Chief District Court Judge Ted Baca has apparently put on the same blinders the judges used when former Judge John Brennan was busted for coke possession six years ago. For years Brennan's colleagues ignored or covered up the judge's drug and alcohol abuse. Baca argues that Schwartz is "well-suited to sit as a judge." What? Maybe a judge for a beauty contest, Ted, but not the stuff you're elected to do.

The sex case could end up before the State Supreme Court. Can Chief Justice Charles Daniels keep a straight face if he upholds a slap on the wrist punishment recommended by a flaccid standards commission? Can the judiciary around here retain its credibility with Schwartz bobbing in and out of rehab and slapping courthouse hotties on the posterior?

Justice Daniels really needs to come to the rescue and put Judge Bob out of his misery and out of the public's life. Do you need the number for the Judicial Standards Commission, your honor?

SECRETARY OF CHAOS

It seems like that could be the new title of Secretary of State Mary Herrera. To the videotape:

A top official for the Secretary of State has been suspended in what his attorney is calling a retaliation for going to the F.B.I. with information on inner workings of Secretary of States office.

Deputy Secretary of State Francisco Trujillo says office manager Manuel Vildasol has been placed on leave for an unspecified personnel matter, but told Eyewitness News 4 that the suspension has nothing to do with Vildasol visiting the F.B.I.

THE BEAR MARKET

Another sign that the bear market is not giving up its grip on the ABQ metro. Five hundred jobs thought to be in store for Central and Coors at a planned Lowe's home improvement store are out the window. The national chain has decided not to open. They aren't saying why but its pretty obvious the lousy economy here played a part.

This is a blow for ABQ Mayor RJ Berry and City Council President Ken Sanchez.
Berry has been office for nine months, but has yet to get announce any major additions of jobs. City unemployment remains near nine percent, an unheard of level in the post WWII era. Sanchez represents the lower and middle class area which is commercially under served. He nurtures hopes to someday become mayor. This didn't help.

A CLOSE CALL

Not only was the city of Rio Rancho hoodwinked by the financials of GreenV2, the solar star-up that promised 1,500 jobs, but the state of New Mexico was being coaxed to put up $100 million dollars to help finance the deal. Reporter Rosalie Rayburn investigated. Fortunately, the request did not get past the gatekeepers at the State Investment Council.

How about this--the next governor of New Mexico freezes the investment of any of our state permanent funds in private business plans for a period of at least one year.

We have $14 billion in those funds, Santa Fe, and need to preserve and protect that money. Rapid growth is not the priority and neither is becoming the neighborhood bank with all the risk that entails. Wasn't the near-looting of our funds by hedge fund hucksters enough to get us off our keisters?

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It's not only the R's coming with the graphics. Here's a "waffle cake" courtesy of the state Dems as they help former GOP Congressman Steve Pearce celebrate his 63rd birthday this week. The Dems are ribbing Steve over his waffling statements regarding partially privatizing Social Security.

But Pearce supporters say they expect to be the ones having their cake and eating it too, predicting that public polling to be released next week will show their man leading Dem US Rep. Harry Teague.

TAKE THE CAKE

We think the Dems have a better chance enticing voters with their waffle cake than they do with this second negative TV spot produced against Pearce by the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.

Of course, now that we said that Teague will probably move up ten points.

DEBATE BUMPS

Our Media Mavens report Guv contenders Denish and Martinez are still knocking heads over fall TV debates. None have yet been scheduled as the campaigns negotiate over details such as how late in the cycle they should be held.

All three Big Three affiliates--KOB, KRQE and KOAT--are expressing an interest in hosting a debate.

There is still plenty of time for posturing and we think we will end up getting some debates, but the intransigence over them.

A couple of months ago KKOB-AM radio asked me if there was cause for concern that there would not be that many joint appearances between Denish and Martinez. We answered that in the end we though there would be plenty,

We're beginning to wonder. We based our prediction on past experience covering Guv races the past several decades. Joint appearances at major event such as the Oil and Gas Association were taken for granted. In 1998, Gary Johnson and Dem Marty Chavez seemed to appear together on every street corner in ABQ. in 2006, Big Bill leading in the polls, refused to debate R John Dendahl, but we saw that as an anomaly. It would be a shame if there are only a handful of times we get to see Martinez and Denish together.

We aren't expecting a Lincoln-Douglas series from these two, but they owe us (and our democracy) more than a couple of cursory engagements.

ELEPHANT ON TOP?

As election forecasts grow ever more gloomy for Democrats, the R's are getting increasingly confident--and cocky. Here's a photo circulating on the net that drives the point home (no pun intended, really) and shows the Democratic donkey is definitely at the mercy of the Republican elephant.

Well, if only Republicans could have the election today. But the Dems say they are just getting started and the climax of Campaign 2010 will be in October, not August.

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About Republican Susana Martinez pledging of no cuts to the public school budget or the Medicaid program:

Dem Diane Denish has also pledged not to cut any funds the public schools budget which makes up over 40% of the state budget. But Denish apparently has not made Medicaid one of her sacred cows. From the Politico:

Denish said she’d break from her current boss by make spending cuts everywhere but education.

Does that make Di more of a fiscal conservative than Susana? And what do all her liberal supporters think about that?

OTHER TRAIL STUFF

Susana doesn't seem to be having any trouble financing her message. She ended the June 1 primary with under $150,000 0n hand but her TV ads have been running with regularity. Insiders tell us she attended a mid-July Republican Governors Association meeting in Aspen that brought together Guv GOP candidates with top donors and she may have received commitments of up to $500,000.

The best Martinez TV ad so far? The one running now on education. It really strikes at the heart of what frustrates so many New Mexicans.

Susana's worst ad? The one that had Martinez surrounded by macho lawmen wearing protective vests and saying she was tough on crime. It scared the bejesus out of folks.

MORE TUBE ACTION

ABQ Dem US Rep. Martin Heinrich has come with his first TV spot of the cycle, and it sends a clear message--the freshman rep elected to serve in the US Congress hardly spends anytime there. That's right. He may have to go back to the dreaded banks of the Potomac and hold his nose, but "Martin's been home 82 0f the 85 weeks he's served in Congress."

As for Obamacare, Wall Street reform, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq or the yawning budget deficit, well, they don't merit a mention in Martin's tube debut. What he does talk about is his own backyard:

He and has staff have helped over 1,800 people get things like veterans benefits or Social Security assistance...He helped small businesses to get the credit they need to hire more workers. And Martin’s fought to save a thousand jobs at Kirtland Air Force Base. Martin Heinrich: all New Mexico, all the time.

You bet "all New Mexico all the time." With an angry electorate ready to make any incumbent walk the plank, Martin is doing all he can to hold off the mob.

The ad's speed is accelerated and shows a peripatetic Heinrich dashing to and fro as the narrator details his busy schedule--but no mention of his voting record. That they will leave to Republican Jon Barela who is fast at work calling the first-termer a creature of the "far-left."

Actually, the congressman seems to have the wonkish temperament to become a successful legislator on the Hill. And if he makes it through this first re-election bid, we expect to see more of that side of him. But not this year and not in this fevered throw the bums out atmosphere. In this TV ad Heinrich reveals much more about the political climate than he does about himself.

HEINRICH VS. BARELA ANALYSIS
Rep. Heinrich
That Heinrich can come early with TV and we are still waiting for Barela speaks to the financial position of the contenders. Heinrich has a two to one advantage in that department.

A recent SurveyUSA poll shocked the political community when it showed the unknown Barela leading Heinrich 51% to 45%. Heinrich's own polling does not show such a tight race. The Journal poll to come next week will influence the contest. In the unlikely event Barela is ahead, it will rattle the Dems cage mightily and might force open the cash drawers for Barela.

Assessing what people who have had access to Barela's internal polling are telling us, it is more likely that the race will show a several point gap and probably in Heinrich's favor. The congressman remains the favorite but with pressure to run a top-notch campaign that was simply not present there three months ago.

THE BERRY BEAT

Speaking of lawmen, ABQ Mayor RJ Berry went in the bunker when we and others questioned the ninth police shooting of the year. But now that we've hit double digits--ten shootings with seven fatalities- Berry is out of the bunker and "has asked Public Safety Director Darren White to find an independent agency such as the Police Executive Research Forum to review trends in this year's shootings..."

Berry did not frame it as a possible problem with the department but said: "I want to know why our officers are being attacked..."

That's cool. Just don't let the problem fester, possibly exposing the city to costly lawsuits, the rumblings of which can already be heard. Whether we have an outbreak of nut cases attacking cops, police that are not being trained properly or other reasons, it's in the best interest of everyone to find out. That Berry is turning to a police group and not a civilian one will make some suspicious, but it is a start. If the shootings continue, an investigation that includes civilians will be forced upon the 11th floor.

We won't read too much into it, but it was refreshing to see Berry publicly give an order to his public safety director who has assumed more authority--without questioning--than anyone who ever previously occupied the post. We have a feeling that Berry is going to be riding herd more in that regard.

As we noted, Berry went bunker mentality when this issue first arose, but he is showing some flexibility and leadership that come with experience on the job. Those traits also tend to surface when you have the cases of 10 police shootings with seven dead on your desk--a number that easily surpasses what other cities of a similar size are experiencing.

PARSING PEARCE

That edited video we posted yesterday of GOP southern congressional candidate Steve Pearce getting a hard time from a voter over his position on Social Security came to us via the state Dems. The Pearce camp thought that that needed to be pointed out and we agree. However, there is no change in the evidence that Pearce did in the past support the partial privatization of the program.

New Mexico Watchdog author Jim Scarantino says a post we had in our first draft Monday was all bark and no bite. He says our source who said he had been fired from a previous job by Congressman Martin Heinrich was in the dark:

I was not fired by the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance Board. Indeed, when I resigned I received a letter of commendation from the Chair of the Board. And Martin Heinrich was not on the Board at any time I served as the NMWA executive director. Instead, he worked for us as a lobbyist...As for "not holding a decent job since then," I'd point out I was a sole practitioner as an attorney and named the ACLU of New Mexico's Attorney of the Year in 2006 and I made enough money in my practice to retire from law quite early in life...

Scarantino recently reported on Rep. Heinrich upgrading his flying status to first class using frequent flier miles accumulated by his office. That's what started the email flow. We regret the error and are impounding our usually reliable source so he will no longer trip over the Watchdog.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

We've all seen the columns after columns of ABQ area home foreclosures in the classified section. And it just keeps coming. The national housing debacle prompts this food for thought from Rick Wolff, writing for truthout.org:

The US housing industry's basic problem is the system in which it is embedded. The larger capitalist economy shapes the gap between the costs of privately produced homes and American workers' earnings. Over the last 75 years, US capitalism has bridged that gap by means of private credit guaranteed and/or subsidized by the government. This system provides incentives as well as opportunities for excessive home prices, diminished wages and salaries, and excessive quantities, risks, and costs of housing credit. The last 30 years have seen all three phenomena converge into a systemic crisis.

PORK IS GOOD

When we blogged about using even more unspent capital outlay money to plug the state's gargantuan budget shortfall, we weren't advocating that it be done, only pointing out that it was an option for the politicians. Well, even though Joe Craig of Craig & Co. in Los Ranchos was mistaken about our position, he did come with a strong defense against using that capital outlay money, proving once again that one man's pork is another man's pride and joy:

Joe, I am a faithful reader of your blog, but this one set me aback. You are advocating shoving the construction industry (along with the architectural and engineering design community) back into the Stone Age?

Our A/E/C industry is already on the ropes, the housing industry and real estate industries are dead in the water, architectural and engineering firms are laying off people and the construction industry is in the worst shape that I have seen it in my career.

The entire construction industry accounts for something like 40% of our economy and according to UNM the gross receipts that the industry generates is second only to the retail sector. Maybe you should be chatting with economist LarryWaldman at UNM about the implications of what you advocate.

The Federal stimulus monies are not reaching our industry and we desperately need an infusion of capital outlay from the state, counties and municipalities to keep this industry from tanking. The industry is being commoditized by mid-level procurement people that have found ways around the State Procurement Code to cheapen the design and construction side. The institutions that are supported by State money, that are driven by our taxes, regularly give work to out of state firms with only a pretense of being New Mexico firms.

There's $1 billion of unspent capital outlay with $90 million of it uncommitted, according to the Legislative Finance Committee. With the state economy still reeling lawmakers will be feeling increased pressure to get the shovels turning.

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Once again Politico leads the coverage on Teague's travails, coming with the fresh info as the paper spent time in the south for an in-depth look at Teague's uphill climb for re-election against Republican Steve Pearce. They report the boycott began in earnest last year with Teague's vote for cap and trade legislation that was despised by the oil and gas industry.

“Immediately, everybody quit using his businesses,” said Lance Wilbanks, the CEO of Wilbanks Trucking in Artesia, who said he thought it was “sleazy” that Teague’s company changed its name after the climate vote in attempt to hedge some of its losses.

Teague insisted that business has been slow around the region and wouldn’t say how much money he has lost at his company because of the climate vote. Nonetheless, he confirmed the threats from locals.

“There was a few individuals scattered around, tried to make a bigger issue out of it, to try to quit using us,” he said. “But we still pretty much worked for all the people that we work for.”

Teague is trying to play down the boycott, rumors of which have circulated for months but now only officially confirmed. It's true that the bear market in oil and gas contributed heavily to Teague's losses, but it's obvious the now out-in-the-open boycott played into Teague's financial misery in a big way. (Cap and trade passed the House but never got out of the Senate.)

What's stunning about the boycott of Teague's companies is the willingness of those doing it to go on the record. It really is quite unheard of. Even one prominent Republican businessman told Politico they thought it was over the top:

Don Kidd, a former Republican state senator and the CEO of the Western Commerce Bank in Carlsbad, disagreed with Teague’s vote on the climate bill. But he said that doesn’t excuse locals for cutting their business ties with Teague, which he estimates have cost the congressman about $15 million.“I think it’s one of the most low-rent things I’ve ever heard of,” Kidd said.

Going after a fella's livelihood because of a vote he took in DC doesn't reflect the neighborliness that southern New Mexico prides itself on. But today's hardball, take-no-prisoners-politics knows no boundaries.

SIDEBAR

Our Senior Alligators have argued that Teague's vote on cap and trade--aka "climate change" was not in and of itself disastrous. They argued he would take the biggest hit for it in the SE oil counties but could actually benefit from it in the district's largest county--Dona Ana. They say the election will be decided by two factors. How big of a beating will Teague take in counties like Eddy, Chaves, Lea and Lincoln? And how much will he win in Dona Ana which he needs to make up for the SE losses?

THE PEARCE BUNKER

Former Congressman Steve Pearce sold his energy related company for millions several years ago so the Dems can't respond with a boycott of their own, but they can stop Steve from dancing in the streets over Harry's woes and remind him of some of his own. For example, it seems Steve just can't bring himself to admit that he once was in favor of partially privatizing Social Security.

It's all over the record and we covered the flip-flop in March when his campaign came with a statement against privatizing, but now Pearce is apparently back at it again--telling KKOB radio August 20 that he was never for privatization. There is also this video from Alamogordo where Pearce tries to get around his privatization stance but is challenged by an audience member.

Pearce now joins GOP Guv candidate Susana Martinez in refusing to admit they have switched positions even when confronted with forensic evidence. In Martinez's case, her past stance for traditional school vouchers--she calls them tax credits--is documented on video and by the Associated Press which called her out on it in last week's coverage of the first Guv debate.

That candidates are now simply ignoring the record and attempting to create an alternative reality has an Alice in Wonderland feel. In the old days, you just admitted you had a change of heart or had some spin on why things had changed. In that respect, they really were the good old days.

JOURNAL POLL COMING

Will the constant chatter emanating from GOP circles that Republican Susana Martinez is significantly ahead in the 2010 Guv race be verified when the ABQ Journal comes with its first poll of the contest this Sunday?

That's the question uppermost on the minds of the politicos as Brian Sanderoff, the paper's veteran pollster, prepares to go into the field this Tuesday. We could get a Rasmussen or other survey this week as well, but the Journal's surveys--which really get into the state's political DNA--are most closely watched.The paper will also poll the state's congressional races and major issues.

Media insiders say it appears the Journal will come with a total of three polls on the Guv's race this cycle. That's one more than they have been doing in recent elections.

Meanwhile, as coverage of the campaign by the state's largest newspaper gets meatier, Dems remain suspicious. They see the Journal as taking a hard swing to the right in recent years, and they know how much the editors have been down on Big Bill and the corruption that infiltrated his administration. They took heart that Republican Martinez was put through the wringer on the paper's news and editorial pages for a sweetheart contract deal she handed out at the Dona Ana County district attorney's office.

The paranoid types say that the paper can now say it did tough coverage of Susana and will now take it easy on her in the stretch. We'll see, but we're more concerned that the New Mexico public has been given very limited personal information about these candidates--especially Martinez who is being touted as possibly the first female Hispanic governor in American history. Will the forthcoming profiles be comparable to ones done in the past? They need to be.

BILL ON THE MOVE

And what's this? Big Bill on his way to Havana for a week and with a Washington Post op-ed published Sunday to kick things off? Nothing like a little international travel from the onetime diplomat to buff that public image. And with the Journal polling his approval rating this Tuesday, it's right on time. But Bill didn't know that, did he?

In his op-ed piece the Guv calls for improved USA relations with all of Latin America which he says have been damaged by the argument over that tough anti-immigrant law passed by Arizona. The Guv also mentions the disaster that is Mexico:

We need a hemispheric accord on crime and violence. In New Mexico, we are working with law enforcement at the local, state and federal levels and on both sides of our border with Mexico to share intelligence and stop the illicit trade of narcotics, illegal guns and human trafficking. These are transnational issues that involve a coordinated effort to protect the safety of law-abiding citizens of the United States and Mexico.

Richardson is not going to get much credit in the history books for how he handled Mexico during his eight years as Guv. He started out with fanfare in 2003, before the country was taken over by the narco-terrorists, but there has been little said from the state's Fourth Floor since then about the out of control nation. The promise that Bill held out for improved trade and relations with Mexico has been overpowered by the narcocracy.

As for Cuba, Bill calls for lifting most of the travel ban to the island nation. Remember the speculation last August when he also visited Cuba? It was thought he might get named by Obama as a special Cuban envoy which would have had him leaving here and making Diane Denish governor without an election.

Hey, with Bill gone this week, it means Lt. Gov. Denish is Acting Governor. Maybe she'll issue an executive order banning the issuance of driver's licenses to illegals? Well, maybe next time.

BACK TO THE HITS

After more than a month of positive stuff, the TV ads for the Guv candidates are back on the negative. Late last week Martinez started blasting Denish and what she said was the state's 49th ranking in education. Now Denish is up with a new ad labeling Martinez a "Republican politician" and nailing her for supporting school vouchers which Denish says would benefit the wealth at the expense of the middle class.

CAN MARTIN PHONE HOME?

Was Martinez angry? You bet. But so are a lot of voters (Obama understood that well)...

Denish's wonkiness on school vouchers was "red meat" to her constituency but wasn't matched with enough "toma" (in your face) to make much of a difference. I personally know a lot of parents that aren't happy with their public schools and are scraping to send their kids to private schools...

...The insiders and early campaign watchers in this one are mostly of the political class and seem to be missing what the mainstream public (that don't have a megaphone) are saying...

The GOP is screwing itself with extremist politics but Martinez has put distance between herself and that wing of the party. All politics is local. Like you guys are saying, both candidates have moved to the center.

Immigration you say? Born and raised here dood and I'm telling you NM Hispanics (registered voters that is) aren't that kindly to our Southern primos, especially when they're not behaving and the economy sucks...

A lot of Dems (Hispanic and white social conservatives) I know are fed up with the arrogance (as Martinez aptly put it in the debate) and corruption of the state Dem elites. They're either not gonna vote or they're gonna vote Martinez to shake things up. And a lot of NM Latinas (and Latinos)...can't wait to vote for America's first Latina Governor.