ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: THE FLAGS IN THE BAGS

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
September 11, 2008
I winced a few days ago when I saw the wire story from Colorado Springs about the “rescued” Americans flags.

According to the article, an unnamed vendor who had been working Denver’s Invesco Field at Mile High during Barack Obama’s big speech at the Democratic National Convention came across garbage bags stuffed with thousands of American flags that audience members had waved enthusiastically during the speech. Supposedly the bags of flags were near garbage bins at the football stadium.

The vendor apparently gave said flags to the John McCain campaign, and the flags were distributed at a rally for McCain and running mate Sarah Palin in Colorado Springs on Saturday.

The emcee at the event, some Denver radio personality, told the GOP crowd that the flags were going to be thrown away or burned, which evoked loud boos and jeers.

Democrats say that the flags were not meant for the garbage and that the flag flap is a “cheap political stunt.” The Democratic National Committee issued a statement saying, “Stories circulating about flags at the Democratic National Convention are false. We distributed more than 125,000 American made flags at the Convention — the flags removed from Invesco Field were intended for other events and taken without permission.”

I don’t know about those particular flags that ended up at the McCain rally. But I was there at the Obama speech, and I decided afterward to go down to the stands and pick up a flag as a free souvenir for my son back in Santa Fe. (I had watched the speech itself from the stadium’s press box, where no one was waving any flag.)

So, as everyone was leaving the stadium, I went down to the stands to grab a flag.

I found one.

But only one.

I can’t honestly say that I searched the entire stadium. And I certainly wasn’t sniffing around the garbage bins. But I can say I didn’t see massive amounts of discarded stars and stripes scattered around the stadium. There were the usual soda cups and hamburger wrappers — plus some Obama signs left behind. But the flag I “rescued” was the only one I saw.

And no, it wasn’t on the ground. Someone had left it on a chair. And there were no burn marks.

Shooting at the Sundance Kid: Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall has blasted his Republican opponent Steve Pearce for his association with unpopular President George W. Bush. But this week Pearce is lambasting Udall over one of his friends — actor-director Robert Redford.

Redford, who spent a lot of time in Northern New Mexico back in the mid ’80s when he was making The Milagro Beanfield War, was in Corrales this week for a Udall fundraiser.

“It should come as no surprise to New Mexico voters that one of Hollywood’s most liberal icons is standing up in support of Tom Udall,” Pearce said in a news release.

“Actor Robert Redford is in town this week to help his buddy Udall. Voters should know that Redford, the man who once played the Sundance Kid on the big screen, is also a trustee on the Natural Resources Defense Council,” Pearce said. “The NRDC is an extreme environmental group that has opposed domestic drilling time and time again, despite the fact that Americans are desperate for relief at the pump. ... Voters need to be aware that Redford’s support signifies more than just Hollywood star power for Tom Udall,” Pearce said.

“It’s a political match made in heaven, as the Sundance Kid and Butch ‘Udall’ Cassidy ride again and try to rob taxpayers of their chance for clean, affordable energy,” Pearce said.

The Udall campaign responded: “If in Steve Pearce’s world Tom Udall is a rebel outlaw and icon of the American West like Butch Cassidy, I guess that would make Steve Pearce like a turn-of-the-century big oil robber baron who will do and say anything to reap profits for the rich at the expense of ordinary, pioneering Americans.”

According to the latest Rasmussen poll, Bush’s approval rating among New Mexicans is 34 percent, while 63 percent disapprove. The poll didn’t have any approval numbers for Redford.

Poll dancing: Speaking of Rasmussen, that pollster says Pearce in the last three weeks has gained slightly on Udall. The latest Rasmussen poll shows Udall leading 51 percent to Pearce’s 44 percent. In late August, Udall was winning 51 percent to 41 percent. Pearce, according to Rasmussen, has gained among unaffiliated voters.

The presidential race continues to yo-yo in this swinging swing state, Rasmussen reports. Republican McCain has pulled ahead of Democrat Obama 49 to 47 percent. Last month, just before the Democratic National Convention, Obama was leading by six points in the Rasmussen poll.

According to Rasmussen, “Gov. Bill Richardson earns good or excellent ratings from 45 percent of voters in New Mexico, while 29 percent say he is doing a poor job. Those ratings have slipped slightly since last month.”

Rasmussen interviewed 700 likely New Mexico voters on Monday. The margin of error in the poll is 4 percent.

Political divorce: One of the state’s most powerful political couples is splitting up. Theresa Martinez, chairwoman of the Rio Arriba County Democratic Party, on July 1 filed for divorce from state Sen. Richard Martinez, D-Española.

The senator couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday. Theresa Martinez, whose term as county chairwoman expires next year, said she doesn’t know yet whether she’ll seek re-election to the post.

“I just hope everyone can respect our privacy,” she said.

Sen. Martinez, who is seeking re-election, has no opponent in the November general election.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: GARY J. and RON P.

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
September 4, 2008


Democrat Bill Richardson isn’t the only New Mexico governor to speak at a national political convention in recent days. His predecessor, Gary Johnson, this week was in Minnesota — not at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, but at former GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul’s miniconvention nearby in Minneapolis.

Johnson spoke before some 13,000 attending the Paul campaign’s Rally for the Republic on Tuesday.


“I tried to draw correlation between my time in office and Ron Paul,” Johnson said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “Ron Paul often casts the only ‘no’ vote in Congress. As governor, I had 750 vetoes. That’s more than the other 49 governors put together.”

In effect, his vetoes were the sole dissenting vote, said the man who became known as “Gov. No.”

In his speech, Johnson said, he talked about his efforts to reform anti-drug laws — a position that cost him the support of many state Republicans.

He also talked about how he’s against motorcycle helmet laws. He said he got a great response to a quip that he’s used before in New Mexico. Johnson told the crowd in Minneapolis he chooses to use a helmet when riding a motorcycle, “but for somebody that wants to drive their motorcycle and not wear a helmet, we have an organ-donor shortage in this country.”

The night before the rally, Johnson said, he got to spend about 45 minutes talking to Paul.

Despite his loyal following, Paul, who once ran as the Libertarian Party candidate for president, says he won’t run as a third party candidate this year.

So where does that leave Johnson?

The most recent GOP governor of New Mexico said he’s not backing John McCain for president. “My problem with McCain is the war and his foreign policy,” Johnson said. Like Paul, he believes having American troops in Iraq and many other countries has made the U.S. a target of terrorism.

He’s also not getting behind Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr, either. “I debated Bob Barr about drugs when I was governor,” he said of the former Georgia congressman. “I find irony in his newfound libertarianism.”

And Johnson definitely isn’t backing the Democratic ticket, though Johnson predicted Barack Obama will be the next president.

She’s everywhere: U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson of Albuquerque might have lost the Republican U.S. Senate primary to U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce of Hobbs in June, but it seems her name is popping up everywhere lately on the national campaign trail.

After Obama’s acceptance speech in Denver last week, the McCain campaign released a lengthy response from none other than Wilson, disputing Obama’s “Top Misleading Claims.”

Wilson has been active this week at the GOP convention in St. Paul. On Wednesday, she conducted a “reporter roundtable.” She was part of a group of prominent Republican women, including Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, and former Hewlett Packard chief executive officer Carly Fiorina, who were lined up to do television and radio interviews to demand better treatment for vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her family.

Wilson has appeared on MSNBC’s Hardball, defending Palin’s anti-abortion record, and, on Tuesday, she even appeared on left-wing radio — Thom Hartman’s show on the Air America network. There she made an interesting — Freudian? — slip. When Hartmann, who apparently isn’t up on New Mexico politics, asked whether she was having a hard time in her Senate race, Wilson replied, “There was a primary and my colleague from Southern New Mexico, Steve Pearce lost that — uh, won that — primary, so I will actually be retiring from the House in January.”

So what does she have planned for January and afterward? Are these appearances indicative about a possible place for Wilson in a McCain administration?

“It’s like she’s standing in the John McCain employment office,” Albuquerque blogger >Joe Monahan said in an interview Wednesday.

A GOP source who asked not to be named said Wilson has become a “top-tier McCain surrogate” because she’s good at it. “She’s a great messenger,” the Republican said. “It’s fair to speculate about any number of opportunities for Heather Wilson, whether McCain wins or loses.”

Among the possible positions is secretary of the Air Force (Wilson is an Air Force vet) or a position with a foreign-policy think tank. “You can’t rule out governor in 2010,” the Republican source said.

Latest poll numbers: If so, Wilson will have to work on her numbers back home, though. According to >a new SurveyUSA poll of 631 likely voters in the 1st Congressional District, 40 percent said they have a favorable opinion of Wilson, while 45 percent had an unfavorable view.

The same poll showed Obama leading McCain in the district, which mainly consists of Albuquerque, by a 55 percent to 41 percent margin. The poll, sponsored by the Washington, D.C., publication Roll Call, did not talk to voters in other parts of the state.

In the 1st District Congressional race, Democrat Martin Heinrich was leading Republican Darren White 51 percent to 46 percent. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.

There also was a question that could be significant in the U.S. Senate race here. Asked who is most responsible for gasoline prices, 35 percent said oil companies while only 12 percent said environmentalists. Republican Pearce constantly has characterized his Democratic opponent Tom Udall as being in league with “extreme environmentalists” while Udall and his supporters say Pearce is in the pocket of “Big Oil.”

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: MODESTLY SPEAKING

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
August 21, 2008

Is it just me, or did Gov. Bill Richardson seem rather detached from the special session that was so important for him to call?

He did have a party for legislators at the governor’s mansion Friday night, and he reportedly met with some lawmakers during the session.

But there was barely a peep from the Governor’s Office during the five-day session, at least not public peeps. Unlike past special sessions, there was no cajoling lawmakers, no threats to extend the session, no denouncing any special interests standing in the way of the legislation he wanted.

And there was no news conference at the end of the session, just a rather ho-hum e-mail statement in which the governor, apparently undaunted by the fact that the Legislature basically cut his proposals in half, said: “While the Legislature did not go as far as I would have liked to cover all children with health insurance, I believe modest, but solid gains were made toward that goal.”

He used the word modest three times in the statement. Has the roaring lion suddenly become modest mouse?

The question of why there was this huge need for a special session in August — a question frequently articulated by several legislators from both parties during the session — has never been answered.

Some lawmakers said the timing was somehow connected with the speech Richardson is scheduled to give next week in Denver at the Democratic National Convention.

On the first day of the session, Sen. John Grubesic, D-Santa Fe, a frequent Richardson critic, said the governor called the session so he would have “a couple of lines for a speech at the Democratic National Convention.” Others took up similar lines of attack, prompting a Richardson spokeswoman to release a statement Sunday saying Richardson doesn’t care about personal attacks.

“Rather, his focus, as it always has been, is on getting meaningful legislation passed to give 50 thousand uninsured children access to health care and provide relief to working families who are struggling because of high gas prices.”

Actually, Richardson seemed more focused Sunday on his old presidential rival Hillary Clinton. He appeared at a rally with her in Española and hosted fundraisers for Clinton in Santa Fe and Albuquerque that day. The next day, he seemed more focused on Barack Obama, with whom he met in Albuquerque before appearing with the presidential candidate at an Albuquerque rally.

But I don’t believe the special session did much to advance Richardson’s national political ambitions. If Obama happened to glance at any New Mexico papers during his stop Monday, he would have seen headlines about senators blasting Richardson.

And I seriously doubt the special session had much to do with Richardson’s convention speech. He’s bound to bring up some of his accomplishments as governor during the speech. But I doubt he mentions any of the “modest” bills that came out of this curious session.

Senate ad wars continue: The television rhetoric is heating up in the U.S. Senate race. The anti-tax Club for Growth — which was denounced during the Republican primary by both U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici and U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson for its ads attacking Wilson as a “liberal,” is now attacking Democratic candidate Tom Udall, who is running against CFG favorite Steve Pearce.

The new anti-Udall ad attacks Udall’s “strange views about property.” Udall believes, the ad claims, “If it’s private property, take it. If it dies, tax it. But if it’s American oil, leave it in the ground.”

Udall responded with his own ad calling the CFG “a Washington special interest” that “falsely attacked Heather Wilson.” But the ad is tougher on Pearce, blasting his votes against alternative energy and tying those votes to more than $600,000 in contributions from oil companies. Pearce has consistently denied his votes are connected to his campaign contributions.

Interestingly, Udall’s ad says he favors nuclear energy and “more domestic drilling, including some offshore” — as well as wind and solar energy. The Pearce campaign has attacked Udall for voting against offshore drilling in Congress.

Although Udall’s new ad doesn’t dwell on Club for Growth, recent e-mail from the Udall camp rips into the group, even quoting Republicans Domenici and Wilson.

The Club, Udall’s camp points out, has received funds from Houston home builder Robert Perry. Perry is one of the major funders of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which ran controversial ads in 2004 against Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. Many Swift Boat charges against Kerry turned out to be false.

Perry also has been a major contributor to several New Mexico Republican candidates since 2002.

The Udall campaign turned the Club For Growth/Perry connection into a fundraising e-mail. But when I saw the subject line — "Despicable" — I wasn’t sure whether it was from Udall campaign manager Amanda Cooper or Daffy Duck.

Here's the Club for Growth ad followed by the Udall response:

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: PRAISE & SCORN

It had been weeks since any serious talk has appeared in the national media about Gov. Bill Richardson’s chances of becoming Barack Obama’s running mate. Most of the squawk on Richardson over the summer seemed to be based on the assumption the governor is bucking for secretary of state.

Then, early this month, came that editorial in The Denver Post.

“His outstanding record makes him an ideal partner for Obama, not only on the campaign trail but at the vital job of shaping America’s future,” the paper said. “... Richardson’s record not only qualifies him to assume the presidency, it makes him an ideal partner to the visionary and eloquent Obama in the task of running this country. And as a leading figure in a Rocky Mountain West that has emerged as a swing political region, Richardson could do more than any other possible running mate to carry the Democratic ticket to victory in November.”

It’s not clear what effect that editorial might have on Richardson’s chances of getting on the ticket.

If he has been meeting with Obama’s veep vetters, they’ve done a great job of keeping that secret.

But could it be that people on the other end of the political spectrum are starting to take seriously the idea of Richardson as vice presidential candidate?

A couple of recent attacks from commentators on the political right have been pretty harsh on the governor. They seem pretty eager to tear into him.

Earlier this week this newspaper published a George Will column about the Russian invasion of Georgia, which said, “... Big events reveal smallness, such as that of New Mexico’s Gov. Bill Richardson.”

Will explained: “On ABC’s This Week, Richardson, auditioning to be Barack Obama’s running mate, disqualified himself. Clinging to the Obama campaign's talking points like a drunk to a lamppost, Richardson said this crisis proves the wisdom of Obama’s zest for diplomacy, and that America should get the U.N. Security Council ‘to pass a strong resolution getting the Russians to show some restraint.’ Apparently Richardson was ambassador to the U.N. for 19 months without noticing that Russia has a Security Council veto.”

In a blog called The Campaign Spot, the conservative National Review also criticized Richardson’s thoughts on the Russian situation. One post on Monday, referring to Richardson on CBS’ Face the Nation, was headlined “Bill Richardson, Making Obama Look Good on Georgia By Comparison.”

A few hours later, the same blog, in a post titled, “Bill Richardson Self-Destructs on CNN,” lambastes Richardson for saying “a President Obama will have a good, strong dialogue-oriented relationship with Russia, where these kinds of situations would not occur.” The first line of the blog post is “Team Obama has GOT to get Bill Richardson away from cameras.”

Pasadena bound: If you’re thinking that Richardson is holed up on the Fourth Floor frantically preparing for Friday’s special session, you are wrong.

Though he plans to be back later today, Richardson is appearing this morning in Pasadena, Calif., at a “breakfast fundraiser to benefit the Obama Victory Fund.” VIP tickets are $1,000, and requested contributions are $250 per person.

As is all too frequently the case, we didn’t learn about the governor’s out-of-state trip from his office, but from an out-of-state newspaper Web site, this time the Pasadena Star News, which published the story Wednesday.

Several hours later, the governor’s office e-mailed a news release saying Richardson was in California on Wednesday and today to attend the Border Governors Conference at Universal City. While in California, he also planned to meet with members of the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles to talk about our state’s film industry, the official release said. But there was no mention of the Obama breakfast.

Meanwhile on the Senate front ... Democrat Tom Udall has been running lots of television ads the past couple of months. But not until this week have any of his spots mentioned the name of his opponent, Republican Steve Pearce.

The new ad, which opens with a photo of Pearce shaking hands with President Bush, never mentions Pearce without mentioning Bush. “George Bush and Steve Pearce. How much are they costing you? ... Steve Pearce voted 91 percent of the time with George Bush.”

Something tells me you’re going to hear more ads linking “George Bush and Steve Pearce.” And you’re probably going to hear more Pearce ads that mention Udall and “left-wing environmental extremists.”

Meanwhile, outgoing Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici is scheduled today to formally endorsed Pearce — who surely hopes the Domenici endorsement does him more good than it did U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, who lost to Pearce in the GOP primary.

“It is SO not a debate!” That’s what nondebate moderator Lorene Mills said about a candidate forum scheduled for Friday morning in Clovis at the New Mexico Municipal League’s annual conference. Apparently some Senate and Congressional candidates were threatening to skip the event if it was going to be an actual debate.

Not only will the candidates not interact with one another, they won’t have to be surprised by the questions asked. The candidates got those in advance.

The forum airs live at 8:30 a.m. on KENW-TV in Eastern New Mexico and KRWG-TV in Las Cruces. But Santa Fe folks will have to watch online. Mills said KNME-TV (Channel 5, Albuquerque) told her they would stream it on their Web page.

UPDATE: I posted a Youtube of Pearce's last commercial, so I'll post Udall's below:

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: CALL HER, BUT NOT THAT NUMBER

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
August 7, 2008

Rio Arriba County residents who recently received a mailer attacking state Rep. Debbie Rodella, D-Española, got a surprise if they followed the instruction to call Rodella and “remind her she works for you, not her big money contributors.” CLICK HERE for the Robinson mailer (Thanks, Heath.)

Keegan King, director of New Mexico Youth Organized — the Albuquerque-based group responsible for both mailings — said Wednesday that the Rodella mailing used the same template as the Robinson mailing.

Both mailings skewer the lawmakers for siding with special interests and campaign contributors. Both list percentages of campaign contributions from various industries.

For example, based on campaign finance reports going back to 2004, 29 percent of Rodella’s campaign funds have come from health care, insurance and pharmaceutical companies, 15 percent from the banking and payday loan firms, and 13 percent from liquor and tobacco interests.

Robinson’s mailing came up in the recent lawsuit filed by Robinson, Sen. James Taylor and Rep. Dan Silva (also Albuquerque Democrats) asking a judge to overturn the results of the June primary. The three defeated lawmakers claim their opponents acted with nonprofit groups and others to evade state campaign finance laws. NMYO’s Legislative Accountability Project is named in the lawsuit.

The group is associated with the Center for Civic Policy, which the lawsuit claims received $1.5 million from billionaire George Soros, a charge the center has denied.

Besides Rodella and Robinson, King said three other lawmakers — Silva, Sen. Lidio Rainaldi, D-Gallup, and Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson, R-La Cruces — were the targets of the Legislative Accountability Project.

King said the project wasn’t aimed at the primary election. Rainaldi isn’t seeking re-election, while Rodella had no primary opponent and has no general-election challenger.

Why these five legislators? “They’ve taken a lot of money from special interests,” King said. “They’ve voted against ethics reform. People should know their record and who their contributors are.”

“This is about the special session.” King said. Indeed, the mailing with the wrong phone number says, “When the Legislature addresses the health care crisis facing our families, will Debbie Rodella represent you or her big money backers?”

After the phone number screw-up was brought to the attention of NMYO, the group created another mailer with the correct number for Rodella.

Again referring to the special session, the mailer says, “Will health care reform pass? Special interests will try to stand in the way. They’ve already been handing out big campaign contributions.” Then in big letters: “The Legislature is not an auction.”

Citizen of the month: Being mayor of Santa Fe involves handing out a lot of proclamations. But on Wednesday he issued a proclamation full of barbs.

In a ceremony on the Plaza, Mayor David Coss named Ed Tinsley the “Santa Fe Resident of the Month” award.

Tinsley — the Republican candidate for Southern New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District — has a house in Las Campanas and operates his business out of Santa Fe. Tinsley also has a ranch in Lincoln County, which is in the southern congressional district.

Some opponents in June’s Republican primary blasted Tinsley for his Santa Fe ties. Lately, his Democratic opponent, Harry Teague, also has picked up on the line of attack.

But the man being “honored” here on Wednesday wasn’t invited to the event. Coss said he didn’t think Tinsley would attend.

According to a 2006 news release from the National Restaurant Association — an organization Tinsley once chaired, “Tinsley is the president and (chief executive officer) of Tinsley Hospitality Group, LLC, a Santa Fe, N.M.-based restaurant intellectual property company and master franchisor of K-BOB’s Steakhouses, which franchises operations of 22 stores located in New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado.”

Coss pointed out Tinsley doesn’t have any restaurants in Santa Fe, saying the Republican doesn’t want to pay his employees the city’s minimum wage. Tinsley has criticized the “Living Wage” law. In 2003, he said the higher wage is the main reason he decided against opening a K-BOB here. In a 2003 article in the online Market Watch, Tinsley called the “Living Wage” a “virus that is crippling businesses and stagnating local economies across the country.”

Coss admitted the award was a “political statement” and in fact is the first and only “Resident of the Month.”

“We usually do ‘Mucho Gracias’ awards,” Coss said. Wednesday’s certificate, which looked like it came out of a photocopy machine, was far less ornate than most certificates that come out of the mayor’s office. For instance, the “Honorary Santa Fean” award that Mayor Louis Montaño, who died last week, presented to the late rock pioneer Bo Diddley in 1985 was a lot fancier.

It’s also questionable whether Tinsley would qualify as “resident of the month” in Santa Fe because his part-time home is outside the city limits. “He’s a resident of the Santa Fe community,” the mayor said.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: THE PRC FIGHT GOES ON

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
July 31, 2008

Although state Public Regulation Commission candidates Jerome Block Jr. and Rick Lass apparently won’t have a face-to-face debate, Block, the Democratic nominee, and Lass, the Green Party contender, sure aren’t hesitant to go after each other via e-mail.

Responding to Block’s public refusal to debate — in which Block belittled Lass’ past jobs as a “pizza delivery person” and grocery clerk — Lass on Wednesday released an open letter in which he raises questions about Block’s education and his job in the title-insurance business.

Lass’ “Open Letter to Jerome Block, Jr.” says voters deserve debates between the candidates so “they can better decide which candidate is more likely to protect them from rising utility and insurance costs.”

The two are running for the $90,000-a-year job representing PRC District 3, which includes Santa Fe and much of northeastern New Mexico.

“For more than a decade,” Lass wrote, “I have been working without pay on not just election and democracy issues, but on kitchen table issues like the living wage and repeal of the food tax. What is your record of public service?

“I earned a bachelor of arts degree from St. John’s College here in Santa Fe, and am well prepared to tackle the complexity of the issues before the PRC. What is your educational background?”

Block told The New Mexican earlier this year that he attended New Mexico State University but didn’t graduate. Block said he received “the equivalent of an associate degree” from the Anderson School of Management at The University of New Mexico.

“Your only qualification seems to be your employment by the title insurance industry, which represents an enormous conflict of interest given the PRC sets the price of title insurance in New Mexico,” Lass wrote. “How can the voters trust you to represent them on rate hearings involving an industry for which you were on the payroll and may still be?” (Before the primary Block took a leave of absence from his job as sales manager for the Land America title insurance company.)

Lass then refers to brushes with the law on the part of himself and Block. (Lass was arrested on a simple battery charge in 1999 after a fight with his then-girlfriend. Block was arrested for drunken driving in 1998 and had a later arrest and conviction for riding with a drunken driver.)

“We’ve both made mistakes — that is human. I took responsibility for mine, got help, and have been open about it in communicating with the media. You handled (and continue to handle) your situation much differently. Can voters be assured you have the maturity to hold such an important public office?”

Lass concludes by accusing Block of “ducking the debates because you think your chances for election are better if you keep voters in the dark about your lack of qualifications and record of public service and instead rely on the name of your father and the coattails of others. I guess that worked for you in the Democratic Party primary.”

Block couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.

Speaking of debates: Republican Dan East, who is running for Northern New Mexico’s open 3rd District Congressional seat, took a jab at his Democratic opponent for missing a recent candidate forum.

In an e-mail, East said, “The New Mexico Farm Bureau Association met for their annual State Convention at the Inn of the Mountain Gods today. Included on the schedule, was a candidate forum for New Mexico’s federal candidates. Notably missing from the forum was Ben Ray Luján, son of State House speaker Ben Luján. …

“I want to know why his handlers are not allowing him to meet me face to face. What are they hiding him from? The people of this district deserve better, and I challenge the Speaker to allow his son to debate me.”

Luján skipped the Farm Bureau forum because he was campaigning in Mora County, a spokesman said, noting the resort near Ruidoso isn’t in the 3rd Congressional District. Luján will debate East — and presumably independent candidates Carol Miller and Ron Simmons — the spokesman said.

The next scheduled candidate forum is set for Monday at the College of Santa Fe, an event sponsored by The Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the Association of Commerce & Industry of New Mexico.

Getting prepared: Asked this week about his thoughts on the upcoming special session of the state Legislature, outgoing Sen. John Grubesic, D-Santa Fe, said he’s ready. Grubesic, who isn’t seeking re-election, joked that he learned just about everything he needs to know about the special session at a recent meeting of the Legislative Council: “I learned the correct pronunciation of sine die.”

For those not well-versed in Latin or legislative jargon, that’s the term used when they end a legislative session.

In recent years in New Mexico, it’s come to mean adjourning before Gov. Bill Richardson is ready for the legislators to adjourn. The Senate did that several times last year when Richardson attempted to call a special session right after the regular session. Rumblings in the Senate indicate it could happen again when the new special session convenes Aug. 15.

So what’s the correct pronunciation? Grubesic said there are several. Indeed, Googling a few online dictionaries you’ll find, SEE-nae DEE-ae, SI-na Die-ee and other variations.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: DEMS WINNING NEW REGISTRATIONS

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
July 10, 2008

The state Democratic Party is crowing over new statewide voter registration figures. According to numbers the party received from the Secretary of State’s Office, the party has attracted more than 28,000 new voters since the first of the year — more than twice the number of newly registered Republicans.

Democratic Party spokeswoman Conchita Cruz partly credits the large number of new registrations to the large number of groups actively registering voters — the party itself, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, the Public Interest Research Groups, the Obama campaign and various state and local campaigns.

Dems have gained in the already heavily Democratic 3rd Congressional District. There have been 9,561 new Democratic registrations in the district this year, compared with 3,729 new Republican registrations.

Here in Santa Fe County, there have been 3,177 new Democratic registrations since Jan. 1. That compares with 873 new Republican registrations. But the biggest surprise is that the second biggest surge in registrations was my “party,” the Declined-to-States. So far this year, 1,035 new voter registrations in Santa Fe County were filled out with the DTS box checked.

According to the latest figures available on the Secretary of State’s Web site, DTS made up 16 percent of the electorate as of May 23, just behind the GOP, which has 18 percent. Democrats make up 63 percent of the registered voters in the county.

Of course, it’s not the DTS’s the Democrats have to worry about. It’s the DTVs (Declined to Vote). Unless the party can get these new voters to the polls, the big registration numbers will turn out to be one of those weird little factoids the pundits will scratch their heads over in November.

Remember when Bill Richardson used to be the only New Mexico politician to get national publicity? There were not one, but two reporters from New York publications in Santa Fe last week working on stories about the fact that two Udalls from neighboring states — Tom from New Mexico and cousin Mark from Colorado — are running for U.S. Senate.

Both Nicholas Johnston of Bloomberg.com and Carl Hulse of The New York Times attended the opening of the new Santa Fe County Democratic headquarters, an event Tom Udall also attended.

Johnston’s story, published Wednesday, talks about the Udalls in terms of a “new political dynasty” — to use a term the Udalls like to discourage.

“The younger Udalls, both U.S. congressmen, are among the Democrats’ best hopes of expanding their 51-49 Senate majority,” Johnston writes. “They are also examples of the party’s push to rebuild in Western states, which have favored Republicans in recent decades.”

Hulse’s piece concentrates on the fact — also touched upon in the Bloomberg story — that both of the Udalls’ opponents, including Republican Steve Pearce of New Mexico, are trying to use the Udalls’ history of environmentalism against them.

“With gas prices at levels where filling the family pickup truck can cost more than $100, their Republican opponents are trying to turn the Udall trademark into a black mark,” Hulse writes. “They contend that the Udalls’ resistance to new drilling and to wringing oil out of Rocky Mountain shale has contributed to the energy cost squeeze.”

He quotes Española Mayor Joe Maestas, a Democrat, saying that he fears “voters were becoming less concerned about the environment and more fixated on their fuel costs.”

Both stories mention the unofficial family-joke slogan the Udalls first used in 1998, when the cousins won their congressional seats: “Vote for the Udall Nearest You.”

More national stories: Ben Ray Luján, Democratic candidate for Tom Udall’s congressional seat, also got some national ink — or bytes, or whatever the appropriate metaphor is for Internet publications. Politico, a Washington-based online publication for political junkies, on Wednesday featured a column by Gebe Martinez saying that Luján could be helpful to Barack Obama in the state.

“So strong is the Luján name in New Mexico — the congressional candidate is the son of New Mexico House Speaker Ben Luján — that Obama should benefit from the candidate’s campaign organization and his father’s political machine,” Martinez writes.

“His father backed (Hillary) Clinton in the primary,” Martinez notes. The elder Luján said the lingering divide between the Obama and Clinton camps makes his son’s congressional campaign organization “crucial” for the Obama campaign.

She quotes Speaker Luján saying, “Ben Ray will bring to the voting booths a lot of Hispanics who supported Hillary. “He can say, ‘Why don’t you get to the polls for me and also vote for Obama in order for me to be effective for you.’ ”

And speaking of Hispanic voters, National Public Radio’s Morning Edition on Tuesday ran a feature about how New Mexico Hispanics feel about the issue of the Iraq war. The story by reporter Jennifer Ludden features interviews with Antonio Gandara Martinez, a University of New Mexico student who supports Obama, and Dan Garza, leader of New Mexico’s Republican National Hispanic Assembly, who backs GOP candidate John McCain.

The story also quotes UNM political science professor Christine Sierra, who says she understands why a majority of Latinos have turned against the war.

“When you add class, rural areas, race and ethnicity to who serves in the wars, folks from certain groups are paying disproportionately in terms of their lives or sacrifices,” Sierra says.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: THE MARK OF ZORRO

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
July 3, 2008

Here’s a name that many New Mexico politicians, from the governor to the county sheriff, would like to forget: Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein, who owns a 26,700-square-foot hilltop mansion in southern Santa Fe County, has begun serving an 18-month jail term after pleading guilty this week to soliciting sex from girls as young as 14. Police said Epstein had sex with five teenagers he hired to give him massages at his Florida home.

According to a report this week in the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Epstein, who also has a 13,000-square-foot mansion in Palm Beach, will spend 18 months in the Palm Beach County Jail followed by a year of house arrest.

Epstein’s arrest in June 2006 caused a huge stir in local politics because of the massive campaign contributions he’d made in the state. Among those were $50,000 for Gov. Bill Richardson’s 2002 election campaign plus another $50,000 in 2006 under the name of one of his companies, The Zorro Trust, to Richardson’s re-election; $15,000 to Gary King’s 2006 attorney general campaign; $10,000 to 2006 state land commissioner candidate Jim Baca; and $2,000 to Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano’s 2006 re-election.

The candidates returned the contributions or donated the money to charity after Epstein’s arrest.

New Mexico politicos weren’t the only ones to be embarrassed by their association with Epstein. The Guardian, a British publication, reported Epstein has “holidayed with Prince Andrew.” The Guardian also dug up some old quotes from President Clinton praising Epstein’s “insights and generosity” a few years before the arrest. Epstein loaned Clinton a jet to travel to Africa on an AIDS-awareness mission in 2002.

It seems I usually write at least a couple of stories every election cycle about politicians giving money to charity after some contributor turns toxic due to some scandal. I’m sure the fine people who run charities aren’t nearly as jaundiced as I am. But you have to wonder whether they figure in tainted campaign cash when they’re doing their budgets every year.

Memories of another Jeffrey: The recent revelations about Democratic Public Regulation Commissioner candidate Jerome Block Jr. bring back not-so-distant memories of another candidate whose personal problems came to light only after he’d won the Democratic primary.

Block won the six-candidate primary for the $90,000 position with less than 23 percent of the vote.

In an interview before the primary, Block admitted to The New Mexican that he’d been arrested “on suspicion” of drunken driving 10 years ago when he was 21 years old — a case that eventually was dismissed due to prosecutors’ not trying him within six months.

However, Block didn’t mention that shortly after that arrest he was cited with disorderly conduct for allegedly urinating in public. In recent interviews, he’s said he doesn’t remember that citation.

OK, I’ll admit I’ve made the “mark of Zorro” in a few alleys during Fiesta back in by reckless youth. And I certainly don’t remember every time. But I’m pretty sure if I ever got a ticket for it, I’d dang well remember that.

These incidents, plus others outlined in a recent Santa Fe Reporter article — a 1999 arrest for riding with a drunken driver to which he pleaded guilty and failing to appear at child-support hearings — have made some Democrats wonder about keeping Block on the ticket.

Which brings us back to 2006.

That summer, Richardson and other state Democratic Party leaders pressured Jeffrey Armijo, the party’s candidate for state auditor, to remove himself from the ballot. This was after newspapers published police reports filed by women who claimed Armijo made aggressive and unwanted sexual advances toward them.

Armijo in 2007 was indicted on a felony count of false imprisonment and three misdemeanor counts of battery. But by the end of the year, the district attorney in Albuquerque decided not to prosecute, saying the state had insufficient evidence.

But unlike the Armijo case, Dem honchos aren’t rushing this year to boot Block, who is the son of a former PRC member and former state corporation commissioner.

State Party chairman Brian Colón said Wednesday that he hasn’t spoken to Block about the reports and, unlike the Armijo situation two years ago, he hasn’t heard of any movement to dump Block.

A spokeswoman for Richardson said she didn’t think Richardson would be getting involved with the Block situation.

Block’s only general election opponent in his heavily Democratic PRC district is Green Party candidate Rick Lass.

And Lass apparently won’t be making an issue of Block’s past legal skirmishes. He told The New Mexican this week that he thinks it’s “odd” Block doesn’t remember his disorderly conduct violation. “I actually consider this a bit of a distraction from the main campaign that I plan on running, talking about how important the PRC is and how we need an advocate for the people,” Lass said.

Lass, in a 2004 interview when he was running for a state Senate seat, admitted he’d been arrested in 1999 on a misdemeanor charge of simple battery in a fight with his girlfriend. He said the charge was dropped after he successfully completed the Municipal Court domestic-violence program, which he said involved anger-management classes.

But at least he remembered it.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: OF MOUNTAIN SPIRITS, CZARS & THE 2014 RACE

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
June 26, 2008

The story about two Muslim women who weren’t allowed to sit behind Barack Obama at a Detroit rally last week reminded me of an incident in Santa Fe during the 2004 presidential campaign.

The Detroit incident involved some overzealous Obama handlers who didn’t want the world to see television footage of the women, who were wearing the Islamic head scarf known as a hijab.

The campaign aides apparently were concerned about those stupid Internet rumors that Obama is a secret Muslim. The removal of the women caused outrage in the U.S. Muslim community, including a rebuke from U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to Congress. Obama called both women last week to apologize.

Back in September 2004, John Edwards, who was Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry’s running mate, came to Santa Fe for a speech at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. He spoke near an 18-foot bronze statue of an Apache mountain spirit dancer that had been sculpted by San Carlos Apache Craig Dan Goseyun.

But the impressive statue wasn’t visible in any television footage of the event. Rally organizers were careful to obscure it with huge, oblong “Kerry-Edwards” signs.

A local volunteer I know who helped set up the area for the Edwards stop told me some campaign honcho had ordered the statue be hidden behind the signs. People from other parts of the country, the campaign guy told my friend, might think the hulking bronze figure was a “war dancer,” and the tablita and bullroarer the dancer holds in his hands could be interpreted as weapons — which they aren’t, according to museum officials.

The state spokesman for the Kerry campaign denied this, claiming the signs were placed in front of the statue because “it’s just good sign placement.”

Right.

I’m betting they were afraid of rumors Edwards is a secret Apache.

The rise of the czars: New Mexico already is full of Russian olive trees; now we’re starting to accumulate czars.

A spokesman for Gov. Bill Richardson said this week that the guv might soon be appointing a “corrections-reform czar” to oversee recommended changes in the state prison system.

Gilbert Gallegos says the administration has had success with its other czars.

“The czars coordinate the many varied, and sometimes redundant, services, programs and funding sources that deal with these important issues,” according to a page on the governor’s Web site. “One person in each area manages, coordinates and, most importantly, is accountable for making these efforts effective.”

For the record, there’s Behavioral Health Czar Linda Roebuck, Domestic Violence Czar Sharon Pino and the state’s longest-serving czar, DWI Czar Rachel O’Connor.

And this doesn’t even count Jay Czar, executive director of the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority.

Previously, New Mexico had a drug czar, Herman Silva. But he was transferred a couple of years ago to head the Department of Public Safety’s Special Investigations Division. The drug czar’s position has been vacant since.

So why name these program coordinators after Russian royalty? Why not “domestic-violence mandarin” or “behavioral-health sultan” or “drug duke” or “DWI kaiser”? Heck, this is New Mexico. Why not “corrections-reform jefe”?

It probably started back in the Nixon administration when William Simon was appointed “energy czar” during the 1973 Arab oil embargo. His actual title was director of the Federal Energy Administration (a precursor of the U.S. Department of Energy).

In most places, the word czar is an unofficial or informal term. For instance, John P. Walters is commonly called the national “drug czar” although his real title is director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

But here in New Mexico, under Richardson, czar is the official title. It’s even on the czars’ business cards.

Which isn’t a bad thing. Why bother with some fancy $50 title when you can use a simple one-syllable word? It saves precious ink.

Anyway, Richardson apparently is fond of the title. Back in 1999 when he was secretary of energy, he appointed a security czar (though the official title was director of the Office of Security and Emergency Operations).

And last year when he was running for president, Richardson said if elected, he’d appoint a national cancer czar.

Gearing up for ’14: You’ve got to hand it to Richardson. While most local political junkies assume the big fish wants to get out of this small pond as fast as humanly possible, he made eyeballs pop this week when he suggested in a fund-raising letter he might be interested in a third term as governor.

“I still have a lot of work to do here in New Mexico before I leave office in 2010 due to term limits, including fighting to extend health care to every New Mexican,” Richardson wrote. “And I remain actively involved with national politics because we need to change America, and every one of us has to contribute something. But who knows? Maybe I’ll even decide to run for governor again in 2014 — if something else doesn’t pop up in the meantime!”

I can’t help but wonder what Lt. Gov. Diane Denish thinks about this. If Denish has her way, she’ll be running for re-election as governor in 2014.

Richardson hinted at a long New Mexico residency at the Democratic Unity dinner this week. My Capitol bureau partner, Kate Nash, recorded his speech in which he needled state Democratic chairman Brian Colón.

“By the way, thanks Brian for trying to get rid of me. All of you ... you tell me, ‘Geez, you’d be a great so and so,’ ” Richardson said. “Well listen, I am here and I am here to continue our agenda in New Mexico to make us strong, proud, vibrant, no matter how long it takes.”

Could it be Richardson really does think governor of New Mexico is the best job in the world?

Coincidence? Just a week after the unexpected death of Meet the Press host Tim Russert, KOAT-TV, Channel 7, announced it’s moving This Week With George Stephanopoulos from its current late afternoon Sunday slot to 9 a.m. Sunday — the same time as Meet the Press.

The station’s press release doesn’t explain why This Week has been airing at 4 p.m. in the first place. Might Russert have had something to do with it?

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: A TRAVELING CONGRESSMAN

A Washington, D.C.-based institute dedicated to "fostering enlightened leadership and open-minded dialogue" by holding seminars and forums for Congress members in various parts of the world has paid more than $100,000 since the turn of the century for travel expenses for U.S. Rep. Tom Udall and his wife.

In trips paid for by The Aspen Institute, Udall has gone to conferences on "the global environment" in Lausanne, Switzerland, Barcelona, Spain, and Rome; a confab in Florence, Italy, on "the convergence of U.S. national security and the global environment"; conferences on "political Islam" in Helsinki, Finland, and Istanbul, Turkey; meetings between Chinese and American scholars in various cities in China; an education-reform conference in Canún, Mexico; and two conferences on Latin American policy in the beach resort city of Punta Mita, Mexico.

And don't forget a "congressional planning" meeting in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. — a popular location for congressional retreats — back in 2001.

The total cost of Udall's Aspen trips was $105,066.66.

The Legistorm Web site, which compiles a database of congressional trips, makes a notation — a dollar sign symbol — on the Punta Mita trips to indicate hotel charges were "unusually expensive." The hotel charges for Udall and his wife, Jill Cooper, were $3,175 for the January 2006 trip and $2,950 in January 2005. But that's probably just a case of Punta Mita being a pricey little town. Nearly all of the Aspen Institute's 61 trips for senators and representatives to Punta Mita listed at Legistorm have the "unusually expensive" icon.

Udall's trip to China last year, which cost more than $29,000, was the fourth most expensive trip a member of Congress has reported since 2000, according to Legistorm. The most expensive one was a $31,000 trip to London in 2000 by Rep. Thomas Billey, R-Va., and his wife, which was paid for by the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co.

In response to questions Wednesday about Udall's Aspen trips, spokeswoman Marissa Padilla said in a written statement: "The world is a dangerous place and there are complex global issues facing New Mexico and the nation today. Tom Udall has proven he'll do what's right for New Mexico and the nation by constantly working to expand his knowledge and maintain a strong grasp of the serious issues impacting us today. ... These high level policy conferences give Congressman Udall the opportunity to focus on the key issues affecting New Mexico and the nation. The Aspen educational programs have never cost the taxpayers a dime, and the Congressman has never missed a vote by attending them. ... Every week Congress is in session, the Aspen Institute also holds policy briefings and sessions with distinguished scholars and international experts that the Congressman attends."

What is the Aspen Institute? According to Aspen's Web site, the institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization created in Aspen, Colo., by Chicago businessman Walter Paepcke. Now headquartered in Washington, D.C., the institute has campuses in Aspen, Colo., and near the shores of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.

The institute's board of trustees includes former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; former Disney chief executive officer Michael Eisner; David Gergen, who has been an aide to several U.S. presidents, most recently Bill Clinton; and former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell.

Former Secretary of State (and Bill Richardson employer) Henry Kissinger; former Defense Secretary and World Bank President Robert McNamara; and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker are listed as "lifetime trustees."

According to a written statement by former U.S. Sen. Dick Clark, D-Iowa, director of Aspen's Congressional Program, in 2006, funding for the program was provided solely by Carnegie Corp. of New York, the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, The Packard Foundation, the Charles S. Mott Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Asia Foundation.

Though corporate contributions aren't accepted for the congressional program, Aspen's most recent annual report lists dozens of corporate sponsors — assumedly for other institute activities. According to the most recent tax form available, Aspen took in nearly $55 million in contributions in 2005.

According to Legistorm, which has compiled congressional trips going back to 2000, Aspen has spent more money on congressional travel than any other group — more than $4.9 million on 894 trips.

Its closest competitor is the American Israeli Education Foundation, which has spent $2.5 million on trips since 2000.

According to Legistorm's breakdown, Aspen has spent more than $3.4 million on travel for Democratic members of Congress, compared with $1.5 for Republicans.

Other Aspen Institute trips: Udall isn't the only member of the New Mexico delegation to travel on Aspen's dime. Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman and his wife traveled to London in August 2002 for a conference on U.S.-Russia relations; to Helsinki alone in 2003 for the same conference on political Islam that Udall attended; and alone to Moscow in 2003 for another conference on U.S.-Russia relations.

Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., along with her husband and two children, went to the same conference in White Sulphur Springs that Udall went to, courtesy of the Aspen Institute in 2001.

Grubesic won't leave early. When state Sen. John Grubesic, D-Santa Fe, defeated incumbent Roman Maes in the 2004 Democratic primary, Maes, a senator since 1985, resigned to give Grubesic a little head start and a little extra seniority.

But Grubesic, who didn't seek re-election this year, said this week he won't do the same for state Rep. Peter Wirth, who won the Democratic primary unopposed and faces no general election opposition.

"I was elected to a four-year term and I intend to serve it," Grubesic said. Another factor in keeping his seat, he said, is the prospect of the long-threatened special session — currently rumored to be in the works for August or September, though anyone who really knows anything about it is keeping mum.

Wirth said this week that he doesn't mind waiting until January to take the District 25 Senate seat. In fact, he said, if there is a special session, he'd probably be more comfortable in his current House seat than as a newcomer to the Senate.

He said he's met with Grubesic recently, "just to talk about what I've gotten myself into."

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: THE LATEST ON BUCKMAN

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
June 12, 2008

A colorful and controversial political consultant from Mississippi who caused some embarrassment for New Mexico Democratic Party leaders a few years ago is back in the news, this time for pleading guilty in federal court to not filing income tax returns.

Richard Buckman, 39, pleaded guilty in February to two misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to file his federal income tax returns for 2002 and 2003, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office from the Southern District of Mississippi. He faces a year in prison and a fine of $25,000 for each count.

Buckman is almost an archetypal behind-the-scenes Southern political operative. Chicago political writer Stump Connolly wrote about a hotel bar encounter with Buckman, then working for John Edwards’ presidential campaign, while covering the 2004 Wisconsin primary. His description of Buckman — “a dark, brooding man in a dark suit and camel’s hair coat leaning into my shoulder” — seemed to indicate someone who enjoyed creating an air of mystery about himself. Besides his political consulting firm in Washington, D.C., he also is a partner in an entertainment business in Los Angeles.

Buckman made national news in 2004 for allegedly offering U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering, R-Miss., an unusual deal. Pickering said Buckman told him Democrats were willing to end their opposition to the nomination of the congressman’s father, Charles Pickering Sr., to a federal appeals judgeship. All Rep. Pickering had to do was agree to a redistricting plan that would effectively eliminate his congressional seat. (Buckman denied the story.)

In his current tax case, according to a May 29 story in the Sun Herald, a southern Mississippi paper, Buckman’s guilty plea was part of a plea bargain in which the government agreed to drop two other counts of failure to file tax returns. Those were from the years 2000 and 2001.

“The plea agreement also calls for Buckman to pay $181,714.81 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for the years covered in the indictment,” the paper said.

During that four-year period, Buckman received gross income of almost $1 million, the U.S. attorney said.

Buckman’s sentencing, originally scheduled for last month, has been postponed until next month, the Sun Herald said.

“I have made some mistakes in my life and I am trying to make amends, do the right things, and get my life straight now,” Buckman told me in an e-mail Wednesday.

Buckman, The New Mexico years: Buckman first came to public attention in this state when several Democrats began to publicly question the $40,000 contract he had with the state party in 2004 and 2005. The contract was for “party building and fundraising.” But some party activists questioned the value of Buckman’s work and called the contract a “sweetheart deal” — literally — noting Buckman at the time was dating the party’s then executive director.

Then-state Democratic Party chairman John Wertheim defended Buckman in a 2005 interview, saying Buckman “did valuable work for the party in terms of fundraising” and had helped strengthen the state party’s relationship with the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Wertheim insisted Buckman’s relationship with the executive director had nothing to do with getting his contract. But the director resigned about a week after stories about Buckman and his contract appeared in The New Mexican. State Democrats said her departure had nothing to do with the stories.

But Wertheim on Wednesday no longer would defend Buckman. “As I learned more about Mr. Buckman, it has caused me to question whether it was wise to employ him as a consultant,” Wertheim said. “Hindsight is 20-20.”

There was another notorious New Mexico incident involving Buckman.

He was arrested in Albuquerque on a drunken-driving charge in October 2004. The two Albuquerque cops who pulled him over said Buckman showed the classic signs of intoxication — bloodshot, watery eyes, slurred speech and the strong odor of alcohol — and he failed a field sobriety test.

However, a judge later ruled the sobriety test wasn’t valid because Buckman was too heavy. Police guidelines state that DWI suspects who are more than 50 pounds overweight shouldn’t be given certain physical tests involving balance. So Buckman’s DWI charge was dropped.

Bad blood in Texas: Buckman became involved with another state Democratic Party executive director, though not in a romantic way.

Mike Lavigne, a former executive director of the Texas Democratic Party, said Wednesday that he and a group of investors were “scammed” out of $35,000 by Buckman in a business deal involving the purchase of storage containers from the government. Lavigne created a Web site about Buckman, whom he calls a “con artist.”

Lavigne, who now has his own government and public relations firm in Austin, Texas, said Buckman promised to repay everyone involved when the deal fell through — but all the checks bounced.

When one of the investors confronted Buckman via e-mail, he replied, “The funds have been held up by the Feds is what happened. I am in meetings today with them as they want to have me roll on some people, mostly politicians and attorneys, in return for freeing my money, and making my charges go away. ...”

Asked about this Wednesday, Buckman replied: “There is no truth to what (Lavigne) says about me ‘scamming’ anyone. It was a business deal that didn’t work out. It’s his word against mine, no charges or lawsuits filed by him against me, so that just simply isn’t true. ... If Mike has an issue with his business with me he can file a civil lawsuit and a judge can decide, until then, that is what it is, nothing more.

“There was a conversation between he and I that was suppose to be confidential that there were people who wanted to discuss things with me. ... I am told that his repeating that and anyone who printed something of that nature could very well be committing Obstruction of Justice.”

Buckman’s sentencing is scheduled for July 25 in Gulfport, Miss.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: SHIFTING SANDS

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
June 5, 2008

Could the fall of two longtime state senators from Albuquerque at the hands of self-proclaimed progressive reformers be the birth of a new Senate faction?

Self-proclaimed “Bull Moose” Democrat Shannon Robinson, who has been in the Senate for 20 years, lost by a huge margin to newcomer Tim Keller. Meanwhile, former Albuquerque City Councilor Eric Griego sang “Rockabye, sweet baby James” to Sen. James Taylor, who has served most of one term in the Senate but had nearly a decade in the House, where he rose to the rank of majority whip.

Although it wasn’t exactly a slate, the campaigns of both Keller and Griego were managed by Neri Holguin, a veteran of New Mexico politics since 2000. Both were endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters and Democracy for America/Democracy for New Mexico, a liberal activist group. And both campaigned in favor of ethics reform, not exactly a high priority with Robinson or Taylor.

It’s easy to imagine the two newcomers banding together with fellow Albuquerque progressives like Cisco McSorley, Dede Feldman and Jerry Ortiz y Pino — plus perhaps Santa Fe’s Peter Wirth, who will be moving from the House to the Senate — and give new life to ethics reform, which for the past few sessions has withered and died in the catacombs of the Senate.

I’ll even go out on a limb and predict that conference committees — the Legislature’s “last bastion of secrecy” — will finally get opened. In 2007, a move failed by one vote to open the meetings where legislators hammer out differences in the same bills passed by the House and the Senate.

(And, as I’ve said before, if they do make this change, the Legislature should designate a meeting room as the “Bob Johnson Open Conference Committee Room” in honor of the late director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government who fought against closed meetings for years.)

Of course, once they get to the Roundhouse, who knows what will happen. Sands shift and alliances rise and fall. There is always pressure to get along and go along. But the constituents who elected the new senators are bound to apply some pressure as well.

Best victory statement ever: State Sen. Rod Adair, R-Roswell, who won a close re-election match Tuesday, had only one comment for blogger Heath Haussamen.

He referred to Psalm 140:11, which says:

“May a slanderer not be established in the earth; May evil hunt the violent man speedily.”

That’s pretty cool, especially when you imagine Samuel L. Jackson reciting it.

The blessings of St. Pete: Outgoing U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici is venerated by fellow Republicans, but apparently that doesn’t mean his endorsement is a magic bullet in a GOP primary. Domenici was 0-for-2 for the candidates he endorsed, Heather Wilson for U.S. Senate and Marco Gonzales for Congress in the 3rd District.

Granted, Domenici’s last-minute endorsement of Wilson might have helped her. She was six points behind Steve Pearce in the Albuquerque Journal poll taken right before the endorsement and ended up within two points of winner Pearce.

Gov. Bill Richardson has taken some blog flack for his endorsements of Robinson and Taylor, who both lost by landslides.

But in fairness, other Richardson-endorsed candidates did much better. In state Senate primaries, he endorsed Carlos Cisneros, Howie Morales, Linda Lovejoy, David Ulibarri, John Pinto and Feldman, all of whom won. In Congressional races, the Richardson-endorsed Ben Ray Luján in CD 3 and Harry Teague in CD 2 were victorious.

In the state House races, he endorsed six candidates, five of whom won. And he endorsed Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulousse-Oliver, wife of Richardson spokesman Allan Oliver, who won.

Mr. Lonely: Poor Dan East is about to learn what it’s like to be a Republican in the 3rd Congressional District. He beat Gonzales fair and square in the primary. But on Wednesday, the National Republican Congressional Committee issued a statement noting the victories of Darren White in CD 1 and Ed Tinsley in CD 2. But they didn’t even mention the heavily Democratic 3rd District, where East will face Luján and most likely independents Carol Miller and Ron Simmons in November.

Get a job: Some influential people are looking at New Mexico politicians for big national jobs.

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday quoted U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., suggested a possible running mate for John McCain: Heather Wilson.

“Davis — who hasn’t been shy about criticizing his party and telling Republicans how they need to turn things around in a challenging campaign environment — said that choosing a woman might help ‘balance the ticket’ and broaden McCain’s appeal, particularly if Barack Obama doesn’t pick Hillary Clinton as a running mate.” The WSJ did note Wilson lost her primary Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Monroe Anderson of EbonyJet.com suggested a chief of staff for Barack Obama: Bill Richardson.

“During the double-digit number of debates among the candidates for Democratic Party nomination for president, the governor of New Mexico demonstrated time and time again that he is both level-headed and a peace-maker,” Anderson wrote.

“Richardson, who was one of the highest-ranking Hispanic appointees in President Clinton’s administration, brings the right blend of experience and respect to keep Obama’s White House in order.”

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: JUST ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
May 29, 2008

We can't accuse the two Republican Senate candidates of trying to dodge The New Mexican.

Both Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce took time out of their busy schedules for interviews with me. And I appreciate that.

But for reasons that still baffle me, both GOP candidates refused to answer a questionnaire consisting of 10 simple yes-or-no questions on a variety of issues. (I didn't submit one to Tom Udall because he's running unopposed in the Democratic Senate primary.)

Just a couple of weeks before, their counterparts in the 3rd Congressional District primary — both Republicans and all six Democrats — answered a similar questionnaire for us.

The deal was to answer all questions "yes" or "no" — just as if they were voting on a bill. Those who wanted to explain their answers could do so with the promise that some of their explanations might be quoted in the profiles we were writing and that their complete answers would be posted verbatim on The New Mexican's Web site.

The questions dealt with issues such as Congress investigating possible war profiteering in Iraq, ethanol subsidies, "net neutrality," medical marijuana and whether Immigration officials should give special consideration to undocumented immigrants who have children who are U.S. citizens.

There were no trick questions. And most of the topics were those both Wilson and Pearce have addressed in speeches and debates.

A spokeswoman for Wilson said her candidate didn't like the yes-or-no format. Some of the congressional candidates also expressed misgivings about that, though all agreed to submit.

A spokesman for Pearce contacted my Capitol bureau colleague, Kate Nash, asking about our deadline. But we never received his answers.

After this long and bitter campaign, I guess it's nice Pearce and Wilson found something they could agree on: ignoring The New Mexican questionnaire.

The swift boats are coming! Rule of thumb: Just about any time a Democrat gets criticized these days, it's not just an "attack." It's swiftboating.

The term originated four years ago when a Republican-funded group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ran ads questioning the truthfulness of John Kerry's military record.

Last week, when CD 3 candidate Don Wiviott began his attack-ad campaign against fellow Democrat Ben Ray Luján, Luján's campaign reacted with an e-mail: "Don Wiviott knows his only chance to win is with a Republican Swift Boat-style smear campaign."

But poor Tom Udall. The general election hasn't started and already he's been "swiftboated" twice.

When an out-of-state social conservative group, Common Sense Issues, began conducting a "push poll" here for the benefit of Republican senatorial candidate Steve Pearce, Udall's campaign responded with a fundraising e-mail saying, "The GOP Swift Boat attacks on Tom Udall have begun here in New Mexico." It turned out the push-poll was aimed more at Heather Wilson. Only the homes of registered Republicans were called, the leader of CSI said — though some negative things were said about Udall in the automated calls as well.

On Tuesday, the Udall campaign sent another fundraising e-mail, this one dealing with President Bush's visit to help CD 1 candidate Darren White.

The Udall letter said the visit was "to raise money from big donors to fund their dirty 'Swift Boat' attacks. You can bet this money will directly fund their efforts to distort Tom's record of integrity and standing up for the people of New Mexico."

According to the White campaign, the $317,000 raised at the Bush event will be split between the White campaign and the state GOP.

A state Republican spokesman said the party is expected to get only 20 or 30 percent of the money raised at the event. That money, he said, will go to set up a volunteer get-out-the-vote effort, not campaign ads.

There is one candidate who could make a case about swiftboating.

One of the top contributors to the anti-tax group Club for Growth — which has spent nearly $400,000 in ads calling Wilson a "liberal" — is Houston home builder Bob Perry. Perry has donated big-time to New Mexico Republicans in past elections. And in 2004, he was a major funder of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Wilson hasn't been shy about blasting Club For Growth. But she's yet to say anything about swift boats.

Political prosecutions: An interesting part of one of Udall's recent campaign ads occurs when he says, "As attorney general, when I prosecuted corrupt elected officials, it didn't matter to me if they were in my party."

Udall prosecuted one Democratic official — former state Rep. Ron Olguin of Albuquerque, who was convicted in 1992 for accepting a bribe, soliciting a bribe, attempting to commit a bribe and conspiracy to solicit a bribe. Eventually his convictions for accepting the bribe and conspiracy were overturned on appeal. Olguin was sentenced to a year in prison. As a result of the trial, he was formally censured by the state House of Representatives, making him the first — and so far only — sitting legislator in New Mexico history to be censured.

But I wonder if the talk about prosecuting members of his own party might be a subtle jab at a potential Republican opponent. Wilson has been criticized for a phone call to then U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. Iglesias says he considered that call pressure from Wilson to hurry up with the prosecution of former state Sen. Manny Aragon, a Democrat, before the 2006 election. Wilson denies that was the purpose of her call.

If Wilson survives the primary, be ready for some not so subtle jabs concerning Iglesias.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: BIG LOANS TO CAMPAIGNS

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
May 22, 2008


Some have observed that the 3rd Congressional District primary is getting “personal.” One way it’s getting personal: The candidates are sinking personal funds into the race.

Developer Don Wiviott, according to a report filed Tuesday, just sunk another quarter-million dollars into his campaign. This brings Wiviott’s total of self-contributions to $1.34 million for his House campaign plus another quarter-million and change of his own money he spent on his aborted U.S. Senate campaign last year.

Meanwhile, Ben Ray Luján this week reported taking out a bank loan of $150,000 for his campaign. That’s on top of a $50,000 loan he took out earlier in the race.

Sneak preview: The next round of campaign finance reports for congressional and Senate candidates isn’t due until today. But the June 3 primary is so close that federal law requires reports of contributions of $1,000 or more within 48 hours of the contribution, so a few of those are popping up.

Luján reports getting $2,300 from Ohkay Owingeh; $2,300 from Margaret Moñoz of Gallup; and $1,000 from Yvette Dobie of Laguna Beach, Calif.

Wiviott reports $2,050 from Edmund Schenecker of San Antonio, Texas; $1,500 from Michael Wilson of Albuquerque; and $1,000 each from Jonathan Potts Wendell of Greenwich, Conn., and David Gold of Albuquerque.

Also, CD 3 contender Jon Adams filed his report a day early. He said he’s raised a total of $51,500 for his campaign so far, which includes $13,000 in loans.

The two Republican Senate candidates already reported their totals.

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce says he has raised $357,000 since the beginning of April. He spent $964,784 and has $247,207 in the bank.

His rival, U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, reports raising $291,106 for the same period. While that’s $66,000 less than Pearce, Wilson reports having $712,476 in the bank.

Brace yourself, Bridget. That’s going to pay for a lot of television ads in the last week and a half of the primary campaign.

Rescinding a non-endorsement? Earlier this month on an interview on KNME’s In Focus, U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici said he wasn’t going to make an endorsement in the Republican Senate primary.

But the retiring senator did leave the door slightly ajar: “Now, if something should happen untoward, where I think something was taken advantage of, I may change my mind, but that’s pretty remote at this time.”

Earlier this week, however, Domenici called upon candidate Pearce to demand The Club For Growth withdraw its new ad blasting Wilson for voting in the House for the State Child Insurance Program, or S-CHIP. Domenici voted in favor of the bill in the Senate. Pearce voted against it in the House. President Bush vetoed it.

The offending ad actually stopped running before Domenici called for it to be pulled. But that’s beside the point.

Could Domenici be thinking this ad is “untoward”?

Asked Wednesday whether Domenici might be reconsidering his non-endorsement decision, spokesman Chris Gallegos said, “We have no comment.”

Is there still some Richardson campaign we don’t know about? It seems our governor sure has been out of state a lot lately. On Tuesday, CNN reported, “Bill Richardson will campaign this week for Barack Obama in Puerto Rico, 10 days before the Commonwealth holds its Democratic primary, a Richardson aide tells CNN.” Apparently Richardson is visiting the island today.

Puerto Rico can’t vote in the general election. But in the Byzantine glass bead game of the Democratic nominating process, the island has 55 pledged delegates at stake in the primary.

Earlier this week, the governor was on the East Coast. He gave a commencement speech Sunday at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in Philadelphia, shortly after receiving a Titan of Technology award and delivering a keynote address for the Eastern Technology Council at Drexel University. That same day, he spoke to the World Council of Philadelphia and the William Hughes Center for Public Policy in Atlantic City.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: S. UDALL BACKS BEN RAY

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
May 15, 2008

U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, who is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate, has not and isn’t expected to make an endorsement in the crowded Democratic primary that likely will determine who will take his congressional seat.

But his dad has.

Former U.S. Interior Secretary Stewart Udall on Wednesday announced he’s supporting Public Regulation Commissioner Ben Ray Luján for the 3rd Congressional District seat.

“I’ve followed (Luján’s) career, and I have a high regard for him,” the elder Udall said in a telephone interview. He said he likes Luján’s record on energy and environmental issues. “He’s interested in all the things I am,” Udall said.

Stewart Udall was a congressman from Arizona in the 1950s. He served in the cabinets of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. “I’m a very independent-minded individual at my old age,” he said. “I simply told Tom (about his decision to endorse Luján), and he didn’t object.”

A story for Hillary: During my conversation with Stewart Udall, he said this year’s presidential race reminds him of a situation with his brother, the late Arizona Congressman Mo Udall.

“My brother ran for president in 1976,” Stewart Udall said. Mo Udall lost the nomination to Jimmy Carter that year. A few years later, Mo Udall was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, his brother noted, but that didn’t stop his desire for the White House.

“During Reagan’s first two years, there was a recession,” Stewart Udall said. “My brother talked to people saying he was thinking of running again. I brought a group of friends to talk him out of it. It’s a disease that’s progressive, and he’d have to think about the next five years.”

Apparently the group of friends were effective in talking Mo Udall out of another presidential bid. And after all, Stewart Udall said, “my brother was famous for the statement that once you get it in your mind that you’re the best candidate for president or the only one qualified, the only remedy is formaldehyde.”

This, Stewart Udall said, is applicable to Hillary Clinton.

More fun with endorsements: It’s that time of year, of course. Here’s a couple that caught my eye:

Long shot Democratic congressional candidate Jon Adams sent an e-mail Wednesday endorsing A.J. Salazar for district attorney. “A.J.’s record shows a commitment to fighting drunk driving, domestic violence, and crime across the board,” said Adams, a former assistant attorney general. “A.J. is exactly the kind of tough on crime district attorney we need.”

So far, Salazar hasn’t returned the favor.

Also on Wednesday, former Secretary of State Shirley Hooper endorsed Valerie Espinoza in her re-election bid for Santa Fe County clerk.

“It’s almost unreal that I gave (Espinoza) her first job when I was Secretary of State in 1979 and she gave me my last when she became County Clerk in 2005,” Hooper, Espinoza’s chief deputy until 2006, said in an e-mail.

And it’s not really an endorsement, but ... Española Mayor Joe Maestas, who is running for Public Regulation Commission, is mailing campaign literature with a picture of him with Gov. Bill Richardson, along with a quote saying: “Mayor Joe Maestas has a proven record of accomplishment and leadership and would make a great commissioner on the PRC.”

But Richardson said Wednesday that he isn’t actually endorsing in the race. “I like Joe Maestas, but I like Paul Campos and Louie Gallegos too,” he said. Maestas, the governor said, is the only PRC candidate to ask him. “I’ll pose with anybody who asks,” he said, “but it’s not an endorsement.”

Official state Dem blogger: The national Democrats have chosen the Albuquerque-based Democracy for New Mexico as the official New Mexico blogger at the Democratic National Convention this August in Denver.

DFNM’s Barbara Wold posted Wednesday: “Some months ago the DNC solicited applications from bloggers in all 50 states (plus several territories) to vie for one blogger slot per state. They’ll form what’s called the State Blogger Corps at the Convention. ... Each official state blogger will be credentialed for seating with the state’s delegation on the Convention floor, and will be an integral part of the Convention action.”

I’m not official, but I’ll be blogging from the convention as well (right here on this blog) in addition to my regular duties writing stories for The New Mexican.