Paul Bardacke
In the eyes of some analysts Big Bill's Achilles Heel may be staffing that is wholly subservient to his whims and not encouraged to question the Big Guy. However, he does get some advice from the outside that doesn't just focus on his posterior, say the insiders.

60 year old Paul Bardacke was back in the spotlight as a result of accompanying the Guv to North Korea. The former NM Attorney General and 1990 Dem Guv candidate is now billed as Big Bill's personal lawyer, after serving as his campaign chairman in 02.' He is sharp, wealthy and low-key, qualities that this Governor respects.

Bardacke may have been a bit wistful as he embarked on the overseas venture, thinking of what could have been if he had defeated Bruce King in that 90' Guv primary. But Bardacke has worked it hard for decades to earn the respect of the state and is now the quintessential insider, the consiglieri who knows where the bodies are buried. Still, like his mentor, Bill Clinton, some aspects of this Guv's personality cannot be stopped, thus the misstep over the purchase of a $5.5. million state jet, a major PR blunder that Bardacke certainly must have seen coming.

Now, with millions flowing into the Guv's re-elect campaign that need to be carefully watched and the Alligators on the national scene soon to start circling as the next Prez race unfolds, Bardacke may yet find himself tested in ways similar to the governorship he once thirsted for.

So it is at the highest rungs on the ladder of La Politica.

WHERE'S DAVE?

Meanwhile, back on the Big Bill staff payroll, this little mix-up by the AP in a dispatch from Tokyo may have had chief of staff Dave Contarino checking his nameplate:

"The Democratic governor of New Mexico spent about two hours at North Korea's main nuclear research facility at Yongbyon, where the communist regime is known to have secretly processed plutonium for nuclear weapons, Richardson's chief of staff Billy Sparks told the Associated Press in a phone call from Pyongyang." Reported the AP.

Contarino, who brings strong credentials as a tactician and strategist to the table, remains the top dog. Sparks, besides being the Guv's deputy chief and former top press aide, is, according to insiders, often the target of the Guv's notable temper. Hey, better Billy than Mr. and Mrs. New Mexico.

THE MEDIA: MILES AND MILLER

David Miles, a familiar byline for the ABQ Journal Santa Fe bureau, has moved over to the Santa Fe New Mexican (circulation, 25,000) after a five year stint with the state's largest paper (Weekday circulation, 108,000, Sunday circ, 151,000.) Miles joins fellow Journal defector Andy Lenderman who also scotched the Journal in favor of the New Mexican and now covers Los Alamos Labs for the capital city daily.

Syndicated columnist Jay Miller is out with a new book titled, "Billy The Kid rides Again, Digging for the Truth." It's based on entertaining columns Jay has written about the Kid for his "Inside the Capital" column.

Thanks for tuning in today. Drop me an e-mail with your latest political news and keep all of us up to date.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2005
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