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Friday, May 09, 2008

Clippings From Our Newsroom Floor: Baiting The Mayor, More Monty Money, And Top NM Journos Talk Shop 

We threw out enough bait to catch a basket of trout at Tingley Beach, but Mayor Marty wouldn't bite. Despite repeated prodding during an impromptu caffeinated session at my local Starbucks, the mayor would not commit to an unprecedented fourth term run for the city's top job in 2009. We even taunted him with the prospect that Dem City Councilor Michael Cadigan, a chief Chavez critic, might succeed him if he did not seek re-election, but the mayor stayed mum.

Still, it is no secret that short of getting a job in a national Dem administration, the mayor is very likely to seek another four years. Interestingly, he said he has never met Barack Obama. Chavez is a hard-core Clintonista.

Chavez did give us a clue of what might be a major campaign theme if he does seek re-election, asserting that the local economy is performing strongly despite national troubles. But Chavez has been forced to eliminate vacant positions at city hall in light of lower gross receipts tax collections and big increases in the city budget under his watch.

While we couldn't break any campaign news, we did get some about Tingley. The mayor says over the next few years he expects kids to again be able to swim there, just as they did at the original Tingley Beach those many years ago.

MULLING WITH THE MEDIA

What keeps a newsman excited after 45 years on the New Mexico beat? For TV news dean Dick Knipfing of KRQE-TV it's still the scoop. "Nothing pleases me more than to look at the ABQ Journal front page in the morning and say, "We had that story last night," exclaimed Knipfing during a University of New Mexico panel discussion we participated in on media relations. Sitting next to Knipfing was none other than ABQ Journal editor-in-chief Kent Walz who didn't seem to take offense at Dick's ardor, but didn't smile about it either.

Walz was straight up with new UNM President David Schmidly and the deans and administrators gathered for our session. He said the university has a lousy record in providing information to the press, but he hoped the relationship would improve.

Walz dropped a tidbit for the UNM group that may be useful to the politicos. He cautioned that when a reporter agrees to go "off the record" with you, that doesn't mean the information won't be used if it is confirmed independently. That's something to remember while on the campaign trail. The editor also said the Journal remains committed to investigative reporting, with three reports assigned to the beat.

UNM Prez Schmidly told us he likes his La Politica and keeps up with former Oklahoma Senator David Boren who now has a home in Santa Fe. The new president hopes he can keep the Alligators at bay for a while, but he knows what to expect. "You get your Ph.D. in politics in New Mexico," he joked.

MORE MONTY MONEY

You could buy a pretty nice house with the money the National Association of Realtors PAC is coming with to support southern NM GOP congressional candidate Monty Newman,. They said Thursday they are now up to $573,000, including $325,000 in ABQ and El Paso TV buys. The PAC is allowed to spend all this dough as long as they do not coordinate their expenditures with the Newman campaign.

Newman is a Realtor from Hobbs, but he's not the only Realtor in the race. Earl Greer of T or C is one, too. His campaign is working on having some NM Realtors come out against the national pac's support of Newman. But that isn't going to stop the TV spots and direct mail pieces from going out and that could have a major impact on the outcome of the contest.

DID THEY CHUG?

When we blogged of the house party held on behalf of ABQ Dem congressional hopeful Martin Heinrich by former NM First Lady Clara Apodaca, we noted that the city councilor had been doing well with the Chardonnay sippers, but wondered about his support with blue collar beer drinkers Well, according to the Heinrich campaign, Clara served beer at her Heinrich party. Now that's reaching out to the Democratic Party.

ON THE GRAPEVINE
Pauline & Scott
Top NM lobbyist Scott Scanland was doing some lobbying on behalf of his better half this week. His wife, Pauline, has launched a new Web site--www.santafegrapevine.com--and Scanland was spreading the word. He doesn't have to work too hard. Pauline is is a go-getter when it comes to business and bringing people together. The Grapevine will connect people in Santa Fe and the surrounding area with news, forums, and chat groups, among many other features, so join up.

Meanwhile, lobbyist Scanland is preparing to join us for our 20th year of live Election Night coverage on KANW 89.1 FM. that kicks off at 6:30 p.m. June 3. I don't have to tell you what a wild night that's going to be.

Email your news and comments and visit us again soon
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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2008
Not for reproduction without permission of the author

Thursday, May 08, 2008

The Swingin' South: Realtors Turn Up Music For Newman; Now We're Partying, Plus: Ben Ray's Dark Days, And: R's Hammer Heinrich; White Defends Ability 

Monty Newman
While the congressional race in the big city has turned into a sleeping aid more effective than Sominex, the contest to represent our state's southern cities in the hallowed halls of D.C. has the hopefuls running like their shirt tails are on fire. And Wednesday the GOP race for the Southern NM seat got hotter than a Lordsburg parking lot. The National Association of Realtors did a third party money dump on behalf of former Hobbs Mayor Monty Newman, putting up $200,000 in TV spots in ABQ and El Paso. Combined with an earlier $250,000 for direct mail and research for Monty, it adds up to $450,000 and a game-changer in the most wide-open of the four congressional battles being waged across our Land of Enchantment.

Restaurant chain owner Ed Tinsley was the first to hear the new campaign house being built for Monty. He protested in a news release that the 51 year old Newman is really a "serial tax raiser" and big spender, not the limited government, low tax advocate the Realtors portray him as. But Ed, who had his heart broken when he lost the GOP nod for the southern seat against Steve Pearce in 2002, is playing catch-up. He could have come with big April money and scared the Realtors away from Newman, but didn't. Now, the proverbial cat is not only out of the bag, it's morphing into a lion.

Aubrey Dunn was another GOP contender grabbing for the aspirin bottle when he heard the Newman news. The open secret in southern congressional politics is that it takes big wins in just two or three counties to secure the GOP nomination. Newman is now positioned to take his home county of Lea; Otero appears to be Dunn's. Who can add another SE prize like Chaves or Eddy? And what of the big prize outside of the SE--Dona Ana? With the oil patch being split into pieces, that is now an even more highly prized battleground, with the Realtors blasting the air for Monty there on El Paso TV. Tinsley says he is getting into Cruces via cable. We assume Dunn is too.

Strategists suggest that Tinsley--with no strong geographic base--may now have to go negative to hold his place in this race. He has a ranch in Lincoln County, but his ties are not as strong to the district as those of Newman and Dunn. Dunn has to be eyeing his bank balance as he contemplates what may be in store. He said he would not spend more than $300,000 of his own cash, an assumption that could come under pressure if the D.C. realtors continue to come with bricks and mortar. Here's their ad.


MONTY POWER


And here's a taste of what $250,000 can put in the mailboxes. Click on it for a full look at what is terrorizing Newman's opposition.

We chatted up Realtor Newman late Wednesday. He said he isn't worried that voters will see him as a one trick pony and in the service of the real estate business. He pointed to his record as Hobbs mayor and long ties to the district. Still, the newspaper editorial writers are sure to question the sudden interest of a powerful out of state interest group playing in their backyard.

While waiting for southern trigger-pulling, Dunn's campaign dunned us for saying the other day that Aubrey had already pulled the trigger: "The contrast/comparison mail we sent went to 130 Republican convention delegates, not primary voters. All of our mail to primary voters has been POSITIVE."

But it may be just a matter of time before the south is carpet bombed with nuke ads. The candidates fear is that two of the three leading contenders get into combat, leaving the third "positive" candidate positioned to run clean and up the middle. That's why everyone is being quite cautious in going negative early. No one wants to give up the chance of being the clean winner. The other two players are Earl Greer and Greg Sowards.

This is now a game that calls for expert and mistake-free political coaching. It is that close.

LET'S GO NORTH

While the spotlight was blazing on the southern race, in the north one of the leading candidates has actually gone dark. Dem hopeful Ben Ray Lujan hasn't been seen on the TV airwaves for a week. His campaign says they are "retooling" their ads, but consultants rarely put their candidates on the tube and then take them off. The fact is it takes over $100,000 a week to buy a decent presence and Lujan is going to need even more as we approach the final stretch. His chief competitor, Santa Fe multimillionaire developer Don Wiviott, is showing no let up on the tube, continuing to spend that nearly $1 million he has put up in personal cash. He won't have the screen to himself for long, however. The Lujan camp says their man will be back on the air next week.

THE RIVER CITY BEAT

Here in River City, the R's are trying to dig a big hole for ABQ Dem congressional hopeful Martin Heinrich to climb out of. The Journal reports that Heinrich ran a consulting business for three years without a required city license, even while serving on the ABQ city council. Heinrich said he did not know he needed a license, but got one when it was "brought to his attention." The R's pounced, demanding that Heinrich disclose his Gross Receipts Tax records from 2002-2004 "to prove that, despite operating an unlicensed business for nearly three years, he paid his taxes..."

But what the R's are really after is to see how much income Heinrich generated as they continue to try to show that Heinrich has not held much, if any, full-time employment.

Meanwhile, the Heinrich campaign is still not up on TV and won't be for a while. Instead, the campaign is doing some Internet advertising. Heinrich has raised nearly $700,000 but has not banked enough to have ads up for the entire early voting period. Besides the Internet, Martin is doing direct mail pieces. Not that he needs much TV to better his three primary opponents. None of them have any media running.

The presumptive ABQ GOP congressional nominee, Darren White, commented further on that 1999 state police no confidence vote he was subjected to while heading up Governor' Johnson's Department of Public Safety. We had blogged that White did not directly address the issue when it was raised by rival Joe Carraro on TV. He told the paper the vote was a result of his shaking up the agency and pushing for change. He said Carraro is wrong when he says that's the reason White resigned his cabinet secretary position. White maintains he quit because of Governor Johnson's support of legalizing drugs. Do you think the Dems will trot out some of those state policeman to have them say what they think happened?

ROGERS' RETORT

ABQ attorney and GOP national committeeman hopeful Pat Rogers is using humor to fend off critics of his candidacy who made themselves known in a recent blog. They contend that Rogers is too close to GOP power player and lobbyist Mickey Barnett. They also argue that Rogers is not a "true volunteer" and that the committeeman post should go to someone who is. They also cite his '06 trip to Washington with Barnett in an effort get NM US attorney David Iglesias fired. Says Rogers:

I am going to send this without asking Mickey's permission, please keep our secret....Most often, not only is any work for the NM Republican Party non-paying, but paying clients are handed off to others because of the time crunch. Large amounts were paid for redistricting work but my firm's bill was less than the three lead Dem firms, and I was in charge of the R effort.

Insiders have told us that current committeeman George Buffett has decided not to seek re-election, but Rogers, who practices with the Modrall law firm, said Buffet told him he would make a final decision this week after visiting with his famous billionaire cousin, Warren Buffett. Quipped Rogers: "To clear the Republican field of possible competitors I provided a written guarantee that all of my billionaire cousins would be required to contribute to the party every year."

Not bad, Pat. Have any funny ones about that US Attorney scandal? Roswell oilman Mark Murphy continues to be mentioned as a possible challenger to Rogers, but no word from him yet. The party meets June 14th to make a selection.

THE BOTTOM LINES

He was one of the major players in the history of ABQ's Sandia Labs and thus a player in La Politica as well. Morgan Sparks is dead at the age of 91. The New York Times reports.

E-mail us your news and comments and help cover the wonderful world of NM politics.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2008
Not for reproduction without permission of the author

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

State Cash Still Flowing: Could Help Bill's Health Plan, Plus: Hillary Hangs By Her Nails, And: Election Year Free Rides Highlighted 

The sky is not falling...yet. And that means--believe it or not--Big Bill's long-stalled health care reform plan lives. The Guv's numbers crunchers released an updated state money forecast Tuesday for the current fiscal year showing those sky-high gas prices that are tearing a hole in your wallet mean tax dollars from the NM oil and gas industry continue to pour into Santa Fe. That is blunting the effects of a slowing economy elsewhere.

However, Senate Finance Chairman John Arthur Smith isn't buying any rosy scenario for the next fiscal year that starts in July. "I do not forecast a pleasant year. These are challenging times. We've got a lot of big ticket items for the next fiscal year we are trying to address."

Smith says the state would need to increase spending by hundreds of millions of dollars if the Legislature and governor agreed to proposals for universal health care coverage, revamp the state's school finance system, shore up an ailing health care plan for government retirees and cover a highway funding shortfall.

Smith and Company will soon get a forecast for the next fiscal year from their staff. If oil and natural gas prices stay in the stratosphere and the new cash forecast is not markedly different from what we heard Tuesday, Smith is going to feel Fourth Floor heat to move on health care reform.

On that front, insiders report nine state senators, staff for the Legislature and the governor were meeting again last week on health care while Richardson continues to hammer out political strategy for a special session. When it comes to state finances this has been one of the luckiest governor's in modern history. Will the streak continue long enough for him to pass landmark legislation, not just a fig leaf? Stay tuned.

OBAMA NEARS NOD

Late Tuesday, Hillary pulled out Indiana over Obama, but he landslided her in the North Carolina Dem prez contest. NBC's Tim Russert told the nation, it will be Obama winning the nomination. That's good news for Big Bill who has cast his lot with Obama. How long before Light Guv Denish, an ardent Hill backer, gets aboard the Barack Express?

TINSLEY'S TV

Ed Tinsley went up on ABQ TV Tuesday, the first of the five GOP southern congressional contenders to do so, and none too soon for his itchy supporters who see rancher and retired banker Aubrey Dunn breathing down Tinsley's throat.

Tinsley, owner of the K-Bob's restaurant chain, came with a new spot that positions him as tough on sealing the border. The ad also splashes the slogan "Conservative Republican" across a corner of the screen. Dunn has attacked Tinsley for not being tough enough on illegal immigration when serving as president of the National Restaurant Association. In a piece of lit Dunn also labeled his rival "Liberal Ed Tinsley." This ad seems directed to counter those charges.

Dunn has gone negative in the mail and on the stump, not on TV. It appears we are in a game of chicken. Neither of the two leading contenders for the GOP nod appear to want to be first to do negative TV. Maybe they need to look at some Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson spots for inspiration. Meantime, Tinsley fans are hoping that former Hobbs Mayor Monty Newman will split the SE vote with Dunn, leaving Tinsley to claim the victory by outperforming in the remainder of the sprawling district.

POSING WITH THE PREZ

A photo of you smiling with the Prez will go for $5,000 a pop when he sets down in ABQ May 27th for a fund-raiser for ABQ GOP congressional hopeful Darren White. A ducat (you can look that up, kids) for a general reception will set patrons back a thousand a piece. White will likely net at least several hundred thousand from the prez's visit, but risks souring swing voters who are through with Bush. That's why the visit is in May, not October. Where Bush will make his appearance has not been released.

Yes, White is opposed in the primary by State Sen. Joe Carraro and it is unusual for national and state R's to endorse in a contested primary. The endorsement highlights the division in the GOP which was evident when Allen Weh was challenged for the chairmanship last year by Earl Greer. For his part, Carraro has put up a giant billboard at ABQ's Big I, complete with smiling picture. At least he'll have something to show the grandkids.

FREE RIDERS

Rue, Whitefield & Daniels
Here's a snap from photog Mark Bralley of three happy politicians. They all now have free rides to election or re-election. On the left, Sander Rue gets a free ride as David Pyne drops out of the GOP race for an ABQ West Side state Senate seat. No Dem is running so Rue will take the primary and then the general. Alligators report the lobbyists have already been seen swarming over the soon-to-be Senator.

Elizabeth Whitefield got lucky. The incumbent ABQ district court family judge was opposed by Metro Judge Frank Sedillo, but no more. Sedillo dropped out. There is no R running so Judge Elizabeth joins our free rider club. And then there's newly named NM Supreme Court Justice Charlie Daniels. No Dem challenged him in the primary and no R is running in November. Daniels will finish out the term of the late Pamela Minzner without giving the give and take of La Politica a second thought. That's the luxury of a free ride.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2008
Not for reproduction without permission of the author

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Bill To Hit Trail: Has Favorite Senate Candidates, Plus: Di-Bill Spat Could Have Fall-Out, And: Bush To ABQ 

Everyone has their favorites this political season and that includes Big Bill. The Dem Governor may not be on the ballot in NM anymore, but he still has a couple of legislative sessions to negotiate (if he doesn't head to D.C. under a Dem administration) and will use some political muscle to influence the June primary results. His eyes, say the insiders, are especially fixed on the State Senate where his healthcare reform plan was stalled. One of them weighs in.

The Governor is engaged in the upcoming elections, and is going to pay special attention with contributions and appearances on behalf of Senators Shannon Robinson, Carlos Cisneros, James Taylor, Howie Morales, Linda Lovejoy, David Ulibarri, Dede Feldman and John Pinto.

We didn't see the name of ABQ Sen. Linda Lopez on that favored list. She is in a primary battle with businessman Michael Padilla, and it's no secret that Linda, who has clashed with Bill in her role as chair of Senate Rules, is not a Fourth Floor favorite.

THE COST OF WAR

This state of aggravation between Big Bill and Light Guv Diane Denish could have some political consequences. Denish has been considered a shoo-in for the Dem guv nomination when Bill departs, but his political allies might want to make that more questionable if the top two can't settle their differences. For example, the name of former NM House Speaker Raymond Sanchez is being floated as a possible 2010 Dem Guv contender. Not that Raymond, who was tossed from his legislative seat in 2000, is going to put the fear of God into Di, but his stirrings could encourage others to weigh an entry, complicating Denish's designs for the state's top job.

The stakes could be going up, but when it comes to the 400 year old New Mexican governorship, they've never been very low.

BUSH'S BAGS TO ABQ

A presidential visit these days is a mixed bag, but Bush still raises a bag full of dough when he campaigns for GOP candidates, and that will be the case when he touches down in the Duke City May 27th for a fund-raiser on behalf of ABQ GOP congressional hopeful Darren White and the state GOP's 2008 victory fund. Bush's visit, being leaked out by the R's, will come just days before the June 3 primary.

Dems will be gleeful to get photos of White snuggling with the unpopular Prez, but White will use the visit to cement support in the primary in which he faces a cantankerous challenge from State Sen. Joe Carraro. Also, White's fund-raising has not blown the doors off. Bush' s visit will help shore up his bank balance. The downside for White is being seen so close to Bush by conservative Dems and key swing voters.. That almost cost Heather Wilson the seat in 2006. She brought the Prez in for a June '06 visit, making sure he was nowhere to bee seen when October rolled around. Insiders suspect White will do the same--use Bush--who he served as chairman of his 2004 Bernalillo County campaign effort--to raise money now, but by the time the Halloween masks come out, Bush and his visit will be a long lost memory.

AT THE TRACK


The handicapping continues. Capitol hill newspaper Roll Call pegs NM's US Senate seat "safe Democratic" in the November election. Speaking of soon-to-be Dem nominee Tom Udall, the paper analyzes:

While his politics are probably more liberal than those of most voters, New Mexico is a swing state that rewards likability and integrity-- qualities that Udall possesses...But a Republican victory is not impossible.

WE'RE OUT OF THE GATE

It's here. The first day of voting for Primary '08 is today. Here's info on where to cast an early ballot in Bernalillo County. For other counties, check your county clerk's site. It's expected that over half the primary vote will be cast through early and absentee balloting.

HISPANIC POWER


From the Politico: Democrats are poised this week to pass a crucial milestone in Florida: For the first time, the number of Hispanic Democrats in the state is expected to exceed the number of Hispanic Republicans.

OVER THE TOP SPOT?

The latest anti-DWI TV spot from the state Department of Transportation has drawn some fire. Critics ask: should the state be implying that persons picked up for violating the drinking and driving laws will be subjected to homosexual assault? In one scene, a state PSA showcases the flabby belly of an actor posing a as a prison inmate in an orange jump suit. The alleged DWI offender asks: "Who's that? The response comes, "That's your new buddy in jail."

A curious viewer asks: Do NM Corrections Secretary Joe Williams or NM's county jail directors accept sexual assault as an expected outcome of a jail or prison stay? The pokey is no place to be coddled, but shouldn't citizens incarcerated for alleged crimes be provided a minimum of physical safety? Or is that a value being kicked to the curb in an over zealous public service message? They're just asking.

E-mail your news and comments.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2008
Not for reproduction without permission of the author

Monday, May 05, 2008

Monday Monster Blog From NM's Web Leader: 3 CD's From End-To-End; TV Debate & More; Di Dings Colon; More Wiviott Cash, And: Will Press Use Its Power? 

Heinrich & White
Republican Darren White and Democrat Martin Heinrich may be the leading candidates to take their party's primary nominations for the open ABQ congressional seat, but a Friday night televised face-off revealed considerable baggage both will be toting into the fall battle.

Appearing on public station KNME-TV in what may (disappointingly) be the only TV debates between the four Dem hopefuls and the two GOP contenders, both White and Heinrich held their own, but neither had satisfactory explanations for what will likely be key issues following the June 3 primary.

Heinrich was hammered by challenger Robert Pidcock over whether he has held a full-time job during his adult life. Heinrich pointed out that he had a consulting business and was also executive director of the Cottonwood Gulch Foundation, a camp for teens and pre-teens offering personal growth through outdoor experiences. But Pidcock retorted that the camp was a "summer camp" and did not constitute a full-time job.

The work history of the 35 year old former ABQ city councilor is going to be an issue, said NM GOP communications director Scott Darnell, signaling that we can expect to see the Heinrich resume highlighted in scalding TV ads. It could be reminiscent of that Big Bill spot used against Republican rival John Sanchez in the 2002 race for governor. Bill claimed Sanchez had doctored his resume by saying he was running a business when he was actually serving as an airline flight attendant. No one is accusing Heinrich of resume fixing, but Republicans are desperate to switch the debate from the issues--which work against them--to Heinrich's personal background. The former councilor did a solid job elsewhere in the debate, but he will need to tighten up his answer to the job question or White and the GOP are going to run their elephant through it and him.

THE SHERIFF AND THE SENATOR

As for White, the Bernalillo County Sheriff was verbally assaulted by GOP rival Joe Carraro, who insisted that in the 1990's White left his position as cabinet secretary for pubic safety--not because he disagreed with then-Governor Johnson's position for legalizing drugs--but because state police expressed no confidence in his leadership. White never did directly address that issue, perhaps giving the Dems some fall fodder. But Heinrich, or whoever is the Dem nominee, was given a real gift when debate moderator David Alire Garcia asked the sheriff to name one vote he would have cast differently than that of GOP Congresswoman Heather Wilson who he hopes to succeed. White, who had just finished saying he would be an "independent" voice for the ABQ district, could not name a single vote on which he would differ with her. The response left White vulnerable to accusations that he is a Bush-Wilson clone. That's the one charge, if it sticks, that could give the Dems a fighting chance in a district where White's likability and name ID are far higher than that of his potential foes.

THE CASH KING

While the ABQ congressional candidates squared off on TV, in the north Don Wiviott was announcing that he has put up even more of his personal cash to take his campaign to TV in an even bigger way. Wiviott filed notice with the FEC that he will give himself another $100,000 in his effort to secure the Dem congressional nomination. That puts Wiviott at $990,000 in personal money, just shy of a cool million. Will he spend all that cash? You an easily go through $200,000 a week on ABQ TV. With four weeks to go in Primary '08, the math is easy to figure. Wiviott's opponents get to raise bigger individual donations--up to $6900--because Wiviott has gone over the personal spending limits specified by the FEC.

Wiviott's effort seems to have stalled in recent days He re-cut an anti-Iraq TV spot to make it more effective. The perceived frontrunner in the contest, Public Regulation Commissioner Ben Ray Lujan, has not made any big mistakes and the other three contenders have been mostly quiet. But a million bucks is a lot of money and is going to keep the race open until we get a sample of the next phase of the Santa Fe developer's campaign. What that phase consists of remains the real million dollar question.

SOUTHERN COOKIN'

Now we take you south to yet another open NM congressional seat. Retired banker and rancher Aubrey Dunn today is putting up his second TV spot in his campaign for the GOP nomination for the Southern seat. In it he throws out red meat on the border issue, saying he would complete building a border fence and keep troops deployed to secure the border.

Dunn is one of five GOP candidates chasing the nomination for the seat being given up by Steve Peace. It is by far the most intriguing contest for political junkies, with the contest seemingly wide open. Our Alligators report Dunn is doing very well in Otero County which his father, Aubrey Dunn Sr., represented for many years in the State Senate. Supporters of restaurant chain owner Ed Tinsley are getting antsy. He has said he will spend $300,000 on TV, but nothing has popped up yet in the big ABQ market. Dunn is also not on in ABQ, but airing his spots on outlets in Southern NM. Some Tinsley backers fear Dunn, with superior name ID and what appears to be a solid base in big Otero, could take the prize unless Tinsley soon gets aggressive and negative. Will Tinsley hit Dunn over his checkered party registration history and his donations to Big Bill's presidential campaign? He may have no choice as he did not come with the big money in April to put this one away.

MONTY'S MONEY

Southern CD GOP candidate Monty Newman will not see that $250,000 the National Association of Realtors is putting up for his campaign on his TV screen as we first speculated. One of our finance operatives did some legwork on this big third party expenditure and reports: "According to the FEC, the Realtors PAC plans to spend most of that on mailers, but some will be spent on survey costs, consulting services and accessing the 2nd District voter list."

Newman, who has loaned himself $100,000, had $206,000 cash in the bank at of the end of March. With the Realtors coming with money for the nuts and bolts, Newman could be expected to spend much of his own campaign funds on TV ads. Earl Greer and Greg Sowards round out the southern GOP congressional field.

COLON OFF THE FENCE
Chair Colon
No one in the political community was surprised by the weekend announcement of state Dem Party chair and national Democratic convention superdelegate Brian Colon that he would back Obama over Hillary for the Dem prez nomination. Colon is a subsidiary of Big Bill who made his support for Obama famously known last month. Dem US Senate candidate Tom Udall is the last big name unpledged NM superdelegate. Insiders expect him to go for Obama, but maybe he wants to avoid a decision until after the June primary. Even though he is unopposed for the Senate nomination, like Colon, he is going to make a lot of Dems unhappy when he does announce his decision.

Colon's decision to go with Obama displeased Light Guv Diane Denish as much as it pleased Big Bill. Lady Di, chair of Hillary's NM prez campaign, scored the chairman in this statement:

"It would have been appropriate for him to wait until all the primaries are over or until the convention...to cast his vote...He is expected to...bring folks together after the primaries. His bias in conducting the State Central Committee meeting last week followed by a very quick endorsement (confirming what everyone suspected, that he was acting in a biased manner) makes it less likely that he will have the ability to do his job as Chair."

So if Big Bill scores a job with a President Obama and Di becomes Guv, does it sound like Colon could be out as party chair? Yes, it sounds that way. But today Bill is still the man.

DI & BILL

The Journal hit with a Sunday piece has some observers thinking that big political split over Hill and Obama renewed tension between Big Bill and Lady Di. But Denish was restrained in her criticism of Bill for not notifying her that he would be out of state attending the Kentucky Derby over the weekend and therefore making her Acting Governor. His staff called it an "oversight." Denish supporting Hillary and Bill backing Barack may be causing the recent Maalox moments between the two. When that is resolved, maybe so will the tension between the two ambitious personalities. Or maybe not.

IT'S UP TO THE PRESS
Jones With Udall
We confess to being a bit turbocharged back in our day on the daily beat, but we don't think we'll ever be mellowed out enough to accept what the ABQ Journal's Jeff Jones wrote in a Sunday column (not posted on Web) about the two GOP contenders for the US Senate nomination.

"I tried for three straight days to speak with both Republican Senate candidates about their remarks and their spokespeople said neither was available."

Jones was writing about gender-pay problems and the statements Pearce and Wilson made at their late April Los Alamos debate. It's an issue that one would think the would-be Senators would have standard boiler-plate answers to.

Wilson, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, has been notorious for stiff-arming the press, and now Pearce seems to be picking up the habit. But the politicos are only going to do what they can get away with. If the press is not going to stake them out and force them to answer, or out them on their valuable front pages, they are going to continue to be subjected to candidate arrogance. "The power of the press" exists only if it is used. Will New Mexico's press use it in this historic battle for the United States Senate?

THE BOTTOM LINES

The Monday Monster Blog continues, and we have a feeling there will be a couple more of them between now and primary day. Some readers last week said they could not access that anti-McCain TV ad from MoveOn.org that got the goat of NM GOP chairman Allen Weh. Here it is....

Southern Dem congressional candidate Bill McCamley announces that former Dem contender Al Kissling is backing his candidacy. Both are from the Las Cruces area. Dem candidate Harry Teague now has three TV ads in rotation. They can be seen here...

E-mail it in. News, comments and cordial disagreements.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2008
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