Superdelegate Colón backs Obama

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Brian Colón, chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico and a superdelegate, endorsed Barack Obama in the presidential primary on Saturday. “Barack Obama has proven to inspire a movement that has brought a record number of people into the process,” Colón said in a news release. “He’s proven to be a candidate who can compete and will fight hard to expand the Democratic Party’s reach and put Western states in play in the general election. His message of change is resonating across all ages, races and economic backgrounds in New Mexico.” He also said Obama has run a positive campaign. “As I talk to Democrats all over New Mexico, they are increasingly concerned with the negative tone that the campaign has taken,” the chairman said. Continue Reading

Sowards wins this site’s non-scientific poll

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Greg Sowards emerged at the front of the pack in this site’s non-scientific poll last week about who would win the Second Congressional District Republican primary. Of 593 voters, 211, or 36 percent, said Sowards would win. Meanwhile, 139, or 23 percent, picked Aubrey Dunn Jr.; 136, or 23 percent, picked C. Earl Greer; 85, or 14 percent, picked Ed Tinsley; and 22, or 4 percent, picked Monty Newman. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Domenici and Bingaman are at center of oil debate

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U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici is leading a Republican charge to try to increase domestic oil production and reduce gas prices, but his fellow senator from New Mexico, Democrat Jeff Bingaman, has other ideas about how to deal with rising gas prices. Domenici, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, announced on Thursday that he was introducing legislation to dramatically increase domestic oil production with more offshore drilling and by opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. The proposal to drill in Alaska may be enough to kill this proposal in an election year and with a Senate and House controlled by Democrats. Domenici’s proposal isn’t a bipartisan effort: It’s cosponsored by 19 other Republican senators. “For years now, I have been trying to develop more domestic production of oil and gas, and for years, with one exception in the Gulf of Mexico, I have been blocked for political reasons,” Domenici said in a news release. Continue Reading

Bill Richardson as Han Solo?

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OK, this video isn’t really fair to Hillary Clinton because it takes several comments out of context. But I’m a Star Wars fan, so I find the comparison to the Democratic presidential primary humorous. Most important, I’m posting it here because you’ll see Bill Richardson make a brief appearance as Han Solo four minutes and 35 seconds into the video. That comparison, in my mind, is hilarious. Here it is: Continue Reading

Wilson gains the support of another U.S. senator

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Heather Wilson received her second endorsement from a U.S. senator today in the GOP primary race for New Mexico’s open Senate seat.Meanwhile, her primary opponent, Steve Pearce, has not received the endorsements of any members of the branch of Congress he’s trying to join.U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo. and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, cited Wilson’s experience in national security as a primary reason for his endorsement, according to a news release from Wilson’s campaign.“Heather Wilson understands that we must give our terror fighters the tools they need to keep us safe. That includes passing a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) bill that gives us the ability to listen in on terrorists planning to attack American families here at home or our troops in the field,” Bond said. “Heather Wilson has been a champion on this issue in the House of Representatives, and I look forward to working with her to improve our intelligence laws when she’s elected to the United States Senate.”Wilson, the only female veteran serving in Congress, is a member of the House Permanent Select committee on Intelligence. She is the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence. Continue Reading

Carraro is the first CD1 candidate on television

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Joe Carraro became this week the first candidate in the 1st Congressional District race to run ads on television.Here’s the Republican candidate’s 30-second spot, which he narrates himself. It’s currently airing.In the ad, Carraro cites recent poll numbers that found 81 percent of Americans think the nation is headed in the wrong direction and gave Congress an approval rating of 11 percent. And he takes a shot at his GOP primary opponent, Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, pointing out that, “while the sheriff runs for Congress, crime keeps going up.” The screen cites a statistic that calls Albuquerque’s crime rate the third highest in the nation.“We can’t send someone inexperienced to Congress,” Carraro says. He then talks about his 20 years of experience as a state senator and asks for votes. Continue Reading

Colón to announce decision ‘in the very near future’

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Brian Colón, chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico and a superdelegate, said he will announce his decision on whether to support Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in the presidential primary “in the very near future.” He hinted, in an interview, that an announcement could come as soon as this weekend. Colón is one of three superdelegates from New Mexico who have not publicly pledged their support to either candidate. Of the nine who have announced their decisions, six are supporting Clinton and three are supporting Obama. There are “a lot of factors” Colón said he is considering as he approaches a decision. “One is electability. Continue Reading

It’s tough to be an uncommitted superdelegate

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The Democratic presidential primary is getting more contentious every day. Barack Obama’s inability to close the deal and knock Hillary Clinton out of the race has given her an opening to finish strong and argue to uncommitted superdelegates that she’s the more formidable candidate. At the same time, the math is on Obama’s side, and he is picking up the support of more superdelegates each week. Because of that, the Clinton campaign is having to fight harder and harder to stay alive. Uncommitted superdelegates are being bombarded with pressure to pick a side. Continue Reading

Wilson, Sowards unveil new radio ads

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Republican U.S. Senate candidate Heather Wilson unveiled her first radio ad of the campaign today. It’s similar to her recent television ad that attacks primary opponent Steve Pearce after complaining about him attacking her. The radio ad, which you can listen to by clicking here, says Pearce is attacking Wilson “because on important issues, he’s wrong.” It then goes on to blast Pearce on the now-familiar issues of funding for the Border Patrol, the proposal to tie Iraq war funding to withdrawal deadlines, and their votes on the proposal to mothball Cannon Air Force base. “The choice in this race for U.S. Senate is very clear,” Wilson said in a news release announcing the radio ad. “Republicans want to elect a commonsense conservative who can win in November. Continue Reading

Former state GOP chairman endorses Tinsley in CD2

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John Lattauzio, former state chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico, formally announced today his endorsement of Ed Tinsley in the 2nd Congressional District Republican primary. As I reported in March, Lattauzio has been actively campaigning for Tinsley since at least February, but I have generally been writing about endorsements in the 2nd District race when campaigns make them. “No good Republican can be trusted to represent New Mexico in the future if they have turned their back on our party in the past. Ed Tinsley not only possesses a great knowledge of the district and exemplary business acumen, but he has always remained a dedicated member of our party through thick and thin,” Lattauzio said in a news release from the Tinsley campaign. “When Ed takes a position on issues of critical importance to southern New Mexicans, from securing our borders and cutting taxes to controlling spending and standing firm on pro-life and family issues, we know he can be trusted.” Lattauzio said the GOP winner is going to face “a well-funded and battle-tested Democrat” in November, and “it is critical that we have a conservative Republican who has the stamina to win and who will be steadfast in his loyalty to the party.” Tinsley said Lattauzio’s dedication to the GOP is “unparalleled, and I am honored to have him as a supporter.” “Our party has fielded a strong set of candidates to vie for this nomination, and I am very happy to have John as a friend and member of Team Tinsley,” he said. Continue Reading

N.M. GOP pre-empts attack ad against McCain

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MoveOn.org plans to begin airing a controversial television ad in New Mexico on Thursday attacking Republican presidential candidate John McCain, and the state’s GOP is attempting to pre-empt the ad with its own strike. Here’s the ad, which has already been running in other states and drawing a great deal of attention: The ad plays audio of McCain saying he doesn’t think Americans would be concerned if the United States stayed in Iraq “for 100 years, or 1,000 years, or 10,000 years.” “100 years in Iraq,” the ad’s narrator then says. “And you thought no one could be worse than George Bush.” The MoveOn.org ad could be interpreted to imply that McCain was referring to combat missions, not peacetime presence. But as the non-partisan FactCheck.org reports, McCain was speaking specifically about a peacetime presence, not the continuing of combat operations, and that’s made clear when you consider the context of the quote: “We’ve been in Japan for 60 years. We’ve been in South Korea for 50 years or so. Continue Reading

ABQ-area state Senate candidate quits race

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Albuquerque attorney and Republican David Pyne ended today his campaign for the District 23 state Senate seat being vacated by Joe Carraro. That leaves Republican Sander Rue as the only candidate seeking to replace Carraro and all but assures that he will be the district’s next representative in the state Senate. Pyne said in a news release that he’s withdrawing from the race “to put family first.” He said his employer has threatened for several months to fire him if he won the race, saying the company could not afford to allow him the time off required of a senator. “After months of consideration and after falling short in my efforts to secure other employment in the greater Albuquerque area to allow me remain in the race,” Pyne said, “I ultimately decided that it would be unfair to my family for me to put my desire to be elected to public office and serve the people of this great state above my duty as a husband and father to provide financial security for my wife and children.” Pyne said dropping out was one of the most difficult decisions of his life, but said he wishes Rue “all the best” despite their differences “on some of the issues that matter most to conservatives like myself.” Pyne said he will continue to do all he can to help Carraro win the First Congressional District race, Marco Gonzales win the Third Congressional District race and Steve Pearce win the U.S. Senate race. Continue Reading

CD2 hopeful Sowards begins running radio ads

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Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate Greg Sowards unveiled his first radio ad today, a 60-second spot that claims conservative principles “are always the answer.” The ad is currently running on KOBE-AM 1450 in Las Cruces, Sowards said, and will run on other stations later. In the ad, Sowards says he’s running for one reason: “to protect our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That’s it. My solution is simple too: conservative principles.” He says America’s founding fathers knew that “self determination and personal responsibility are the keys to America’s greatness. I share their vision and this has compelled me to step forward at this crucial time.” Sowards ends the ad by saying he approved it “because it’s the truth.” You can listen to the full ad by clicking here. Continue Reading

New Pearce TV ad calls Wilson a liberal

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Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce has begun airing a new television ad calling his primary opponent a liberal – a continuation of the attacks between the two candidates even as the ad also complains about his opponent’s negative attacks. Heather Wilson is doing the same thing in her current TV ad – complaining about Pearce’s negative attacks and then attacking him. Here’s Pearce’s new ad: The first 25 seconds of the 30-second spot continue Pearce’s recent attack on the fact that Wilson missed 22 U.S. House votes recently because she was in New Mexico campaigning. This ad says she missed votes “just to film negative campaign ads.” In the background of the ad is someone calling out “Heather Wilson” and someone else responding with “absent” several times to emphasize the point. The last five seconds sort of randomly insert the line, “Heather Wilson. Continue Reading