Friday, July 02, 2010She'll Be Calling For Cash; Susana Needs To Close Money Gap With Di, Plus: It Keeps Getting Worse For Teague, And: Happy Fourth of July! The early polling has Susana Martinez holding her own and then some in her race for Guv with Diane Denish, but she continues to lose badly when it comes to the important money race. That could mean the GOP Guv contender spends as much time on the phone in July as she does on the campaign trail. It could also provide an opening for Denish to dominate the summer TV scene.The latest money reports filed with the state reveal that Martinez has only $300,000 in cash on hand compared to Di's $2.2 million. That's a nearly 7 to one advantage that the R's can't let stand. Di helped deplete Martinez's already meager bank account by immediately launching a negative ad campaign two days after the June 1 primary. The ads may not have done much for Di's polling, but they did a good job keeping Martinez's checkbook in check. In June, Susana spent $453,000 and Di $657,000. In addition, Di had no primary challenge and Susana had an expensive battle. Martinez has been doing national conservative talk radio shows to raise cash. Denish has been running for Guv for years and can keep a leisurely fund-raising pace. Susana may have to stay further to the right on the ideological spectrum than she may like in order to appeal to flush conservative R's around the country who she will need to fill her campaign coffers. The local economy can't raise the $2 million she needs. And the oil and gas industry can only do so much. She did pick up that $450,000 contribution in late May from Texas developer Rob Perry, the largest in state history. Will she tap him again to close the money gap? In June, the Republican Governors Association came with $250,000 for Martinez. That's a start, but she will need more. She will get more as long as she stays competitive. But the risk she now faces is a dip in the polling. If Denish comes on, donors could cool on Susana just when she needs their money the most. Di has to be thinking about staying on TV heavy in July and forcing Martinez to either spend to keep up or cede the field while she saves money to compete in the critical fall months. Denish could use a clear field. Those negative ads she is running against Martinez also hurt her--by driving up negative feelings about the Dem nominee. If she could go positive with little or no competition for a month, it would be that much easier to regain goodwill with voters. It's that kind of flexibility that is a major advantage to Denish in the money race in these early weeks. That's why you might hear more of Susana on the telephone than see of her on the campaign trail. A MEXICAN AND AN ARAB  The good news for GOP Guv candidate Susana Martinez is that the blow up over a forwarded email out of her DA's office celebrating the killing of a Mexican illegal immigrant and an Arab comes amid the slowest news cycle of the year. The bad news is that the story stayed alive another day Thursday. From the AP:The Administrative Office of the District Attorneys is disciplining an employee who forwarded an e-mail that joked about killing Mexicans and Arabs. Agency Director Kelly Kuenstler said Thursday the employee, Brandy Toward, was reprimanded. She declined to provide more specifics because it was a personnel matter. Toward forwarded the e-mail to several people, including a prosecutor in the district attorney's office of Susana Martinez, the Republican gubernatorial nominee. The prosecutor then forwarded the e-mail to others and has been reprimanded for doing that. Democrats have called for the prosecutor to be fired. The League of Latin American Citizens said Thursday the e-mailed joke "only exacerbates racial tensions" that exist because of the immigration issue. Martinez's initial reaction to the email was that it was "unacceptable," but that was termed a tepid response by the campaign pros. Susana came with something a bit harder and the first words not uttered through a spokesperson, calling it "deeply offensive:" I immediately reprimanded a member of my staff upon viewing the deeply offensive email she forwarded. Her actions were inappropriate and in violation of my office’s policy, and I take this matter very seriously. Unfortunately, some have seen fit to play politics with this deeply unfortunate incident and my opponent, who was noticeably silent when hundreds of state employees in a department within her cabinet engaged in inappropriate and disturbing behavior on state computers such as accessing pornography. These individuals not only weren’t admonished, in many cases, they were never reprimanded. And that will probably put a lid on the email madness--at least for now. We'd score the week for Denish, but it was nowhere near a home run. It was more like a solid double because Martinez did not come out with a stronger initial condemnation of the joke. What will be next in Campaign 2010. You can hope that it is more substantive stuff, just don't bet your Moriarty ranch on it, okay? OVER THE TOP Meanwhile, some Dems are getting carried away with themselves. That means you ABQ Dem State Rep. Eleanor Chavez. She came not with a criticism of Martinez, but a diatribe: Chavez did not criticize Kuykendall (the assistant DA who forwarded the offending email) in a statement she sent out, but called Martinez "hate's best messenger and her employees are merely following her example." "We don't need her or her hate filled rhetoric and immigrant bashing!" Chavez said. "Where should she go? How's hell for starters." Alright, someone grab the bottle of chill pills. Eleanor is definitely in need. Martinez did not write the email and she did not forward it, both criteria for accusing her of being a hate messenger. And Martinez, while tough on immigration, has not used hate speech to back up her position.
And up until now the Dems were doing so well restraining themselves. But some D's are borderline desperate, seeing that Denish is locked in a dead heat or even trailing the Dona Ana DA. Where should they go? Well, not to hell, but maybe to the gym to work out their anxiety. KEEPS GETTING WORSE  It just keeps getting worse for southern Dem Congressman Harry Teague. Perhaps the biggest news from a Politico report is that Teague's oil-based fortune has plunged in value from an estimated $40 million to$5 million. That may not be a paltry sum, but Teague wrote himself checks for $1.7 million to get elected in '08. Would he be able or willing to do the same this cycle in which he faces a very difficult opponent in former GOP Congressman Steve Pearce? And then there is the $2.7 million lawsuit leveled against four companies Teague owns. The suits are over outstanding loans. The companies are now being run by Teague's son and daughter in law and the congressman says they are working to settle the loan issue. But events may be spinning out of control for Teague and his tenuous hold on the most conservative of the state's three congressional districts. The Politico reported in May how Teague's companies canceled health insurance for their 250 employees, even as Teague was taking a $2.7 million profit out of the company and even after his 2008 campaign bragged on how well he treated his workers. Paying for the employee health insurance might get Teague back some political capital, but with the worth of his companies plunging, that's no longer easily done. Teague has always walked a tightrope in the district that had not elected a Democrat in nearly 30 years until he won in the '08 Obama landslide Now it looks as though Harry is tottering. VOX POPULI A reader writes: Joe, you'd be surprised how many jokes and other humor go on daily in state government. Many are racist oriented or make fun of ethnic groups and others like "rednecks," "beaners," "ragheads," "blondes," "lowriders," etc. In the past, I've overheard some highly placed politicos tell jokes with bigoted overtones. The point is, while it should be dealt with, most of it is ignored or simply accepted as the norm.... This is the home of New Mexico politics. Happy Fourth of July! Email your news and comments. c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2010 Not for reproduction without permission of the author Thursday, July 01, 2010Thicket Of Racial Politics Snags Susana; Dems Pounce; State GOP Missteps With Ill-Timed Release; Whose Ready For Prime Time Here? GOP Guv candidate and Dona Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez was snagged in the thicket of racial politics this week, raising the question of whether her campaign is ready for general election prime time. She and her consultants ran an excellent primary campaign, but they have to make the turn and start appealing to the broader electorate. This email incident reveals that they may not be quite ready. She needs to stop thinking like a DA and start thinking like a governor," analyzed one of our Alligators monitoring the action... The email he spoke of is the now infamous hate joke that was forwarded around by an assistant district attorney in Martinez's office. It ended with a Mexican and Arab being shot in a bar in the name of immigration control. Not exactly what you would call a rib-tickler, and raising questions on how Martinez would handle the incident with her staff. After she left initial reaction chores to her DA's office which said the attorney forwarding the email would be reprimanded, the Dems on Wednesday forced the Martinez camp to go further. They trotted out prominent Hispanic politicos like ABQ Dem State Rep. Moe Maestas and ABQ City Council President Ken Sanchez to condemn the email action and asking that Martinez fire the employee in question. Dem Guv nominee Diane Denish, getting her first real break in the free media since the June 1 primary, also threw some kerosene on the fire and said she would have immediately fired the employee with their finger on the forward button. There is absolutely nothing funny about the email that was circulated by Susana Martinez’s staff. It is offensive, inexcusable and runs against the fabric of what we stand for as New Mexicans. As far as I’m concerned, there should be zero tolerance for racism and Susana Martinez’s silence on the matter has been disappointing. Needless to say, if this happened in my office, the employees responsible would no longer have their jobs. That sounds like something Susana should have said as she works to round up the all-important Hispanic vote that is thought to be more in play this cycle because of Martinez's status as the first Hispanic female Guv contender, but her camp came with what was termed a tepid response by campaign pros we spoke with. Her statement: Susana Martinez found the forwarded email ‘joke’ to be unacceptable, and immediately addressed the issue when it was brought to her attention by reprimanding the individual and issuing a statement from her official office to make clear that the email forwarded by one employee did not represent her views, nor the views of the office... Only "unacceptable?" How about outrageous, or reprehensible? Well, that's the turn to the general election our Gator was talking about. Martinez left a lot on the table with that come back. The state GOP tried to go offensive on Di with this: If only the Democrat Party and Diane Denish had expressed this same sense of outrage when it was determined in 2006 that 150 state employees in the state’s Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) had been abusing state email accounts and accessing pornographic internet sites. Duly noted, but it was Susana's take on that hate joke that the people in the bleachers really wanted to hear and they didn't hear much. STRANGER THAN FICTION  And then there was the unintended joke from the state GOP. As the Martinez camp battled back over the forwarded email which described shooting a Mexican illegal and Arab with a .45, the state party--on the very same day--forwarded a news report to newsrooms that boasted of how Martinez provides her own personal protection, by--get this--carrying a .45. To the videotape:Martinez provides her own personal protection in the form of a .45 semi-automatic handgun. It is with her at all times. She is not a large person. Indeed, she is diminutive. It’s hard to discern where she has concealed this potent weapon. Maybe it’s in her purse, maybe not. You simply can’t tell when you are in her presence. Well, that's interesting, but we don't know how reassuring it is to the Mexicans and Arabs still freaked out by their fictional brethren being gunned down in a bar with a .45 just like the one Susana favors. Memo to GOP Chairman Harvey Yates: there's this thing called the news cycle, Harvey, and you're part of it. These events--the forwarded sensational email and the ill-timed forwarded news story were events out of the hands of Susana. But being a good Governor is knowing how to clean up after the elephant just did an impolite body function in your Fourth Floor office. Never mind that you never invited the damn beast into the place. This is a close race for governor, one that could be decided in the end by reactions to breaking news such as the forwarded hate email. In their first foray into this foreign world Martinez and her team may have gotten stuck in a "us vs. them" paradigm and wanted to cede no ground to Denish. But in doing so they lost a chance to turn the joke into a leadership opportunity and establish her street cred with Hispanics who admire her from a distance but are uncertain whether they should. BYRD AND BILL  Alligators with long memories are recalling this week how Senator Robert Byrd, who passed this week memorably chastised our own Big Bill at a Senate hearing back in 2000. Commenting on Richardson's performance as Secretary of Energy in the Clinton administration and the case of some lost computer disks at Los Alamos Labs, Byrd lambasted Bill:You would never again receive the support of the Senate of the United States for any office to which you might be appointed. It's gone. You've squandered your treasure. In 2002, Byrd downplayed the statement when the R's tried to use it to their advantage when Big Bill was running for Governor. Richardson never did appear before the Senate for confirmation. His appointment as Obama's commerce secretary was pulled early because of pay-to-pay scandals in New Mexico. You can see the short clip of Byrd taking on Bill here. THE GREAT RECESSION From all corners of the state comes news of the life-changing Great Recession. For example, in little Aztec, in the Four Corners, the government now goes to a four day week. And there's now an air of melancholy surrounding ABQ as the unceasing downturn keeps thousands on the jobless lines. A job fair at the state fairgrounds attracts thousands, but there are no jobs for them. Unemployment in the city is at historic levels, just below 9 percent. Those who speculate that the unemployed collecting benefits have no incentive to look for work need only look at that turnout for that job fair. THE BOTTOM LINES Insiders say the new communications director for Susana Martinez camp will be Raj Shaw. He's relocating here from Connecticut...Matt Kennicott from the state House GOP Caucus will take a leave of absence to be the director of operations for Susana Martinez's Guv campaign...Christina P. Argyres was appointed as the newest Metropolitan Court Judge By Gov. Richardson. She replaces Judge Anna Martinez who retires at the end of June. This is the home of New Mexico politics. Email your news and comments. Interested in advertising here? Drop us a line. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2009 Not for reproduction without permission of the author Wednesday, June 30, 2010Racist Email Jars Martinez; How's Her Judgment? Plus: More On Her Cartel TV Ad, And: State PIO Is MIA A racist and hateful email "joke" that celebrates the killing of a Mexican and an Arab as a solution to the nation's illegal immigration problem has become the unlikely first test of judgment for GOP Guv nominee and Dona Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez. She also happens to be the nation's first Hispanic female Guv candidate. Is she passing that test by handing out a "reprimand" to the assistant district attorney who forwarded the nasty email around, or should the offender be given more stern punishment--like being fired? (AP coverage here.)The punch lines of the forwarded email are: The New Mexico girl, cool as a cucumber, picks up her beer, downs it in one gulp, throws the glass into the air, whips our her .45 and shoots the Mexican and the Arab. Catching her glass, setting it on the bar and calling for a refill, she says, "In New Mexico, we have so many illegals aliens that we don't have to drink with the same ones twice." At the bottom of the email is the message: "God Bless New Mexico and that Particular New Mexican Girl" The entire email can be seen here. It was circulated about a week after the primary election in which Martinez made her tough stance on illegal immigration instrumental in defeating Allen Weh who she accused of being soft on immigration. State Dems wasted no time seizing on Martinez's reprimand, with party Chairman Javier Gonzales calling for the unknown assistant district attorney to be fired: The people of New Mexico must trust their law enforcement officials, not fear them. The racial slurs in this joke about our Hispanic and Middle Eastern communities are absolutely unacceptable and not conducive to making people feel safe. Hate breeds hate, and I urge Ms. Martinez to take immediate action and terminate all state employees in her office who sent this violent and hateful email. The immigration issue has always been seen as a double-edged sword for Martinez--helpful in the primary in a Republican party that is now nearly ultra-conservative, but potentially harmful in the general election where more moderate voters dominate and where the issue has not been used in past elections in a big way. But Gonzales and other Democrats are saying that Martinez's harsh tone has paved the way for the kind of hateful email that is now blowing up on her. They will also try to advance the issue with the national press which has taken an interest in her candidacy. Martinez let a spokesman for her DA's office carry the water on this and was not quoted in the first round of news reports, but if the issue gets legs she will have to take it on directly. She could explain that a reprimand is sufficient because the email did not apparently originate in her office, but was simply forwarded. Another question is what constitutes a reprimand in this case? Is it more than a slap on the wrist? And what would be Martinez's actions on such an email if she were Governor? If it is a reprimand, is that enough to inhibit such reprehensible communication? Whether the first explanations coming out will be good enough or whether this bump in the road becomes a blockade into the Hispanic community remains to be seen. ANOTHER EMAIL MATTER The R's went ballistic when it was recently discovered that the AFSCME union had emailed to state computers a charge that said Martinez would lay off 5,000 state workers. The ABQ Journal even editorialized about what they saw as a serious breach of regulations. Insider Dems are now asking whether the paper will be as put out by the racist email being forwarded around Martinez's state office. Stay tuned. MORE CAMPAIGN NEWS  And we have more for you today on another controversy that has kept the Martinez campaign hopping--the claim made in her TV ads that, as district attorney, she has “taken on members of the most violent Mexican drug cartels.”The Santa Fe New Mexican shot down that assertion, reporting that most high level drug cases are prosecuted in federal court, so Martinez could not have been prosecuting such cases in state court in Dona Ana. Her campaign shot back that she could not disclose her work on such cases because it could endanger informants and their families. They also trotted out one Ernesto Ortiz, director of the NM High Intensity Drug Traffic area, supporting Martinez's claim. But there are serious questions about Ortiz's credibility, as disclosed by one of our Alligators who did the research: Why is Mr. Ernesto Ortiz, director of the New Mexico High Intensity Drug Traffic Area (HIDTA), saying that Ms. Martinez’s office plays an integral role in fighting the drug cartel? Interestingly, Ms. Martinez is on the HIDTA board. Here is the latest on corruption and the New Mexico HIDT --scary. Why isn't Ms. Martinez exposing this matter? She is on the Executive Board. She should be aware of these matters... The article linked to is by journalist Bill Conroy. It says: A law enforcement task force in New Mexico that is supposed to target drug-trafficking criminals is instead awash in charges that it is using its nearly $600,000 taxpayer-subsidized budget to fund its own corrupt practices. The task force was previously the target of an investigation by the internal affairs unit of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that revealed a disturbing trail of bookkeeping irregularities and multiple mysterious bank accounts. In the wake of that investigation, nothing of consequence happened to the task force or its operations, and it continues to operate under the same leadership to this day. Our Alligator continues: Also, in 2007, the problems with the HIDTA program in New Mexico were shown by the following press statement issued by the office of U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.: The White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy has suspended funding for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program in New Mexico for repeatedly failing to comply with multiple federal guidelines over the past three years. These reportedly non-criminal infractions are related to not using HIDTA funding for core HIDTA purposes. See the following report on it here. The New Mexico HIDTA should be concerned about its own operations rather than exaggerating Ms. Martinez 's role in the fight against cartels. Am I missing something? It's interesting to note that Ortiz--who has close ties to Martinez--is so far alone in backing up Martinez's claim that she's taken on high level cartel members. That's because the New Mexican has it right. The TV ad clearly implies that the Dona Ana County DA is a major player in the war on the drug cartels, but she won't produce a case file, or any narratives to prove the contention that would not jeopardize the alleged high level cases. Add to that the questionable credibility of HIDTA and you have yet another TV ad that is discredited. WHERE'S NICOLE?  That's the question KRQE-TV investigative reporter Larry Barker is asking in promos running on the station this week for the Thursday 10 p.m newscast. He'll answer the question then, but our insiders report the Nicole in question is Nicole Gillespie, the public information officer for the Department if Finance and Administration. Barker says she pulls down $60,000 a year but he can't find her. One of Our Alligators says that's because Nicole apparently spends her time in Chicago and which the TV report is expected to expand on.This is the home of New Mexico politics. Email your news and comments. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2010 Not for reproduction without permission of the author Tuesday, June 29, 2010New Mexico Politics Enters A Lilliputian Era, Plus: State Of The Guv Race, And: Our Lincoln Days Summer New Mexico politics is in a Lilliputian stage. The big names are all gone or going and those left in their wake have only a superficial relationship with the public. As a result, negative campaigning will be even more fierce because voters do not have past records to measure and consultants will seize on that opening to give definition to the opposition candidate. Let's reflect for a moment on what has happened here in the last two years. Senator Pete Domenici ended a 36 year tenure and retired; Governor Richardson--like him or not--is another of the most skilled politicians of his generation--is now fading into the mists; GOP Congresswoman Heather Wilson--controversial, but a major league player--is also gone. ABQ Mayor Marty Chavez--another lightning rod politico but one with deep political abilities--is also off the stage. Longtime and powerful House Speaker Ben Lujan hit the skids recently when he narrowly escaped defeat in the primary. That signals the beginning of what will be a long end; Former Governor Bruce King, a guiding light even in retirement, passed from the scene. Democratic Senator Jeff Bingaman, chairman of energy and on the Hill since '83, stands alone in wielding the kind of power that New Mexico has been accustomed to in its political leadership in the past decade. It was an abnormal era to have so many heavyweights in the political ring simultaneously, but New Mexicans became used to having these reliable touchstones. Now they are all gone and our future leadership is as uncertain as the times in which we live. " STATE OF THE RACE  The ABQ Journal's Winthrop Quigley takes on Campaign 2010, and he probably won't get much push back from voters:It is the sheer irrelevancy of the majority of the Guv debate thus far---esoteric crime statistics and the like--that has made the campaign seem so, well, irrelevant, to so many voters. Denish has stuck her head out of the mud on occasion to come with an economic related message. Maybe that's a hopeful sign. Surely, the Martinez record as Dona Ana district attorney and the Denish tenure as lieutenant Governor deserve scrutiny, but where's the real stuff? These "modern" political campaigns remind us of botched surgery--you come out alive but damaged for life. TERM TIMES Reader Peter Ives thinks we weren't clear enough in a recent post on how long New Mexico governors were allowed to serve prior to 1970. That's true. New Mexico governors were elected to two-year terms when Mechem served, from 1951 to 1954, in 1957 and 1958 and in 1961 and 1962. He was the state's only four-term governor. Mechem died in 2002 at the age of 90. Today a governor can serve two four year terms. But he or she could run again for the office if they sat out a term--just as Ed Mechem was fond of doing. APNM announced the launch of Train. Don't Chain.®, a statewide campaign to end the cruel and dangerous practice of chaining dogs. One tool being used in the campaign is APNM's public service announcement, "Even Dogs Have Dreams," which shows chaining from a dog's perspective. APNM has also developed a new Web destination which offers positive solutions and humane alternatives to chaining as it explores why chaining is a practice that should be relegated to the history books... LINCOLN DAYS  Here we are with Billy the Kid (any resemblance is purely coincidental) on a recent visit to the Lincoln County Courthouse, site of The Kid's notorious jail break.We were on ou way back to ABQ from Ruidoso and a stay at the Inn of the Mountain Gods on the Mescalero Apache reservation. We soaked up plenty of state history in both locales. Ruidoso is filled with Texans--as it should be in summer. The shops along Sudderth seemed to be doing fairly well--there were no empty ones--but the merchandise was decidedly low-end, leaving us speculating that shop keepers don't want to carry expensive inventory in this kind of economy. A drive thru the Hondo Valley and tiny Tinnie was reassuring as local landmark the Tinnie Silver Dollar Steak House & Saloon was still standing. And a relaxing stop at a Hondo fruit stand amid the cool mountain air reminded us that it isn't only northern New Mexico that can quickly captivate your spirit. This is the home of New Mexico politics. Email your news and comments. Interested in advertising here? Drop us a line. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2009 Not for reproduction without permission of the author Monday, June 28, 2010Martinez Shuffles Staff Deck, Plus: Another Big Hole In Another Negative Guv Ad, And: Lobbyist Mulcock Remembered Susana Martinez brings aboard Ryan Cangiolosi as her new campaign manager this week. She broke that news to some of the GOP ABQ faithful over the weekend. He'll give up his post as executive director of the state GOP. This will be Cangiolosi's first statewide management stint. Adam Deguire, who managed the effort during the primary, now takes charge of field operations. Martinez has been without a press aide but is expected to name one this week.Insiders say command and control of the campaign--messaging, media etc.-- remains with Lincoln Strategy Group and longtime GOP consultant Jay McCleskey, although we could see more national input as the race heats up. Another player is McCleskey's wife, Nicole, who is a pollster with Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies. A new NM GOP executive director is expected to be named by GOP Chairman Harvey Yates. MORE HOLES More holes to tell you about in an ad for the race for Guv. This time it's Susana Martinez's claim in her primary spot that she has "taken on members of the most violent drug cartels." Well, maybe that's a stretch. From the New Mexican: So who are the members of Mexican drug cartels who Martinez says she has taken on? Martinez doesn't name names. The basic response by Martinez and her campaign when asked about specific drug-cartel cases her office has prosecuted is that her office wouldn't be getting federal High Intensity Drug Traffic Area funds if they weren't prosecuting members of drug cartels. Both Martinez and Denish have thrown caution to the wind and come with questionable advertising claims that continue to be debunked in the press. It seems the old standard of coming with airtight negative ads has gone by the wayside. And it makes the candidates seem small, doesn't it? MARTINEZ HERITAGE  Political junkies have been asking about Martinez' heritage, given that she is the first Hispanic woman to be nominated for the Guv's office by a major political party. She filled in another piece of background last week when she appeared on the conservative national talk show hosted by Laura Ingraham. Martinez said her grandparents are Mexican immigrants, according to those emailing us. They didn't say whether she was referring to her maternal or paternal grandparents or both. Earlier, Martinez's campaign said her parents were born in El Paso as was she. With interest high among Hispanics here and nationally, it appears to be time for Martinez to come with a complete historical bio and post it on her Web site. All of this is related to positioning in the Spanish North. While Martinez does not claim any direct lineage to the families who settled there over 400 years ago, there is still a pride factor that could help her in this normally very Democratic region. NO OLIVE BRANCH Well-known ABQ trial lawyer Turner Branch is one of the first civilians to stick his neck out in Campaign 2010 and they're ready to chop it off. Branch, who describes himself as a longtime Republican, announced on your blog last week that he could not support fellow R Susana and is throwing his support to Di. But the Martinez camp and others pointed out that Turner has given thousands of dollars in campaign dough to Dems, despite his GOP affiliation. Now, former NM GOP chair John Lattauzio wants to pile on. Have at it, John: I have no doubt Turner Branch considers himself an influential Republican. In my thirty years of service to the Republican Party of New Mexico State Central Committee (six years as Chairman), I never met the man. We did have an encounter however; when true to form, he and seven others met to form Republicans for Bruce King for Governor in October of 1990. Mr. Branch sent me a letter (attached) condemning my support for Frank Bond. No more was heard of him or his group by the Republican Party. We know things can be rough and tumble in the world of trial attorneys, but we'd wager to say that Turner believes as we do--the courtroom of La Politica is the toughest of them all. DOWNTOWN DEBATE  More from the readers on the downtown debate that's been going on around here, and the city council's efforts to resurrect a plan for a $400 million downtown sports arena, now being dubbed an "events center." Developer Homer Robinson gave his piece in favor on the Friday blog. Reader Alan Schwartz comes with the rebuttal:I'm not buying the arguments from your development booster. Downtown @ was partially funded with City cash of almost $3 million and land valued at over $1 million. That money could have just as easily made its way into our local economy if it had been left in the pockets of taxpayers... And when will they every stop with the "development as job creation" mantra. No doubt these projects provided employment for several hundred construction and trades workers. But the job creation that counts for true economic development is of the "sustainable" kind. You build an office building or retail space and it's occupied by a new business (not one that moved from a prior location) and they hire new, full-time employees. Housing doesn't create jobs after the construction is finished. BUD MULCOCK  James "Bud" Mulcock was one of those rare characters in politics who got along with everyone. He was just so darn likable and charming that hard feelings melted away in his presence.We remember when he was a VP with PNM during the 1980's. The company was at its most unpopular but even then Bud was able to smooth ruffled feathers. In recent years, he lobbied in Santa Fe for state school administrators, bringing his warm personality and keen knowledge of all things New Mexican to the table. The Artesia native, an UNM Law School grad, lobbyist and ardent Democrat, lost his battle with pancreatic cancer Friday. He was 71. He had a voice that sounded like he gargled with gravel and a smile that would dazzle the devil. At a lunch we had with him and a mutual friend a year or so ago, before the cancer struck, we sliced the political pie into a hundred pieces. He was interested in the truth and improving New Mexico. On occasion, he donned the title of "Senior Alligator" and dropped us a tidbit that he thought would do one or the other. Bud Mulcock earned his lines in the never-ending book of La Politica. His entry is marked with a wink and a smile. Services are scheduled for Tuesday at 1 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church at 215 Locust NE in ABQ. COPS AND COFFERS We erred when we initially blogged Friday that the contract between the city of ABQ and the ABQ police union expires July 1st. It expires July 1st of 2011. But the contract is subject to the availability of funding and a yearly appropriation by the city council. Here's the clip from the three year contract: The Agreement's compensation for the second and third fiscal years shall be contingent upon the approval of the City Council as set forth in Section 3-2-18 of the Labor Management Relations Ordinance. So what's happening right now is a contract renegotiation. Mayor Berry wants a two to three percent pay cut for the cops and all other city employees to take effect July 1, the start of the new budget year. Five AFSCME unions have contracts that expire Wednesday night. CAN WE GET ALONG?  We wish them luck with this and coming as it does in the election season, they're going to need it:New Mexico First will host the 2010 First Forum Lecture, Collaborative Politics: Now More Than Ever, on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the National Hispanic Cultural Center on 1701 4th Street SW in Albuquerque. The keynote speakers are Mike McCurry, former press secretary for President Bill Clinton, and Frank Fahrenkopf, former chair of the Republican National Committee. The speakers will discuss the need for finding common ground in politics, and share their perspective about the condition of democracy, cross-party collaboration and strategies for bringing Americans together.... The event will be moderated by ABC newsman, and New Mexico Rancher, Sam Donaldson... Hey, maybe Di and Susana can go and we'll get a week or two of no negative campaigning out of it. This is the home of New Mexico politics. Email your news and comments. Interested in advertising here? Drop us a line. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2009 Not for reproduction without permission of the author |
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