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If you haven’t checked out the blog of Meghan McCain — the daughter of Republican presidential candidate John McCain — it’s an interesting site that’s worth a look. Her most recent posting includes photos from her visit to Las Cruces along with her father last week. Check it out at McCainBlogette.com. Continue Reading
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama beat out Republican John McCain in last week’s non-scientific poll about who will win New Mexico in November. Of 372 voters, 187, or 50 percent, said Obama will win, while 168, or 45 percent, picked McCain. Libertarian candidate Bob Barr received 11 votes, or 3 percent, and independent Ralph Nader and Green Cynthia McKinney each received approximately 1 percent of the vote. Nader received four votes and McKinney received two. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading
Starting with Gov. Bill Richardson, a number of New Mexico Democrats were quick today to get behind Barack Obama’s selection of Joe Biden as his running mate. “Joe Biden brings seasoned judgment, foreign policy expertise and a great sense of humor to the ticket,” Richardson said in a prepared statement. “Joe has paid his dues as a public servant, and the vice presidential spot is a deserved capstone to a great career. Barack Obama has shown solid judgment by selecting Joe Biden as his running mate. Joe is someone that Sen. Obama and our country can trust.” Biden beat out Richardson and several others who Obama considered for the vice-presidential spot on the ticket. Continue Reading
New Mexico State University successfully pulled off a coup in taking the lead on The Pete V. Domenici Legacy, a multifaceted effort to remember the work of New Mexico’s longest-serving senator and help advance his goals in the future. Shortly after Sen. Pete Domenici announced in October that he would retire at the end of this year because of a degenerative brain disease, it appeared that there would be some fighting between NMSU and the University of New Mexico over Domenici’s archives. New Mexico State won what turned out to be not much of a battle because of the vision of one man — former NMSU President Michael Martin. Martin moved quickly to make the case for the housing of all of Domenici’s papers and other memorabilia at NMSU. He made plans to host the annual Domenici Public Policy Conference, construct a building on campus to honor the senator, form the Domenici Institute and publish a book chronicling the senator’s service. Continue Reading
A new poll suggests that Republican Steve Pearce is closing what has been a wide gap between him and Democrat Tom Udall in the U.S. Senate race. Udall leads by 10 points, 51 percent to 41 percent, in the newest Rasmussen Reports poll released Thursday. With “leaners” factored in, the group states, Udall’s lead drops even further — to 52 percent to 44 percent. The Pearce campaign seized on that eight-point difference in a news release, pointing out that the group’s monthly polling had Pearce trailing by 25 points in late July and 28 points in June. “It proves what we’re seeing and hearing all over the state. Continue Reading
There are several new ads running in New Mexico this week in the presidential race. Republican candidate John McCain is out with new television and radio ads attacking Obama on taxes and government spending. Here’s the TV ad: You can listen to the radio ad by clicking here. Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Barack Obama is out with a new TV ad attacking McCain for forgetting how many homes he and his wife own. Here it is: And the group PowerPAC, a nonprofit “aimed at increasing civic participation among young people and people of color,” is airing new ads promoting Obama and targeting Hispanic voters this week. Continue Reading
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
© 2008 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. On the homestretch of this presidential election each candidate is campaigning frantically 20 hours a day. The media have exhausted all logical questions and now we are learning of their favorite songs and how many teeth each has. These final two know that only one will win and the other will spend years sleeping like a baby — that is, waking every few hours crying. Each is trying to out-promise the other: “If elected I will give you, my friend, everything you want, just vote for me.” So there is no mistake, I am talking about both candidates. Each is spending every second making all sorts of promises and campaigning like a water rat in heat. Continue Reading
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
By Carter Bundy Recent events have convinced me that unless Democrats, liberals and progressives start coalescing around Obama, the GOP is going to survive what should be a free fall in local and national politics just fine. Republican hierarchies One of my favorite theories about the two major parties is that people drawn to the Republican Party generally believe in following orders and staying within a firmly established hierarchy. Think about three of the key legs of the GOP stool: military, church and corporate America. In the military, there can be a discussion of strategy behind closed doors by leaders, but once a decision is made, it’s absolutely critical that orders be followed. Soldiers aren’t there to question; they’re there to carry out the mission. Continue Reading
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
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
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
I’ll be spending much of today at John McCain’s town-hall meeting at New Mexico State University and, afterward, interviewing him on the Straight Talk Express. Check back later today for complete coverage. Continue Reading
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