Those comments from Dem Guv candidate Alan Webber's campaign manager calling Guv political adviser Jay McCleskey and other men in Governor Martinez's inner circle misogynistic thugs" grabbed the attention of our readers. This Dem urged the Webber campaign to keep hitting:

He needs to keep doing this because the Martinez campaign can't help but lash out and that feeds right into the messaging about how she conducted herself in those leaked audio tapes. Webber’s willingness to take a tougher stance and call out her people may finally help establishment Democrats feel more confident in taking her on--people like House Speaker Ken Martinez and Reps Ben Ray Lujan and Michelle Lujan Grisham. . .Also, I don't see the McCleskey side getting much traction because some of  the criminal cases about McCleskey that the Webber campaign cites date to the 90's. Mark Rudd's infractions date to the 1960's and the Martinez campaign is not reluctant to make hay over them. The moral being that if you like to dish it out, learn how to take it. 

The brouhaha broke out when the Martinez camp started calling Webber a "friend of a terrorist" because he accepted a campaign contribution from Mark Rudd, a longtime ABQ resident and retired CNM instructor who in the 1960's was associated with the radical Weather Underground Group. Reader Karen Myers of ABQ pushed back:

Mark Rudd is a friend of mine. He is a kind and caring person who has devoted his life to helping others succeed. He worked tirelessly at CNM teaching math and providing educational support to students trying to better their lives and has been active in the Albuquerque community to support issues that many of us and our neighbors care about – education, the environment and peace and justice. Mark long ago embraced non-violence. The FBI asked him to speak at the FBI Academy; he regularly speaks on the dangers of violence and the importance of working for peace and justice through non-violence. It should be unacceptable to any thinking person that his political involvement over 40 years ago as a college student would be used to attack both Mark and a candidate he supports in 2014. This could be an attack waged against any candidate – do you know who your supporters are? We all need to stand in opposition to these deplorable tactics.

ABQ reader Susan Loubet writes:

Hi Joe, I just chuckled at the seeming attempt to portray Mark Rudd as a dangerous person. I wondered whether the reports of his donations may have spilled over to his son, Paul, who works on Wall Street and, Mark has said to me, is the one with the money. I was interested because Mark's son, Paul, and my son were in pre-school together in Alb. Not exactly where you would expect to find your radical extremists. 

MORE MAIL 


Reader Robert Behrendt writes of recent political events and comes up with a conspiracy theory:

After I received an e-mail of Mark Rudd's endorsement of Alan Webber, (he also gave a donation to Guv candidate Howie Morales) I exchanged e-mails with Mark urging him to return to supporting Howie based on my assessment of the candidates. In retrospect I now see the brilliance of Mark's counter insurgent jump to the Alan Webber liberal fantasy bandwagon. Mark is supporting Howie more now than ever!

And Rick Allan of Anthony, NM commented on Tuesday's blog featuring journalist wally Gordon who wondered if ABQ is a dying city:

Wally Gordon I think was a bit off base when he suggested that Baltimore and Pittsburgh were either in the “morgue” or close to it. Albuquerque should be so lucky to have the assets and energy of either of these two vibrant cities. Wally seems to know what’s going on. He should be a little more careful with his death certificates. Both cities he mentions are far from decline.

Republican Jim McClure who moved to New Mexico from Chicago writes:

What’s most puzzling is that our non-governmental community institutions appear to be ineffective. Government alone cannot persuade parents to keep their kids in school or prevent out-of-wedlock births, and there does not appear to be much of a community sense of social norms. Our churches appear to be AWOL on social issues, and ethnic-interest groups tend to focus on airing grievances rather than uplifting families and communities. These problems are unlikely to be solved without leadership that can somehow engage the entire community. (Perhaps we need some community organizers.)

That's it for this week. Thanks for the company.

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