Heather Wilson's outburst (see yesterday's report) against CBS and Viacom for airing a racy half-time show at the Super Bowl has drawn some return fire. Local wags, mostly Dems, ask pointedly if Heather is willing to put her money where her mouth is and not put her campaign commercials on CBS affiliates? The wags also point out that the ABQ GOP congresswoman has over $750,000 in her ever-growing campaign kitty, big chunks of it from the pharmaceutical industry which some of her constituents find as profit-hungry as Viacom. Will she cease taking donations from that industry?

Of course, the answers are no and no. Politicos can blast greedy corporations all they want, but when you look in their own backyard, they are just as money driven, raising untold millions from just about anyone in their quest to get re-elected. Sounds a lot like trying to get those CBS ''ratings'' Heather is in a tizzy about, doesn't it?

And what of the politics of the nationally televised Wilson tongue-lashing? One observer recalled the response Heather received when she was introduced by the Prez at a recent Roswell rally. She basically got no response, while loud cheers were given to her fellow GOP Congressman Steve Pearce. Sure, Pearce represents the area, but, our observer reflects, the silence had to be deafening for Heather. "Her hit on Viacom will resonate most with conservative southeast NM Republicans who she would badly need to win any future GOP U.S. Senate primary against Pearce or another conservative," said our source who has worked at the highest levels of New Mexico politics.

MORE GOP BLOODLETTING?

And another reliable source comes to us with the news of yet another possible flare-up in the NM GOP. It's over State Senator and State GOP Chair Ramsay Gorham. Our source reports that the forces of former state chair John Dendahl, who Ramsay ousted last year, may be grooming a GOP primary opponent for Gorham. The name: Leland Gould. His game: lobbyist for energy firm Giant Industries. The problem: Gould is a registered lobbyist out of Scottsdale, AZ. Unless he has a home or apartment in Ramsay's district, or is about to get one, this may just be a rumor to give the state chair a scare. Previously, Dendahlite and former GOP executive director John Ryan has been mentioned as a possible primary opponent for the always-under-fire-Ramsay. Sources at the Roundhouse told me this week that Ryan is still a possible.

Ramsay e-mailed me a couple of weeks ago to say she was indeed running and not planning a last-minute withdrawal and a "hand-off' to a favored successor. We can only take her at her word. She would likely win any GOP contest, but it would further tear apart a party that has been putting itself through the shredder for months. Filing date for all the legislative candidates is mid-March. It will be constant speculating and jockeying for position right up till the deadline. I wonder if a big name Dem will file for the Gorham ABQ North Valley senate seat? Let me know if you hear anything.

GOOD TIMING, JEFF

Senator Kerry's possible relationship problems are not scaring off NM Dem U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman. He gave Kerry his go-ahead saying the Massachusetts senator is in the "best position' to unite the Dem Party. Just as Bingaman's Washington office was releasing the Kerry plug, the right-wing Drudge Report was screaming of an alleged relationship Kerry had with a 20 year old woman which Drudge said is the subject of "major" probes by several national news organizations. Drudge claims Kerry will respond to his report today.

It was a bizarre day in American politics with the Drudge Report as the topic of just about every talk-radio show in the country, but nary a peep out of the broadcast or cable TV networks, which say they have a higher bar to jump before they can air such allegations. (KRQE-TV's Dick Knipfing did quote the report on the 10 p.m. news) John Edward's is right. There are two America's these days. And no where is that more evident than in the world of media and politics. Millions of radio-listening and internet-reading Americans get a sensational report, that, if true, could impact the Prez race. The rest of America sits before it's TV's eating Doritos, completely oblivious to the firestorm raging outside their window. Is this an episode of the 'Twilight Zone' or what?

KATHY'S CURIOSITIES: THE GREAT CHOCOLATE WEEKEND IS HERE

Forrest Mars Sr. invented the recipe for M&M's during the Spanish Civil War. Mars saw soldiers eating pieces of chocolate covered with a hard sugary coating. The coating preventing the candy from melting in the hot sun. M&M's were first sold to the public in 1941, packaged in cardboard tubes. In 1948, the packaging changed from a tube to the brown plastic pouch known today. In 1954, "M&M's Peanut Chocolate Candies were introduced. That same year, the M&M's brand characters and the famous slogan "The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand" were both trademarked.

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The usually passionless Heather Wilson turned up the temperature last night as she graced TV screens across America with a withering attack on Viacom, owner of CBS, and its president, Mel Karmazin, for airing the Janet Jackson strip act at the Super Bowl. The ABQ GOP Congresswoman lit into Karmazin who was appearing before a congressional committee looking into the incident: "You knew what you were doing. You improved your market share and lined your pockets!" Exclaimed Heather, in a near-tearful tirade over Janet's bared breast. The CBS Evening News, CNN and other media picked up her tongue-lashing.

Her high-pitch seemed a bit out of character for the low-key lawmaker. But politically she picked safe turf. The Jackson act has been panned everywhere and the issue especially appeals to conservative Republicans. Heather's previous national TV shots, on Bill Maher's HBO program and a stint on the Fox network's 'Hannity and Colmes,' have fallen flat. This time she was more animated, if a bit demagogic. But you don't get to the U.S. Senate by hanging back and I'm sure her future competitors eyed her new act and are laying plans for their own coming-out parties.

You might ask what senate seat Wilson and her rivals could have their eyes on. Certainly, Sen. Domenici's. But that's not up until 2008. Sen. Jeff Bingaman is up in 06', but when asked recently by talk show host Mike Santullo if he definitely was seeking re-election, Jeff did not say yes. I am sure it was just an oversight, wasn't it Jeff?

OUR GAVEL TO GAVEL COVERAGE CONTINUES

Politicos are speculating on just what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce or affiliated groups hope to achieve by getting involved in supporting a Republican for the NM Supreme Court, if they indeed do decide to pump big bucks into the race. There are five members on the high court and adding one Republican would not seem to have a major impact. "I don't think it will happen, unless it will help Bush," e-mailed one observer. And he may be right.

Pumping money into Republican Ned Fuller's campaign against incumbent Supreme Democrat Ed Chavez might excite some more R's into going to the polls, and perhaps that's enough reason for Chamber involvement. But I also would not underestimate their desire to take out a trial lawyer like Chavez. Even one R on the all-Dem high court would be a major victory since there hasn't been one since the 80's. Through the grapevine, Fuller says he is unaware of any possible Chamber move in his race, but Fuller, at the last minute, opted out of a district court race in favor of the Supreme bid. That he was pledged financial support by someone or some group to make the run is a reasonable assumption. Stay tuned.

ANCHORS AWAY

Veteran Channel 7 anchorman Craig Nigrelli, whose departure from Channel 7 we broke on this web site, e-mails in to say his new job will be way up North, at the Minneapolis ABC affiliate. It's a bigger market than NM and will be a step up the TV ladder for the anchor and political junkie, who brought a measure of experience to KOAT's election coverage. Nigrelli will be joining fellow Channel 7 alumnus Tim Blotz in Minneapolis. Blotz has a job lined up t the Fox affiliate there. The money may be better for these guys up North, but what about the weather fellas? Good luck and take some green chile with you for those very cold winter nights.

KERRY'S PRIVATE LIFE UNDER SCRUTINY
Here we go again. On the Drudge Report, reports of media probes of Kerry's relationships.

LET'S END IT WITH A LAUGH

A final joke on the Super Bowl spat from a political angle. Did you hear about the phone calls after the Super Bowl? George Bush called the Patriots and congratulated them. Al Gore called the Panthers and told them they were robbed. Bill Clinton called Janet Jackson.

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Lightning Rod
Several weeks ago State Senator Rod Adair of Roswell told me he is seeking re-election this year, but apparently not all in the GOP are true believers. Several high-level Republican sources confirm that prominent Roswell Attorney Greg Nibert is quietly circulating petitions to seek the Adair seat, just in case the conservative lawmaker decides at the last minute to bow out. Here's how one of the sources puts it:

"The theory that Rod could back out at the last minute and pave the way for (State Rep.) Dan Foley to replace him is alive and well. It may or may not happen, but Nibert takes it seriously enough to circulate petitions and spring them if necessary."

If the Foley theory is true he too would have to be circulating petitions for the senate seat as well as his house seat. I have not had any firm reports on whether he is yet doing that. Last minute switches by legislative candidates is nothing new. A few years ago State Rep. Joe Thompson benefited when at the last minute Kip Nicely stepped down, after tipping off Thompson who was ready to go with petitions. No one else had a chance.

Nibert is not a Dendahlite. He is a power playing attorney with the Hinkle law firm and a former chair of the Chavez County GOP. He has deep ties with the New Mexico oil and gas industry and commands respect in Santa Fe. He did not return a call for comment on his petition gathering activity. It would be interesting to see a Nibert-Foley GOP face-off, but Foley would be hard-pressed to vacate his very safe house seat.
Nibert
Lightning Rod, who was the Lt. Gov. candidate for the GOP in 02,' was a key supporter of ex-state GOP chair John Dendahl who was ousted last year by Ramsay Gorham. Adair, who is a demographer and self-described polling expert, has been kicked off the gravy train since Gorham took over. The conservative lawmaker has blasted this blog and me personally, as well as just about every other source of political news and commentary in the Land of Enchantment. He circulates an occasional newsletter with his hard-right viewpoints. Foley is an understudy of the Dendahlites and, like Adair, is a popular conservative in his neighborhood.

Lightning Rod's temper is known to flare on occasion. His legendary fisticuffs with then House Speaker Raymond Sanchez, was caught on camera in a Capitol hallway. This report will probably elicit another Adair-Foley outcry. So fellas, I want to thank you in advance for the publicity.

SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED

A couple of suprises on petition filing day Tuesday at the Sec. of State's office in Santa Fe. Longtime Green Party member Abe Gutmann phoned in to tell me he filed for the ABQ congressional seat held by Heather Wilson, but if he wins the Green nomination he will turn around and support Wilson's probable Dem opponent State. Sen. Richard Romero! The Green's Jeremy Brown also filed Tuesday for the congressional nod and is not prone to deal with the Dems if he wins. However, Brown says if longshot Miles Nelson beat Romero he would consider doing a coalition with the Dems. All this might be academic. Heather now has a whopping $750k in the bank. Gutmann was censured by the Green's for his past dalliances with the Dems, but it doesn't seem to have changed his mind that the Green Party should not hurt the Dems when they have a liberal or semi-liberal candidate.

GENTLEMEN, (AND MAYBE JUDGE JUDY) GRAB YOUR GAVELS!

Those two high court races we've been tracking for State Court of Appeals and State Supreme Court are now in focus since petitions have been filed. State GOP Director Tom Carroll phones with the news that former State Rep. Paul Barber for Appeals, and Ned Fuller for Supreme Court, received "plenty of signatures" and will be on the June 1st primary ballot. It was a last minute switch for both men. They had been seeking district court judgeships, but went for the higher seats when, according to my sources, they were promised financial support; Fuller in particular. The speculation being the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wants to spend big bucks to beat Dem Supreme Ed Chavez who was just appointed to his seat by Big Bill. More on this in my Feb. 6 report below.

Which bring us to Judge Judy. Those Bernalillo County judgeships Barber and Fuller were going for need fresh GOP contenders. And sources say Metro Court Presiding Judge Judy Nakamura has her eye on one of them. Judy has been in the blog news as a result of Big Bill crossing the aisle and appointing Republican Metro Judge Denise Barela-Shepherd up to district court, leaving Judy's fragile GOP majority for presiding judge in jeopardy. A race for district court would leave that behind her and would also give her a bump up the pay scale and the prestige ladder. Another district court GOP judge hopeful will apparently be veteran ABQ accident lawyer and loyal Repub Kerry Morris. He is said to be circulating petitions and will file for a court seat in mid-March. I will update the Dem contenders in future reports.

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Pork reform is going to the slaughterhouse in the Legislature. Hundreds of millions of dollars in capital outlay for projects around NM are divvied up each year by the Legislature and the Guv, but the Guv wans to control more of it because he says it's not being spent 'efficiently.' Fat chance of that, say my sources at the Roundhouse. Here's how our high insider puts it:

"It seems the Gov. has thrown in the towel on his capital outlay reform. There's been no talk of reform the past couple of weeks, and we are proceeding in the same manner we always have. The capital outlay subcommittee is hearing member's requests and have put in a lot of hours. Citizens have been traveling up here and appearing to support the capital outlay requests. All indicators are that we are doing this as we always have. The Gov. is not sending any signals that he will sustain the fight."

So rejoice pork-barrel politicos. It appears you will get your fill. This being an election year, it was a stretch to think the lawmakers would give up one dime's worth of their pork to Big Bill. So Guv, get out of the barnyard, there are some hungry hogs that need to be fed.

DOWN TO THE WIRE FOR GOP HIGH COURT WANNABE'S

Late last night State GOP Executive Director Tom Carroll reported he is "optimistic' that the GOP's late-entering State Supreme Court and Court of Appeals candidates will have enough petition signatures to meet today's deadline and win spots on the June 1 primary ballot. Both have received the 1900 GOP signatures that each must be file in Santa Fe today by 5 p.m. Carroll says former State Rep. Paul Barber, running for Court of Appeals and Ned Fuller going for State Supreme Court, 'should make it' because most of the signatures will be genuine Republican and not subject to disqualification. See my Feb. 6 report for just what is happening in these races. The State Supreme Court battle could turn into a big-spending one for the first time in history.

DON'T GET TOO COMFORTABLE, TOM
Also filing mandatory petition signatures today are the candidates for the state's three Congressional seats. And the GOP has managed to come up with two contenders who hope to take on Dem. incumbent Tom Udall who is unopposed for the Dem nomination June 1. Greg Tucker, the 30 year old DA from San Juan County and Native American Ed Tsiyatee of Las Vegas, NM, are both in the battle. Udall has a half-million in cash in the bank and is in a solidly Dem district. But at least the GOP found someone, probably Tucker, to oppose him so we will have a campaign up North.

MANNY & STEVE--YES, IT CAN HAPPEN

No sooner had I blogged here that outgoing Bernalillo County Commissioner Steve Gallegos just might be the guy to replace senate powerhouse Manny Aragon, if Aragon resigned his seat to take the presidency at NM Highlands University, than the nay sayers were on the e-mail telling me 'no way.' Steve doesn't live in the district, they said, so no deal is possible. No deal is possible in New Mexico?!! Please guys and gals. All it takes is an apartment to establish residency. And it has been done so many times over the years, I have lost count.

People love to write and point out this residency requirement. Again, give me a big break! All of you veterans of the NM political scene have your residency switching stories. These alligators can and do switch addresses on a dime. So don't pour cold water on a possible Gallegos succession to Aragon just yet. And don't rely on where a candidate lives as a guide to what can happen in the political future because it isn't always reliable.

FINAL TAKE

Our last take today comes from the Trib's Shea Andersen who has an update on the GOP friction in NM.

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Legendary legislative powerhouse Sen. Manny Aragon has been busy lately trying to get the Guv to consider a redistricting bill to put GOP Congresswoman Heather Wilson out of business, but the South Valley lawmaker has some districting problems of his own. His neck of the woods is less Democratic friendly than it used to be, and now word comes to "New Mexico Politics With Joe Monahan" that Manny has drawn a Republican opponent, and he's no lightweight.

Republican Fernando C de Baca, a cabinet secretary for health and social services in the Guv Apodaca days in the 70's, tells me he is off and running against Manny and says the redesigned district gives him a glimmer of hope. "Joe, the district now extends up to the East Mountains in Bernalillo County and includes Bosque Farms to the south. Both of these areas are filled with Republicans, so I am hoping for a competitive race," the South Valley native told me.

Considering that Manny only got 55% percent in his reelect four years ago, C de Baca's analysis can't be dismissed.(The district is now 59% Dem) He also says Manny "has been there too long" and that the district, despite the senator's stroke, is still behind in "getting improvements." But C de Baca also skews to the right when he talks about bringing "God back into the classroom," and he talked to me about it a lot. But the 66 year old, who has been involved in environmental consulting in Chicago and Washington D.C., is bright and able and definitely not a token opponent. His chances of beating Manny are not good, but not outside the realm of possibility.

A 21ST CENTURY MANNY

The wall-leaners at the Capitol are also chewing on Manny's future outside the senate. He is known to be interested in the presidency of NM Highlands University, and if he got it he would have to resign his senate seat. If he tried to keep both, he would be run out of town on a rail. So if he does get that job, who would take his senate position? Speculation centers on outgoing Bernalillo County Commissioner Steve Gallegos, an old ally of Manny's who was his special guest on the opening day of this year's legislature. Steve also has served as senate sergeant-at-arms, a job he got courtesy of Aragon. I ran into Steve a couple of weeks ago (he works at the Dep't of Labor in ABQ) and he told me he was recovering from his heart problems, but just wants to go fishing and leave politics behind. Right, Steve. And a bee turns down honey! Any Aragon vacancy would be filled by the Guv because it is a multi-county district.

BIG BILL'S BIG BLOW-UP; HOW'S IT PLAYING?

The Big Bill blow-up with lobbyists from the Big Pharma industry draws some incisive comments from top insiders on both sides of the aisle. Sen. Tim Jennings went ballistic on the Guv for strong-arming a group of health care lobbyists at a meeting last week. Here is a round-up of the insider comments I have received on the Big Bill-Jennings spat.

Sen. Jennings
"Well, the sheen is off the governor, but it remains to be seen just what impact, if any, all of this has on his agenda. Despite Jennings, the Senate remains solid for him, and that may be his trump card as this session goes down to the wire."

"What a stroke of luck. He loses his cool and it goes public, but he loses it with some of the most unpopular industry's around--nursing homes and drug companies." He gets to paint himself as a populist, and Jennings looks like he's in the pocket of special interests."

"There's a crack in the armor, for sure. The 110 mph freeway trips, the secrecy over who has paid for some of his travel and now this. Eventually, all governors have their warts exposed. Bill is no different. He needs some trouble-free months to recoup. That will be easier to do once the Legislature adjourns. But his enemies are gaining strength from the missteps."

"He has a long history of blow-ups in private meetings, but this one breaks his way because he can say he is standing up for the little guy against the big, bad lobbyists. So he takes a brief hit with the Legislature, but what about the public? He probably wins with them. If he had done this with a group of legislators and it went public, all bets would be off, but who you are fighting is just as important as the fight."

"This health care group puts up TV ads knocking Richardson's health-care bill, and then they go into his office and try to cut a deal. Give me a break. Any governor would be mad. They were trying to strong-arm him and no executive would put up with it. He may have lost this one on style, but he wins the PR battle.

MY TAKE

Big Bill has given his opponents a big target through his over-the-top-personal style, but they still can't seem to hit the target. Jenning's wife attended the meeting and the senator from Roswell compared the treatment she received to "domestic abuse." Give us a break, Tim. This Guv has come to play. An emotional outburst is not exactly a cool cucumber strategy to take him out. Noteworthy: No other Democratic senators joined in the Guv-bashing.

The Legislature's day may come in leveling the playing field with the Big Guy. But it won't be at a meeting of drug company lobbyists. Big Bill, of course, needs to tone it down and be aware that conversation terms used at a boxing match do not fit into a legislative discussion. That's basic diplomacy, isn't it?

MORE ON MANNY, THE JENNINGS JIHAD AND QUIRKY BURQUE

AP veteran LarryCalloway has some good history on Manny in his latest web column. The New Mexican's Steve Terrell is a reliable legislative witness. More on the Jennings blowup from him. And then there's Quirky Burque which has a decidely new generation bent on local happenings. Enjoy.

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