You Know Who

Emerging buoyantly after the debate, Harris’ aides and surrogates came bearing a clear message: They wanted another face off in October. “Bring it on!” said New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat. “She should do a second debate.”

Our Governor was among the official spinners for VP Harris at Tuesday night's debate which makes for more chatter about her being on the list for a plum position in a Harris administration--should it come to pass.

Her role at the Philadelphia debate was more than honorific. Spinners are assigned to media from all over the map and they have to know their stuff and be articulate. Even her critics admit that this Governor--unlike her predecessor--is fearless when it comes to the national spotlight and media. For her an appearance on Face the Nation is as routine as brushing her teeth. And that's a plus for little 'ol New Mexico.

As pictured, the Governor fueled up on an iconic Philly cheesesteak sandwich before fulfilling her task of praising Harris and dumping on Trump.

Her appetite for political success is equal to her zest for that cheesesteak. She's been elected Bernalillo county commissioner, a US congresswoman and two two terms as Governor. But she seems determined to fill out that impressive resume with something--who knows what--in DC. 

Her pick as a Harris spinner all but shuts the door on speculation that the VP's camp would leave MLG at the altar as she was by the Biden administration when she came squeaky close to getting a cabinet post. 

But her future depends on Harris winning. That means you'll see the Guv chowing down on all kinds of local delicacies offered in the battleground states while the green chile stash in the Mansion freezer remains mostly untouched until after November 5. 

SAFE. . .BUT

Checking in with University of Virginia pundit Larry Sabato, we find him ranking the Heinrich-Domenici senate battle as still "safe" for Heinrich but with a small caveat:

Sen. Heinrich has been running aggressively against Nella Domenici, daughter of the late former Sen. Pete Domenici, suggesting he is taking her challenge seriously in a blue-leaning state. This race seemed to come on the board a bit at the tail end of the slump that would eventually drive President Biden from the presidential race, and the general belief among sources we talked to is that this race might have become highly competitive if Biden had stayed in and the overall Democratic position had not improved. We’re watching it more closely than your average Safe Democratic race, but it remains in that category. 

Heinrich

While Sabato and other pundits believe Heinrich is good for a third term, Sabato predicts the Republicans will take over the Senate majority this year. That would be bad news for Heinrich who might have a good shot at the chairmanship of the Energy Committee if the Dems could hold on to the majority.

Staying with the Senate contest, we get this from Las Cruces blogger Peter Goodman:

I don't watch much TV but do look at internet news and more than any commercial I see a Domenici commercial on women and abortion. She aims to convince voters that NM abortion laws are safe and that she's thoroughly comfortable with that and has no interest in doing anything that would affect that. So she's sure pushing the abortion defense point a lot. 

Jim Hannan writes:

 Hi Joe, I thought that it was interesting that in the most recent Time Magazine story on the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence, the only politician in the list is Martin Heinrich. Here's a link to the list and here's the blurb on Heinrich.

Heinrich, an engineer, founded the AI Caucus in 2019.

Reproductive rights appears to be the major issue that is keeping Nella from breaking into big BernCo.

Joe, I wanted to say thanks for your blog. It has been incredibly valuable over the years, keep up the good work. Second, I wanted to say I found the analysis/commentary about the presidential debate by your conservative/GOP commentators to be incredibly lacking and caricature-like. It would have been more helpful to an independent like me to understand their positions. Instead they seem to repeat the same talking points as Trump and the logic just goes around and around,with no progress. Thanks again, Benjamin V. Guevara, JD 

Thanks for tuning in over the years, Ben. We remain committed to exploring all kinds of viewpoints.

HELP THE JOURNAL

Sanderoff

Longtime reader John G. gives us a smile. 

He was disappointed to learn on the Wednesday blog that the ABQ Journal and pollster Brian Sanderoff will not be polling the heated race for the southern congressional district featuring Dem US Rep.  Gabe Vasquez and Republican Yvette Herrell in their first round of polling that is expected to be rolled out this Sunday. They do, however, plan a late October survey on the three congressional races. Opines John G:

Joe, ask Brian Sanderoff how much it would cost to do a poll only of the 2nd Congressional District to see where the race between Vasquez and Herrell is. No other questions other than those needed for this one important race. Then post that dollar figure on the blog for a GoFundMe style call to to action. Count me in for $50. 

Fifty bucks? That's pretty generous, John. I might buy the ink-stained wretches a couple of lunches if they would break open the bank for the poll. We'll have to ask Brian if he's offering any discounts.  

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