The Contenders
There was no chill from Hill and that was good for Bill. The leading Dem presidential contender popped up on NM TV screens late Thursday doing an interview with KRQE-TV and showing no signs of holding a grudge against the NM Governor. When asked by anchor Deanna Sauceda if she would consider Bill Richardson as a VP pick, she said:

I have the highest regard and admiration for Governor Richardson. He is a great American in every sense of the word and I would be honored to have him part of my team in this campaign and in my administration because he has so much to give to our country. He has a tremendous track record of success in everything he has done and I look forward to working with him.

Well, you didn't expect her to actually answer the VP question, did you? Still, after the sour note struck between the Richardson and Clinton campaigns at the Iowa caucuses, Hill's mini-tribute to Big Bill had to fall softly on Bill's ears. His chances to be on the ticket are seen as slim, but there are other job possibilities if 2008 is a Clinton replay.

A Richardson operative told us last week to expect a presidential endorsement from the Guv before "Super Duper Tuesday" when NM and 21 other states have Dem caucuses and primaries. An endorsement of Obama would be a stunner, considering the Guv's long ties with Hill and Bill.

As for when she will visit here, the New York Senator said: " I am going to get there as soon as I can. I love coming to New Mexico. I'm excited about campaigning there so I will get there as fast as s possible.

Hill's NM campaign chair, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, now says she expects two Clinton visits--one from Hill and one from Bill.

THE TRUTH SQUAD

Insiders said Friday that Obama will visit NM February 1st.

While Hillary was hijacking the airwaves here, her chief rival, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, was forming a NM "truth squad" to prepare against any attacks from the Clinton camp. "If what has happened in the other primary states is any indication, we could get the same here," warned Obama spokesman Trevor Fitzgibbon. The truth squad will be announced today and be charged with shooting down what the Obama camp sees as any out of line attacks. Obama squad members will include State Reps Kenny Martinez and Al Park and State Treasurer James Lewis.

WANNA KNOW A SECRET?

Former ABQ GOP State Representative Rory Ogle says KOB-TV is none too happy over his decision to exclude all media from the first joint appearance scheduled between the two candidates seeking the GOP nomination for the ABQ congressional seat. Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White and State Senator Joe Carraro are scheduled to appear at Ogle's monthly Saturday morning breakfast at a local restaurant. Rory says the candidates have agreed to the "no media allowed rule." He says the candidates will be more "candid" with the party insiders invited to the session if the press is excluded, What? They will be telling a different story when the cameras are on?

If the first joint appearance by White and Carraro ends up as a donnybrook over media access, the candidates will only have themselves to blame. The weather has been frigid lately. Maybe one of them can call in sick. If not, their "secret" debate will be a headline maker, and not the kind the R's need or want. We'll let you know what happens.

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Udall
Just because state law prohibits legislators from raising political money during a legislative session, it doesn't mean the campaign money machine goes into hibernation. For example, tonight at the Rio Chama restaurant right next to the Roundhouse, a group of lobbyists is hosting a high dollar reception for Rep. Tom Udall's campaign for the US Senate. They're not looking to fill the cheap seats either. Lobbyist-lawyer David Buchholtz, former Sandia Pueblo Guv Stuart Paisano, now with state economic development, and lobbyists Drew Setter and J.D.. Bullington are hosting the event and asking for a minimum donation of $500 and the maximum allowable--$2300--from reception "hosts."

It was a big dollar event for Steve Pearce in D.C. last night as he was feted by VP Dick Cheney. The Veep previously hosted a fundraiser for Rep. Heather Wilson who is is facing off with Pearce for the GOP US Senate nod. An Alligator peeked into the Pearce party and reported: "

It was a good crowd including several NM residents from across the state who came in for it. The VP was very enthusiastic for Pearce. He didn't mention there was a primary with Heather, only how important it was to win the seat and that Pearce would run a great race.

Thanks Potomac Gator. The Cheney event for Heather raised about $110,000. Preliminary estimates for the Pearce event is over $50,000 with some more to come. The weirdest aspect of the GOP senate campaign thus far has been the romancing of Cheney who is polling terribly, but remains popular with hard-core R's and still can raise a ton of money.

PUSHING PEARCE

We broke the news that Pearce would be the first NM candidate to hit the TV airwaves, and his bio spot is still airing in the big ABQ market. You might ask, how is Heather reacting? Well, she has not answered Pearce on TV, but our reliable insiders tell us someone launched a "push" poll into NM GOP households around the same time Pearce went up on TV.

The poll provided negative information about Pearce and then asked Republicans who initially said they supported the southern NM congressman whether that was still the case after hearing the negative stuff. We don't know the issues used or whether Heather sponsored the survey, but it was out there and is a sign of things to come.

TUBE TALK

We told you yesterday Hillary would hit with NM TV. This spot went into heavy rotation Wednesday. It's a hard-hitter on the economy. Light Guv Denish said Hill will make as many as two or three visits to our state to campaign for the February 5th caucus. That's raising the stakes. Will Obama answer with more than one stop here?

Barack's backers made a show of force at the Capitol yesterday, announcing a group of New Mexican supporters. His big "get" was House Majority Leader Kenny Martinez. State Rep, Antonio Lujan of Cruces also signed up as did former ABQ Mayor Jim Baca and ABQ State Rep. Moe Maestas.

Obama has now hit the air with his second TV spot. Our TV insiders said it would be aimed at young voters. Well, kinda. It's about children's education.

Both Hill and Barack have good TV. It's a relief not to see the negative stuff, and you can only hope that it lasts. It is hitting home that we are seeing history in the making--either a woman or a black man is going to get the Dem nomination--and that's pretty heady stuff if you grew up during the civil rights struggle and/or the beginnings of the feminist movement. Or even if you didn't.

We don't often hit the campaign trail, but we'll be there for you when these two set down in our Land of Enchantment.

THE R WORLD

The R's may not have "rock stars" like the Dems, but they come close with Arizona Senator John McCain whose legendary time as a POW captures the imagination and respect of many young people. He has appeal here in his neighboring state and a NM match-up with Hill or Barack could mean a down-to-the-wire finish.

PAYBACK TIME?

Is it payback time for Big Bill? Here's some Roundhouse chatter on the subject from our email box: "Now that the Guv is back from his presidential campaign, is it pay back time? Will he weed out the people who he thinks are not "team players?" Will state board and commission members who did not contribute the max to his campaign and/or "voluntarily" go to Iowa at their own expense be asked for their resignations so the Guv can appoint friendlier backers? The same with exempt personnel after the legislative session?

BACK TO THE FUTURE?

The Guv, once constantly mentioned as a possible Veep pick, now doesn't even merit a mention on the WaPo's latest list of top contenders. Still, he has an attractive resume that a Dem winner of the White House will at least take a glance at for a top job. If not veep or secretary of state, how about his old job as secretary of energy? Here's one news hound arguing that case.

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TV insiders say Hillary Clinton will join Barack Obama on the New Mexico TV airwaves beginning today and it will be game on for the February 5th NM Dem Presidential caucus. Obama already has a health care ad running. We are told his next one will be aimed at young Dems, a group he has had success with in other early primary states. Obama operatives also say he plans to add to his field operation here and use direct mail and phone banks to move the vote.

Hillary is not going to have as an extensive field operation as Barack, but she will make a NM visit before the February 5th voting. An announcement is expected soon. The AP initially reported (and we blogged) that she would be here no later than today. Clinton's campaign later said that is not the case. However, spokeswoman Kristin Lee, fresh on the scene from the Nevada caucuses, also did not rule out a visit by President Clinton. If Hill and Bill do double-team us with two separate visits, they will get a boatload of free media. Obama is also expected to stop here.

There's more campaign news. Two of the state's most prominent African-American politicos, State Treasurer James Lewis and the state's first African-American state legislator, Lenton Malry, are both supporting Obama. Malry told me he wants Obama to aggressively court the Hispanic vote here. The campaign will announce some endorsement news this afternoon, and word is Malry may get his wish.

Insiders tell us that Ed Romero, who headed up Big Bill's financial team for his now ended Prez run, was spotted in Nevada last Friday morning having breakfast with other political heavies that just happened to include Hillary Clinton, President Clinton and daughter Chelsea. Romero is a former US ambassador to Spain. He is now raising money for Hill.

Laura Sanchez, executive director of the NM Democratic Party, informs that the NM caucus will cost the party about $250,000 to $300,000. The party is having fundraisers to pay the bill.

Here is a list of voting places for the Feb. 5th election at which 26 national Dem delegates are at stake. Polls will be open from noon until 7 p.m. Only registered Dems can vote.

TWENTY PER CENT OR BUST

If you're one of the many candidates for the US Congress in New Mexico this year our best advice is that you get to work on snaring 20% of the delegates to your party's March 15h pre-primary convention. It is looking less likely that the Legislature will pass a bill that would easily allow candidates who are denied a spot on the June ballot at the pre-primary to get on the ballot by collecting additional petition signatures. The AP reports on a measure sponsored by State Rep. Jose Campos, chair of House Voters and Elections. The money line comes from Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, who talks about delaying action for another year.

Campos' bill says candidates may start gathering the signatures only after the (pre-primary) convention, and must turn them in to the secretary of state within 20 days. "I'm not going to go along with that," the Senate's Sanchez said in an interview. He said that in the interest of fairness the law should be restored to what it was before the change, "and if we need to work on it more, we can do it in the 60-day session" next year.

Next year? But it is this year when all three NM US House seats are open and a bunch of non-incumbents are scrambling to get on the ballot. Next year won't matter. House Speaker Lujan who is guiding the northern Dem congressional candidacy of his son, Ben Ray Lujan, isn't crying in his bottled water over Sanchez's statement. "Next year" is just fine with him.

GOING HOLLYWOOD

They can argue whether the state is offering too many financial incentives to attract Hollywood to New Mexico, but it's hard to argue with the results. From the Guv:

SANTA FE- Governor Richardson applauded the announcement that four movies filmed in New Mexico have received a total of 14 Academy Award nominations... The films include Best Picture nominee “No Country for Old Men” which tied for the lead with eight nominations. “These nominations highlight the quality of the projects we are attracting to New Mexico..We can say with proven certainty that New Mexico is a world-class film destination.”

Richardson says since he took office, 90 major feature film and television projects have been shot in New Mexico. The Legislature decided this year not to cap the financial incentives offered to Hollywood.

LYNDA AND JOSHUA

We told you recently how the news that State Senator Lynda Lovejoy would have a Democratic primary foe flew under our radar. We asked the Alligators for help and they gave us some. Lovejoy is being challenged by Sandoval County Commissioner Joshua Madalena, a member of the Jemez Pueblo who was just selected as county commission chairman. Lovejoy. the first Native American woman to serve in the Senate, was appointed by the Guv in early 2007 to fill out the term of Leonard Tsosie who resigned to take a seat on the Navajo Nation Council. Joshua Madalena is a cousin of State Rep. James Roger Madalena. Lovejoy was also once a state House member as well as a Public Regulation Commissioner. Because of her long track record, she enters the Dist. 22 primary race as the favorite for the Indian Country seat, but we are putting this one on our watch list.

THE BOTTOM LINES

He spent it all. Big Bill's Prez campaign has a debt. $22 million isn't what it used to be...

I was just scanning my January 21st blog where we gave Roswell State Rep. Dan Foley a promotion to House Minority Leader. He is the minority whip. Tom Taylor is the GOP leader...

And the quote of the day comes from another Roswell area lawmaker, Rep. Keith Gardner, who told Chaves county constituents visiting the Roundhouse: "Normal people in Santa Fe is a rarity."

Of course, Roswell is an oasis of normalcy, even if half the economy there is based on a belief in UFO's and space aliens. In New Mexico, "normal people" may be the ultimate oxymoron.

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Barack Obama fired the first shots in the New Mexico Democratic presidential battle by unveiling TV ads here, but veteran Dems we consulted say Hillary is still positioned to win the war here. Their consensus sees the ABQ metro area as a key battleground where they give a slight edge to Obama, but they see the former first lady dominating in the south and east and capturing enough Hispanic votes in the north to hold off the Illinois senator. (How about that CNN debate last night? Was that hotter than Hatch green chile or what?)

What could be ominous for Obama in New Mexico February 5 is what happened with the Hispanic vote in the Nevada caucus Saturday. NM pollster Brian Sanderoff summed it up for me this way: "Exit polling in Nevada suggests that Hillary Clinton performed well among Hispanics. If this trend continues in NM, then it would be reasonable to conclude that Hillary starts with an advantage since Hispanics play such an important role in NM Democratic Party politics."

Those polls showed Nevada Hispanics going for Hillary by better than 3 to 1. The experts speculate that Hispanic turnout in the NM Dem caucus will be lower than it is in a traditional primary, but still a major voting block. Obama is expected to perform best among Anglo liberals concentrated in Santa Fe, Taos, and in the ABQ metro.

The Obama campaign will bring in Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano today to campaign in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. The ABQ native will also appear in ABQ's South Valley to woo Hispanic voters. (Wire reports that Clinton would visit here in the next day or two are not correct. The Clinton campaign says she will visit the state before the Feb. 5 election.)

MORE PREZ ANALYSIS

Dem consultant Harry Pavlides believes Clinton's strength in the north will slow any Obama juggernaut. "The Clintons are not the Kennedys but in the north they are very well liked. She has a base of support there and also has one with women voters. Obama needed to be on TV early to catch her. She also needs to go on the air but does not need to match him ad for ad because of the base of support she already has here," Pavlides said.

Only 26 national Dem convention delegates are at stake in the February 5th voting here. (12 more go to the convention unpledged.) A candidate must win 15% of the popular vote in a congressional district in order to win some of the 26. John Edwards is in danger of being shut out. He has the potential to score heavy with Anglo voters in the south and the east, but his campaign has stalled nationally, making him less of a factor here. He turned it on last night at the CNN debate. Does he have a second wind to get back in this thing?

As for turnout, the experts expect us to match the 105,000 Dems who cast ballots at the '04 caucus. Because the D's have been energized, we could go higher. Here's my coverage of the results of NM's Feb. '04 caucus.

One thing is certain: What happens on the national scene in the next two weeks will have a major impact on how NM Dems feel about the race, so while Hillary has the edge here keep your eye on the headlines. The big local factor is Big Bill's endorsement. We blogged yesterday that insiders expect him to back a candidate before the caucus. If he chooses Hillary, it could help her put this one away.

GARY JOHNSON RESURFACES

While we're waiting for Big Bill to weigh in with an endorsement in the Dem Prez race, on the R side former NM GOP Governor Gary Johnson is surfacing, coming with an endorsement for Ron Paul. It's no surprise to those who have followed the politics of the former two term Governor. He was always more libertarian than Republican, especially when he called for the legalization of drugs. But Johnson did not cite the drug war in his endorsement. He said the Texas congressman, who has given fits to establishment Republicans, will end the unpopular war in Iraq and for that Paul gets his vote. NM R's will have little say in the GOP Prez battle. Their primary isn't held here until June 3.

PROBE CONTINUES

Several of our legal beagles tell us we need to clarify our blog where we said the Senate Ethics Committee probe into the US Attorney scandal and Senator Domenici's role in it was closed. It is not closed. From "The Hill" newspaper:

The investigation remains “open,” according to Natalie Ravitz, spokeswoman for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the ethics committee.The status of the House ethics committee review is unclear, but the panel has been active. (Former NM US Attorney Iglesias) met with the panel last year to discuss his firing and his allegation that (Rep. Heather) Wilson put pressure on him to file charges before the election.

Washington observers think by announcing his retirement Domenici probably escapes any more fallout from the scandal. That might not be the same for Rep. Heather Wilson.

And there's more: As potent as the congressional probes might be, they appear to be far narrower than a sprawling inquiry launched by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).

No doubt Rep. Steve Pearce, challenging Heather for the GOP US Senate nomination, is keeping a close eye on the US attorney developments.

BILL'S BLUE PERIOD?

Big Bill with a beard? The Guv startled Santa Fe reporters Monday as he sported some stubble and declared he will be growing a beard. It's his way of "decompressing" from his year long Prez battle. Is Bill Blue? Didn't Al Gore grow a beard after losing the 2000 Prez race? And how about Senator Pete. As soon as he announced he was giving up the power, out went the razor and on came the beard. Well, Bill isn't about to give up the power, but he does seem happiest when he is running for something. For those of you who are not beard fans, be thankful. He could have shaved his head.

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Big Bill will be back playing presidential politics, and soon. That's the word from his inner circle, with one of them relaying word that the New Mexico governor, who pulled out of the Dem Prez race this month, will endorse one of the remaining contenders prior to Super Tuesday, February 5.

Who will get the Guv's nod and what impact, if any, will it have on the NM Dem caucus, one of those February 5th states? Well, President Bill Clinton did give Richardson two high-profile jobs--UN ambassador and energy secretary, but then there was that little tiff in Iowa this month where the Bill campaign was said to have told its supporters to go with Obama, not Hillary, as their second choice. But considering his lengthy history with the Clinton's, an endorsement of anyone other than Hillary would merit being labeled a surprise.

Richardson supporters are splitting their support now that he is out of the race. That gives the Guv boots in both camps. For example, Dem heavy Ed Romero is supporting Hillary, but major money players Paul Blanchard, owner of the Downs at ABQ and Jamie Koch, former NM Dem Party chair, are with Obama.

The state Dem party set an early deadline and the Guv's name will be on the February 5th ballot here even though he has withdrawn from the race. His endorsement could sway some of his loyalists, but it may be more significant for his own political future. By endorsing a candidate before February 5th the governor would be tossing his support at a time when the race is still undecided, giving him more leverage if the candidate he endorses were to eventually win.

If he waits until after February 5th when 22 states hold caucuses or primaries, the race could be decided or close to it and a Richardson endorsement would be worth little if anything. The Guv has been mentioned as a possible VP candidate or secretary of state if the Dems were to capture the White House in November. Do the insiders have this one nailed down? Stay tuned.

STATE HOUSE BATTLE

One of the hotter state House GOP primaries this year promises to be in the Roswell area. We told you a while back that retired FBI agent Dennis Kintigh was planning to run against GOP House Minority Leader Dan Foley. Now Kintigh has made it official. This will be a marquee race in the '08 cycle as factions of the GOP struggle for control in Chaves county.

THE BOTTOM LINES

Thanks to Paul Gutierrez, executive director of the NM Association of Counties, for the hospitality last week at the association's annual convention. I spoke to the crowd at the El Dorado Hotel and not one rotten tomato was thrown. Also, thanks to Mike Anaya, the association President and the hundreds of county officials in attendance. Drop me a line if you're group is interested in having us stop by to talk La Politica.

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