Governor Richardson remains flatlined in the key Democratic Prez states of Iowa and New Hampshire, apparently getting no bounce from his January Prez announcement, according to the latest ARG survey. In Iowa he remains the favorite of just 1% of the prospective caucus goers and in New Hampshire he garners only 2% with likely primary voters.

Richardson has said Nevada, which holds a caucus between Iowa and New Hampshire next January, will be key for him. It will have to be if the other early critical states don't wake up to him. But there's plenty of time and plenty of mistakes to be made that could and likely will shake up the political landscape between now and next year.

The ARG poll has Hillary Clinton ahead in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

NEW DEM FACES

Voters across our state will trek to the polls in very small numbers today to elect school board members, but at least there seems to be plenty of candidates. How about some for the U.S. Congress? Is there a possibility that the ABQ school board candidates you see advertising on this blog for today's election--lawyer Marty Esquivel or 29 year old Vanessa Alarid, former executive director of the NM Dem party--could take the plunge? Both are fresh political faces who could hold their own on a stage with incumbent GOP ABQ Congresswoman Heather Wilson, who despite almost losing her seat last November, has yet to draw a challenger.

Esquivel told me he has been asked about a the possibility and found it intriguing. Alarid comes from a political family and has the type of profile that could also attract votes. The duo is running against each other today, along with two other candidates.

Whether Esquivel or Alarid decided to make a congressional run, they would face the always well-financed Heather who reports a cash balance of over $60,000 in her campaign account.

And what about Ray Powell, Jr. running for the ABQ seat? In one of our idle moments we floated the former Dem land commissioner's name and he recently responded: "I have a real appreciation for how many people read your column and then talk with each other. Your comments generated a lot of inquiries. You have me thinking about it now." emailed Powell.

Come on gang, everybody jump in and let's party!

ON THE HILL

Heather sure isn't running to the right after her narrow victory in the moderate ABQ district. On last week's big budget vote in the U.S. House she was on the side of Dem NM Rep. Tom Udall in approving a $463 billion 2007 budget measure. NM GOP Rep. Steve Pearce voted against the bill which passed on a 286-140 vote. Earlier, Wilson started moderating her hawkish position on the unpopular Iraq war, a move predicted here and we believe you will see more in the months ahead.

IN THE ROUNDHOUSE

Meanwhile, up in the City Different, ABQ Dem State Senator Jerry Pino is still inclined to introduce a bill that would keep the heat on Heather by redistricting her seat now and not waiting for the scheduled redistricting in 2011. If they could field a strong candidate, Pino's tinkering could tilt the seat toward the D's. The bill is not expected to go very far, but insiders say it should be able to at least get one hearing. You can bet Heather will want a full report.

DON AND DOMENICI

It was Big Bill who got a bunch of unwanted attention from shock radio talk jock Don Imus recently for refusing to appear on the national radio and TV program unless Imus apologized for earlier criticism of the Guv. However, NM GOP Senator Pete Domenici did appear on Imus in late January. A blog about the Imus program wasn't too kind to the senator, but we didn't hear anything very odd during the gab session. You can judge for yourself.

D.A. DINGED

Let's take a trip up to Farmington where District Attorney Lyndy Bennett is getting hammered by the Farmington Daily Times over his handling of a big meth case. It caught our notice because we don't see much coverage anymore of what's happening in our district attorneys offices, especially here in big Bernalillo county. Why is that?

MY BOTTOM LINES

Governor Richardson turned the tables on the pundits who are insisting that he is really running for vice-president, not president. He did so at this weekend's winter meeting of the Democratic National Committee when he fired off this one liner to the party activists:"Anyone of these candidates would be good in the White House,” said Richardson. “As my vice president.”

You can see the Guv's entire speech. It is worth a look as it is one of his better efforts. He is animated and loose which is not always the case...In a Superbowl evening interview on KRQE-TV with New Mexico TV news dean Dick Knipfing, the anchorman asked the Governor what would be his first official act if he was indeed elected President. Not missing a beat, Big Bill wisecracked: "Give an exclusive interview to you!" Knipfing chuckled, but quickly retorted: "I will hold you to that." One suspects that could be one crowded "exclusive interview" before Bill finishes up on the campaign trail..

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2007
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