Latest Stories

2nd District candidates agree to another debate

By |

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

By |

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

By |

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

By |

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

By |

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

By |

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

By |

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

By |

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)

By |

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

By |

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

Does experience matter? Analysis reveals trends

By |

By Ben Glickler Ever since Sarah Palin joined the GOP ticket, those of us who get a kick out of following politics have heard some fantastic arguments coming from pundits and advocates on all sides. Sarah Palin has a lot of executive experience due to being a small-town mayor; alternatively, she governed a big-whoop state of 600,000 for a big-whoop two years. Obama has a lengthy record of serving the public due to being a community organizer; or, if you like, he spent two years in the Senate doing nothing before hitting the campaign trail. Each side is trying to make the case that their guy (or gal) is ready for the big job despite having a slim record in politics — but they’re also trying to make sure we know that the other side is completely unprepared because of their slim record in politics. Most people can’t walk that thin line, and the result is often unintentionally hilarious. Continue Reading

Voters in poll say Obama has been more honorable

By |

The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has run a more honorable campaign than Republican opponent John McCain. Of 347 voters, 206, or 59 percent, said Obama has run the more honorable campaign, while 116, or 33 percent, said McCain has done that. Some 25 voters, or 7 percent, said neither has run an honorable campaign. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

GOP leader’s racially tinged comments are wrong

By |

The chairman of the Bernalillo County Republican Party is facing heavy criticism from within his own party and elsewhere for saying that Hispanics won’t vote for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama because they consider themselves above blacks. Fernando C. de Baca was quoted as making the comments to a BBC News reporter in a blog posting published on Friday. “The truth is that Hispanics came here as conquerors,” C. de Baca was quoted as saying. “African-Americans came here as slaves. Hispanics consider themselves above blacks. Continue Reading

Group hits Obama on abortion in new ad

By |

Abortion is the topic of a new television advertising battle between an independent group and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. New Mexico and Ohio are the two states where the battle is being fought. Here’s the ad that started the fight, a 30-second spot being aired by the group BornAliveTruth.org. It features 31-year-old abortion survivor Gianna Jessen: “Can you imagine not giving babies their basic human rights, no matter how they entered our world? My name is Gianna Jessen, born 31 years ago after a failed abortion,” Jessen says in the ad. Continue Reading

Pearce gets hammered in new TV ads

By |

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce is getting hammered by two new TV ads that were unveiled today. The first, from Pearce’s Democratic opponent, Tom Udall, uses a parrot named “Polly Big Oil” to make fun of Pearce and accuse him of being a mouthpiece for the oil industry. Here’s the 30-second ad: It begins with the parrot saying, “Tax breaks for big oil. Tax breaks for big oil.” “Every wonder why Steve Pearce repeats everything the big oil companies say?” the ad’s narrator asks as a television displays Pearce’s new ad attacking Udall on energy and other issues. “Gas prices. Continue Reading