Lewis is doubling down on his TV attacks unveiling a new and emotional spot that has a famous crime victim accusing Keller of tolerating "catch and release judges."
In response, Keller has begun to work on what he sees as Lewis' Achilles Heel--his eight years on the ABQ city council and his association with fellow Republican and unpopular Mayor Richard Berry,
Lewis' latest TV effort features former ABQ Circle K Clerk Jennifer Wertz who last month shot a would-be robber in the chest and vaulted to national fame for her action.
She said at the time that she shot the culprit because she was tired of "being a sitting duck." She lost her job at Circle K as a result but a gofundme page eased the pain. So far it has raised nearly $75,000 for the mother of three.
In the Lewis ad Wertz delivers a compelling narration of the incident, saying:
I was really scared that I was never going to see my children again, that I was going to lose my life to a criminal. . . This guy came in waving a gun at my face screaming at me and threatened my life and I just pulled my gun and I shot him. . . It makes me very upset Tim Keller says we can't be hard on catch and release judges. Dan Lewis going to fight the crime in our town just like I did. He wants to bring back the good name of Albuquerque.
It's no coincidence that both of Lewis' TV attack ads have featured women threatened by crime. Keller has opened up a 13 point lead over Lewis in early polling due in good measure to a big lead among female voters.
The ad hits home but viewers should hope that Wertz's declaration that Lewis will "fight the crime in our town just ad I did" doesn't mean Lewis is going to unleash a new wave of police shootings that have cost the city tens of millions in lawsuits and brought the APD under the purview of the Department of Justice.
Also, the Lewis campaign apparently misquoted Keller when it flashed a picture of Keller on the screen with the quote: "We can't blame catch N release judges."
Keller apparently never uttered that phrase on the record and his camp fired away:
What's clear is that Dan Lewis has a problem with the truth. It's a pattern of false claims about my record on public safety.
The thing about going nuclear on your rival is that it often works but it has to be letter perfect to hold its credibility. Lewis's ad team and the candidate dropped the ball as the mistake generated a TV news report questioning the misquote.
Yeah, Dan, it's the state's largest city in the middle of a crime crisis and no one is cutting anyone any slack in this thing.
KELLER COUNTERS
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| Lewis and Berry |
Still, the chipping away has put the Keller camp on more of a war footing and it came with this take down of their rival's latest TV hit:
. . . Leadership is about taking action and stepping up to our challenges, not blaming others. It's easy to point fingers at judges - just as Dan Lewis has done for years without proposing real solutions. What's hard is to actually push for real change in our criminal justice system to keep violent criminals and repeat offenders off our streets. That's what I'll do as mayor."
And Keller continues to put the needle into Lewis, again citing these key endorsements:
Keller has proposed concrete solutions to the public safety challenges Albuquerque faces. That's why he's been endorsed by the Albuquerque Fraternal Order of Police, the Albuquerque Police Officers Association and Albuquerque Area Firefighters.
Sooner or later the campaign had to get around to Mayor Berry who has presided over the historic outbreak in crime and whose approval rating among likely city voters has plunged to 34 percent. Keller broke the ice on Berry by trying to hang him around the neck of Lewis:
Under Dan Lewis and RJ Berry, Crime Out of Control. Though Dan Lewis talks tough on crime, his record paints a very different picture.
Albuquerque’s crime crisis happened - and got worse - on Dan Lewis’ watch.
09/26/17 - Rising New Mexico Crime Rates Propelled by Albuquerque
02/08/17 - Albuquerque homicide rate sky rockets
06/08/17 - Albuquerque Has the Highest Car Theft Rates Per Capita in America
08/12/16 - Albuquerque is the 5th most violent city in the nation
09/30/15 - FBI report: Violent crime rates up in Albuquerque
Just like RJ Berry, Dan Lewis has been part of the problem and refused to support APD officers or needed reforms.
Oh, yeah? Says Dan to Tim:
(As a state senator) Keller Voted To Abolish The Death Penalty In 2009, Keller Voted For HB285 To Abolish The Death Penalty.. . .Keller Voted Against Allowing Local Governments To Impose Distance Restrictions On Sex Offenders And Once Missed A Vote Expanding Sex Offender Registration Requirements
There are other crucial issues besides crime facing ABQ--among them its ability to provide jobs for its youth and its need for a secure water future, but they are getting drowned out by a crime wave that has become a towering tsunami and that poses the most immediate threat to the Duke City's future well-being.
KELLER TV
Our media watcher Chris Brown updates the Keller TV buy. He opened with $25,000 on KOAT-TV and now Chris reports the campaign has bought 135 spots on KRQE-TV at $22,100; 174 spots on KOB-TV at $25,048 and 54 spots on Fox Channel 2 at $4,895. That's about $77,000 total or about 62 percent of Keller's total public finance budget of $125,000. Lewis is running a $62,000 buy that is slated to end this week. He's added $9,000, purchasing time on Comcast Cable, including spots on liberal MSNBC. Well, he's trying. . .
HEINRICH AND FLAKE
Flake and Heinrich bonded over bipartisanship, even spending time together on a deserted island fighting for survival which a reality TV show documented. Heinrich said of Flake's coming departure:
The Senate will be worse off without Jeff Flake’s honesty, integrity and willingness to speak his mind. We should all fear the ramifications of a system which seems to be driving people of his caliber away from this institution.
Actually, Heinrich now really hopes he has the opportunity to miss Flake. Heinrich is up for re-election next year and if he doesn't make it he would be joining Flake on the sidelines on January 1, 2019.
Heinrich Tuesday also gave a boost to Democratic westside city council candidate Cynthia Borrego who is in a Nov. 14 run-off election against Republican Robert Aragon. Heinrich cut a robocall for her:
I am supporting Cynthia Borrego for City Council, and I am calling to ask you for her support. Cynthia is the public safety candidate in this race, she's been endorsed by both Police and Fire unions, she has a five point plan to fix crime and a four point plan to create job growth. Cynthia brings a much needed new direction to the westside. She is in close race, and she needs our help.
This is a race to watch as Borrego finished only one point behind Aragon in the initial Oct. 3 balloting. If she were to beat him in the GOP leaning district the city council would be 6 to 3 Democrats. If Keller got elected that would give him a veto proof council if his fellow Dems stuck with him.
THE BOTTOM LINES
As for Amazon opening its second headquarters in ABQ, that's about as likely as Zozobra doing stand-up comedy.
Wouldn't you know that some wise guy (not retired TV newsman Rodger Beimer) would send us this art clip dug up on the Internet that shows Zozobra--aka "Old Man Gloom"--before the mike and apparently cracking jokes.
"Hey, did you hear the one about the guy getting burned at the stake?" . . .
Well, Zozobra gets the last laugh on us. In our first draft yesterday, we misspelled his name. Don't burn me, Z. . .
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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2017