SHENDO STATEMENT

CD 3 candidate Benny Shendo sent a statement about our story in the New Mexican. I'll post the whole thing:

There has been a lot of mischaracterization of the fact and intention of my question to Ben Ray Lujan on Monday night at the Farmington County Democratic Candidate Forum, the first and only forum or debate opportunity for candidates to ask questions of one another. In this day of "sound bite" politics, I appreciate your giving me this opportunity to set the record straight instead of letting this be spun by the Lujan and Wiviott campaigns to an inaccurate portrayal of my views and serve as a distraction from the real issue and the real point of my question, which is:

Does Ben Ray Lujan have the courage to stand up on the difficult issues that face us as a society?

First, I deeply respect the right of every individual to choose their own lifestyle. I was raised in my native culture, which has for generations been tolerant and inclusive of all people regardless of their personal lifestyle choices. And I hold the deepest commitment to working toward the day when every single person in our whole society can be accepted publicly and privately for who they are without fear or shame.

My question the other night was not about whether Ben Ray Lujan is gay or not. And if all the people who have known Ben Ray over the years at the state house, in the community and in his own extended family, and have for years known and accepted him as gay are wrong, that's perfectly fine. His sexuality is not the issue here.

My question was about his maturity and integrity in handling the issue and whether or not he is ready to be our representative in Congress. Being a leader means taking tough stands, and that takes courage—courage that starts in a person's heart, and that starts at home.

My question was about whether Ben Ray had the courage to stand up to his parents, who have been a very active presence in his public life and in his campaign. And many voters, especially including members of the GLBT community and members of Lujan's own family, have expressed concern to me that there may be a level of public deception going on in the way that Ben Ray and his parents have handled this matter by so actively promoting publicly that he has a girlfriend.

Let's be clear, if a private citizen chooses to keep their sexual orientation secret, that's their right. But Ben Ray Lujan, by his own choice, is not a private citizen, but a candidate for public office, and in this context, he is asking us to trust his decision-making, his judgment, his leadership capability, his maturity, and, frankly, his honesty.

Being a political leader isn't just about having a big office and fancy title. It's not even just about what you say your stance is or will be on the issues. A person who actively puts themselves forward as a public figure, an elected leader, by definition, is putting themselves forward to be a role model.

As such, they need to accept a higher level of responsibility for their actions. If they actively put forward a deception to hide their homosexuality, then they send a terrible and damaging message that there is something wrong with being gay. In a very real sense, they become a "gay basher" by their actions, which clearly say there is something shameful about being gay. And that does incalculable damage, especially to young GLBT people who are struggling with this issue.

I have spent the bulk of my professional career working with young people, helping them get into and succeed in college, I know first hand the damage that this kind of message sends, when leaders by their actions say that being gay is shameful and thus, by extension, that young people struggling with their own sexual identity should also be ashamed of who they are.

And that damage is especially grave when it is in the form of a person's own parents not accepting who they are, and pressuring them into living a lie. I have seen first-hand and experts agree, when parents do not accept their children for who they are, this creates a deep wound that forms an underlying cause of many of our worst social problems – alcohol and drug abuse, depression, domestic violence, hatred and intolerance.

Therefore, when a public figure and role model chooses to deceive on the issue of his lifestyle and sexual identity this is not just private or personal matter, but an issue of direct concern all of us, including the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender community, as well as to the general well-being of our whole society. Some of these may be difficult issues, certainly, but all the more reason we must talk about them, and not sweep them under the carpet, with an understandable, but misguided cry for personal privacy.

That being gay is shameful is not the right message for Ben Ray to be sending to the very people he claims he is mature enough and courageous enough to stand up for. Our representatives in Congress need to be an embodiment of the acceptance we seek in our society, acceptance both of others and of themselves. This means that if our public leaders allow themselves to be the victim of intolerance –by others or even by themselves to themselves—then they are not in a position to defend the rights of others. They become party to the intolerance, and our leaders, especially now, need to be stronger willed and more principled than that.

That is what my question was about. And that's what I will continue to fight for: that day when every child, including Ben Ray Lujan, can grow up proud of who they are, where they come from and what their place is in this world.

Benny J. Shendo, Jr

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CD 3: TURNING DOWNRIGHT NASTY

Yes, the Third Congressional race suddenly has taken a severe turn for the ugly.

No, it's not just the attack ads between Ben Ray Lujan and Don Wiviott. That stuff, despite cries of "Swift boat attacks," is to be expected.

Let's talk about the unexpected.

Things turned bizarre Monday night at a candidate forum in Farmington. And it came from -- of all people -- candidate Benny Shendo, who previously seemed like a soft-spoken, well-informed voice of reason.

But in Farmington, Shendo let loose with a strange innuendo about Ben Ray Lujan's "lifestyle."

"You say that you stand up for the people of New Mexico," Shendo said, "and I want to know how you can stand up for the people of New Mexico if you can't stand up to your mom and dad about your lifestyle."

And in an interview with Kate Nash of the New Mexican today, Shendo went on to say, that while he has no evidence about Lujan's sexual orientation:

"If he is gay, and he's deceiving people, that's wrong. The voters have a right to be concerned about the deception — not whether one is gay or not. The issue is deception. That's relevant."

It is?

The Lujan campaign calls the attack "despicable." And Linda Siegle, a lobbyist for Equality New Mexico, said, "Whether he's gay or not shouldn't be an issue. Whether he has a girlfriend or not shouldn't be an issue. The issue should be the issues. Why would another Democrat be bringing this up?"

No, it doesn't get much stranger than this. Read the whole story by Kate and me HERE.

NEW NM POLL SHOWS OBAMA TIED WITH McCAIN

The latest SurveyUSA poll shows Barrack Obama tied with John McCain 44-44 percent in a presidential match-up in New Mexico.

The automated phone poll, taken over the weekend of 600 registered voters in the state has several possible running mates of the two candidates.

Obama does best with John Edwards as his running mate. In fact without Edwards, Obama falls behind McCain in every other match-up. McCain does well with Mike Huckabee or Mitt Romney as a running mate.

However, I believe these match-ups aren't very valuable at this stage. Edwards has high name recognition, as do Huckabee and Romney. Somehow I don't think Kathleen Sebelius and Tim Pawlenty are that well known here.

In fact, SurveyUSA honcho Jay Leve told me in an interview last month that the numbers in New Mexico will be going up and down for the candidates until the bitter end. "“Nothing in our polling suggests that a consensus has been formed (in New Mexico),” Leve said in April. “I expect a razor-thin margin.”

The margin of error is 4.1 percent.

IS THIS AN OPENING FOR A DOMENICI ENDORSEMENT?

Earlier this month on an interview on KNME's In Focus, U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici said he wouldn't be endorsing in the GOP Senate primary.

However, he 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."

On Monday Domenici called upon candidate Steve Pearce to demand The Club For Growth withdraw its new ad blasting Heather Wilson for support of the State Child Insurance Program (S-CHIP). (Read an Associated Press story HERE) Domenici voted in favor of the bill, which Pearce opposed and President Bush vetoed.

Could Domenici be thinking this ad is "untoward"?

UNIONS TO DISPUTE WIVIOTT AD

Several labor unions backing Ben Ray Luján for Congress are holding a news conference Tuesday to "set the record straight on Don Wiviott's misleading attacks on Ben Ray Luján."

An e-mailed news release doesn't give much of a hint as to what will be said at the news conference. It mainly says nice things about their candidate such as he's "has always stood up for the people of New Mexico with bold, progressive ideas and values. In Congress, he'll continue to put working families first."

Wiviott's ad blasts Luján for working as blackjack dealer in Nevada then getting a $90,000 state job the ad credits to Luján's "famous father" House Speaker Ben Luján. It also charges that the younger Luján missed 13 of 14 meetings of the "Healthcare Commission" -- actually something called the "Telehealth Commission," which is a board appointed by the governor.

The ad, which began running on TV on Saturday, does not appear on Wiviott's Web site for reasons I can;t figure out. The only known copy on the Web is on Heath Haussamen's blog and he's selfishly not sharing it. You'll have to CLICK HERE to see it.

Check Kate Nash's story in Tuesday's New Mexican.

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Speaking of the CD 3 Congressional race, our profiles of Harry Montoya, Jon Adams and Rudy Martin ran today.

Profiles of the Republican CD 3 candidates Marco Gonzales and Dan East are running Tuesday.

All these can be found on The New Mexican's Elections section.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, May 18, 2008
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Chicken Slacks by RIAA (Sam Cooke vs. Ray Stevens)
Hand on the Hot Wire by Key Francis
Killer Wolf by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Ain't That Just Like Me by The Astronauts
Who Buy The Guns by Joe "King" Carrasco y las Coronas
Don't Hold It Against Me by ? & The Mysterians
Oblivion by Mudhoney
Jibba Jab by Tic & Toc

Sixteen Tons by Stan Ridgway
As Long as I Have You by The Detroit Cobras
Wild Baby Wow by Lightning Beat-Man
Pachuco Cadaver by Captain Beefheart
Thunder Thighs by Andres Williams with the Diplomats of Solid Sound
Rock 'n' Roll Murder by The Leaving Trains
Chick Habit by April March
Stoned by The Rolling Stones

Is There Anybody Out There? (Bob's Nightmare) by Simon Stokes
Lucky Lucky Luck by Evangelista
Evil Alligator Man by Jad Fair
Talk to the Animals by Bobby Brodsky
Mr. Slater's Parrot by The Bonzo Dog Band
Zombie Dance by The Cramps

Ohio/Machine Gun by The Isley Brothers
Mission District by The Black Angels
Banghra Brothers by Firewater
La Faim de Haricots by Les Negresses Vertes
Cliquot by Beirut
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

CD 3 PROFILES

The New Mexican's profiles of candidates for Congressional District 3 begin running today.

My story about the race as a whole is HERE.

An issues questionannaire, consisting of 10 Yes-or-No questions is HERE.

My profile on Don Wiviott is HERE.

Kate Nash's profile of Ben Ray Luján is HERE.

Her profile of Benny Shendo, Jr. is HERE

The other Democratic candidates. Harry Montoya, Jon Adams and Rudy Martin will run Monday. The Republican candidates, Marco Gonzales and Dan East will run Tuesday.

Happy reading.