costs at the grocery store are placing a tremendous burden our single-parent and working-parent families. Continue Reading

Obama praises guv during campaign event in ABQ

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With the biggest political question of the week being who Barack Obama will choose to be his running mate, the Democratic presidential candidate had strong praise for Gov. Bill Richardson during an appearance earlier today in Albuquerque. Obama called Richardson “one of the finest public servants of our generation, somebody who has done so much.” “You know, he can’t fit everything on one résumé,” Obama told a crowd of about 2,000 people at Rio Grande High School in Albuquerque’s South Valley. The Obama campaign and Richardson’s staff aren’t commenting on the VP process, but speculation has increased in recent days that Richardson has found his way onto Obama’s short list. Obama also had high praise for U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Rep. Tom Udall, who, like Richardson, were with him at the town-hall meeting. In praising Bingaman, his Senate colleague, Obama said, “If you look up in the dictionary the word gentleman, you would see this man’s face.” He asked the crowd to give Udall, the Democrats’ U.S. Senate candidate, “a big round of applause and your vote.” That was the second of two events Obama held in Albuquerque today. Continue Reading