Steve Pearce took some political hits for aligning with the Tea Party and refusing to vote to open up the United States government this week, but he has plenty of money in the bank to defend his actions in next year's election.

The latest report shows the southern NM GOP congressman with $1,054,000 in cash. That's a total that will grow leaps and bounds in the months ahead. His chief Dem challenger, Roxanne Lara, is off to a good start, raising $100,000 in one month of fundraising. But that 10 to one money advantage of Pearce's looms large as the Dems try to take advantage of Steve's stumbles.

Those stumbles and the tarnishing of the GOP image has the Cook Political Report in DC putting Pearce on its radar. It's changed the ranking of his '14 race from "solid Republican" to "likely Republican":

Considering the sharp drop-off in Hispanic turnout in midterm years in southern New Mexico, any Democrat would still be a long-shot against Pearce in 2014. But Pearce's rhetoric and voting record are very conservative even by this district's standards, and Roxanne "Rocky" Lara is worth watching at least peripherally.

DC Dems came with a 2 minute web ad scoring Pearce over the shutdown.

Dona Ana State Sen. Joe Cervantes wrote a big check to his re-election fund in the recent fundraising  period---big to the tune of $100,000. What's up with that?

Well, Cervantes, whose family has agricultural interests, continues to weigh a run for the '14 Dem nod for Governor. That money could be switched to a Guv fund if Cervantes makes a move....

DIWORSEIFICATION

A lot of the talk during the government shutdown was about how New Mexico should diversify its economy so it's not so dependent on what may be unsteady federal dollars in future years. But as the week ended the challenges the state faces in its quest to diversify were front and center. The news:

Cardinal Health is closing its Albuquerque finance operation by the end of September, 2014, which will effect about 175 people.  

“After careful analysis and consideration due to the impact on our employees, we have made the decision to close our Albuquerque operation by the end of September 2014. We will be consolidating this operation into other Cardinal Health locations,” Cardinal said.

The mayor and Governor recently announced the addition of up to 150 call center jobs over three years from Canon. Those are not high-paying jobs like those at Cardinal.

We are diversifying our economy. Unfortunately it consists of adding low-paying jobs while losing high paying ones like those at Cardinal and Intel in Rio Rancho.

GRAVITY 

We donned our 3D glasses recently to take in "Gravity," a powerful drama that is set in space. We have to agree with reader Eric Lucero--this one is not to be missed:

Experience the wonder, the awe and the sheer terror of "Gravity" in glorious surround sound and eye popping 3D. It is worth every penny. This magnificent masterpiece by Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron gets four out of five stars.

Performances by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are Oscar worthy. The astronaut characters they portray are convincing in “The Right Stuff’ sort of way, where any mistake may be your last.

The cinematography and special effects are state of art. Not since Kubrick’s, "2001: A Space Odyssey" has the “Final Frontier” been so vividly, painstakingly and lovingly created for the screen.

Gravity’s futuristic plot is summed up by the presence of a Chinese Space station (presently one doesn’t exist), with the Russians foolishly shooting down their own satellites and NASA inexplicably operating a Space Shuttle that is today a museum piece.

Gravity will most certainly be nominated for Best Picture. There could be no better modern showcase for why humans would crave weightlessness, be allured by the dangerous nature of space than by experiencing Gravity.

Gravity drives home the point to New Mexico that Sir Richard Branson & Virgin Galactic have the right idea in offering a unique space travel experience to a well-heeled public from the southern NM Spaceport. Enjoy Gravity!

THE BOTTOM LINES

Conan O’Brien: “President Obama has said the day after the budget deal is made, he’s going to concentrate on immigration. He says…he will start by deporting Ted Cruz.”

Thanks for stopping by this week.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2013. Not for reproduction without permission of the author