Former Rio Arriba County political strongman Emilio Naranjo remained hospitalized at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, but one of his sons told me Wednesday night that he is doing better.
Naranjo, 92, was hospitalized about a week ago because of dizziness and possible heart problems, his son Benny Naranjo, a prosecutor with the 13th Judicial District, said. "He's doing a lot better."
Benny Naranjo said he voted early Wednesday and was wearing his "I Voted" sticker on his tie when he visited his father in the hospital. "He saw that sticker and said, 'Way to go," the younger Naranjo said.
Emilio is a former state senator, county sheriff and longtime Rio Arriba County Democratic Party chairman. He was the top political figure in Rio Arriba for more than 40 years beginning in the 1950s.
I first found out about Emilio being in the hospital on Monday and wrote about it HERE.
I interviewed Emilio nearly 25 years ago for a lengthy cover story in The Santa Fe Reporter. I wish I had that in an electronic form so I could post it on the blog.
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican Octobber 23, 2008
Is anyone out there not sick of candidate debates yet?
In recent weeks, we’ve seen three presidential, one vice presidential, two U.S. Senate, and I’m not sure how many Congressional debates.
Last week, we even had a double-header — the last Barack Obama/John McCain debate followed minutes later by the first Tom Udall/Steve Pearce debate.
As always, there have been a variety of formats and a plethora of rules. Frequently you see the candidates questioned by a panel of journalists, sometimes just a lone moderator.
Often there are questions from audience members (or e-mailed questions from television viewers). Sometimes the candidates have their own podiums or stools or they have to sit together at the same table.
Some formats discourage interaction between candidates. I remember a 2006 state land commissioner debate between Pat Lyons and Jim Baca in which both seemed eager to challenge each other. It could have been an interesting night, but the candidates kept getting interrupted by a moderator who insisted on sticking with the boring rules and kept going on to the next question instead of allowing Lyons and Baca to go at it.
Then there was the state Public Regulation Commission forum sponsored by business organizations this week in which the candidates got the questions in advance and read from scripts. Nobody better complain about “gotcha” questions there.
Here’s a few things I’d do if I ran the debates:
* First, I’d have a single moderator. It would have to be someone knowledgeable on the issues. And most important, it would have to be someone with enough guts to interrupt and say, “Please answer the question,” to any candidate who started giving a stump speech instead of sticking to the topic at hand.
* The first part of the debate would be a town-hall format with questions from unaffiliated voters. But, unlike the recent presidential town-hall forum in Nashville, Tenn., the questions would not be pre-screened and pre-approved by anyone. Trust the people! Sure, you’ll get some pointed questions, maybe even a few rude ones. You might even get a stray nut ball now and then. But seeing how the candidates handle those unpredictable questions would tell us far more than their canned answers to canned questions.
* The second part would be the candidates questioning one another. These segments hands down have been the most interesting part of the debates between Udall and Pearce. Udall made Pearce praise George Bush, while Pearce socked Udall with an unexpected question about some child-porn bill. Back in 2006, it was a question from Heather Wilson about raising taxes that stumped her Congressional opponent Patricia Madrid — and may have helped cost Madrid the election.
* The final third would be a feature I’ve never seen on any debate, though it’s almost always done these days during post-debate coverage by television networks: fact-checking. You’d have to have a team of journalists frantically Googling during the early parts of the debate to see who got what wrong. The moderator would then confront the erring candidate. If there weren’t enough provable errors, then the rest of the time could be filled by more questions from the audience — or by the candidates.
Of course, if one candidate got his facts wrong significantly more than the other, his supporters would complain that “the media” was biased against him. But chances are, they’re going to make that claim anyway so let ‘em squawk. Mr. White Bucks doesn’t buck White: Here’s one of the stranger celebrity endorsements I’ve seen lately.
Actually, it’s not technically an endorsement, but the 1st District Congressional campaign of Republican Darren White on Wednesday released a statement announcing that singer Pat Boone had presented White with an Honorary Guardian of Seniors’ Rights award.
Boone is national spokesman for a group called the 60 Plus Association — “a non-partisan seniors advocacy group with a free enterprise, less government, less taxes approach to seniors issues,” according to the group’s Web site.
“I am pleased to present this award to Darren White,” Boone said in a statement. “He is a tax cutter, protecting the pocket books of senior citizens. 60 Plus calls on nearly 5 million seniors for support so I believe I can speak on behalf of seniors when I say that they can count on Darren White. Clearly, seniors will have no finer friend in Congress than Darren White.”
Boone praised White for opposing “the death tax,” which actually is called the estate tax.
But the most interesting claim on the news release was the description of Boone — “a recording artist, movie and TV star second to none in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.”
Second to none? Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis and a few dozen others might take issue with that — and that’s just dealing with the ’50s.
Blog Bonus: I wonder if Pat Boone would groove on the cop-rock band that was second to none in the early 90s, Darren White & The Force.
Where the heck is Bill Richardson? The traveling governor was on the campaign trail again this week, this time in Florida. He was there Tuesday and Wednesday, attending Obama campaign events in Palm Beach, Immokalee, Port Charlotte, Tampa and Kissimmee. This is according to various online newspaper reports. The governor’s office doesn’t make public announcements of when the governor leaves the state.
Next week, according to The Sandusky Register, Richardson will be in Erie County, Ohio.
Sunday, October 19, 2008 KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M. Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org
OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres Working Man by The Cellar Dwellers Grease Box by TAD Pleasure Unit by The Gore Gore Girls Mr. Custer Stomp by The Scouts Louie Louie by Paul Revere & The Raiders We're Having Much More Fun by X The Open Mind by Mudhoney Snake Eyed Suzie by Thee Cybermen Fat Angel by Jefferson Airplane
A. on Horseback by Charlie Pickett & The Eggs Angeline by Figures of Light Baby Stardust by Thee Michelle Gun Elephant Te Voy Odiar by Wau y Los Arrrghs!!! Blow My Mind by Hollywood Sinners Action by Los Peyotes Panic Button by Edgar Allen & The Po' Boys Long Haired Guys from England by Too Much Joy Murder in My Heart for the Judge by Moby Grape Woody Woodpecker by Mel Blanc & The Sportsmen
Moonlight Drive by The Doors Flames Over Nebraska by Pere Ubu Lizard's Tongue by Dickie B. Hardy I'm Gonna Kill You Tonight by Lightning Beat-Man Don't Go Away by Thee Midnighters Haywire Hodaddy by The Hodads Do the Trouser Press by The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band The Weirdness by The Stooges Welcome to My Mind by Duggie Ward
Loneliness by Junk Do Lord Remember Me by Mississippi John Hurt You Better Run by Junior Kimbrough & The Soul Blues Boys Rock Minuet by Lou Reed Lucky Day by Tom Waits CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Friday, October 17, 2008 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org
OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos Huntsville by Merle Haggard Plastic Love by The Riptones The Struggle in the Puddle at the Bottom of the Bottle by Zeno Tornado & The Boney Google Brothers Good Girls by Bovine Little Red Corvette by The Gear Daddies Burn Your Fun by Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs Davy Crocket by Thee Headcoatees No Swallerin' Place by June Carter On This Mountain Top by Johnny Paycheck Then You'll Know What It Means to Be Blue by Spade Cooley
Tell Ol' Bill by Bob Dylan Absolutely Sweet Marie by Jason & The Scorchers Billy 1 by Los Lobos One Good Gal by Charlie Feathers The Young Psychotics by Tav Falco Real Cool Ride by The Hillbilly Hellcats Ridin' With the Blues by Ry Cooder Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O Dee by Johnny Burnette & The Rock 'n' Roll Trio
Between the Whiskey and the Wine by Miss Leslie Brothers of the Bottle by George Jones The Drinking Song by Loudon Wainwright III Wreck on the Highway by The Waco Brothers Bulldozers and Dirt by Drive-By Truckers The Winner by Bobby Bare Crawdad Hole by Gus Cannon
Loser by Dave Alvin Moon Gone Down by The Gourds Tennessee by Last Mile Ramblers Killing Me by Fred Eaglesmith Former American Soldier by Chip Taylor Night Accident by Robbie Fulks CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets
Former Rio Arriba County political strongman Emilio Naranjo remained hospitalized at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, but one of his sons told me Wednesday night that he is doing better.
