"Inside Bill Richardson" The Movie

Neil Simon's documentary about Bill Richardson is being screened this weekend in Santa Fe at the New Mexico Film Expo. No, not that Neil Simon, this Neil Simon. Anybody interested in Richardson's career, current ambitions, and New Mexico politics in general, will surely enjoy this 30-minute film produced at the height of the governor's first term. The details are as follows:

"Inside Bill Richardson" movie
Sunday, December 3rd at 2:30 PM
Jean Cocteau Cinema
418 Montezuma in Santa Fe

Now you might remember that before leaving New Mexico, Neil Simon was a reporter for KOB-TV. In fact, one of his last breaking stories before leaving town was about the fundraiser held for Mayor Marty Chavez at the home of indicted state treasurer bagman, Angelo Garcia.

Hopefully, Neil considers putting the movie up on Google Video for all to see.

Power Boss in Serious Trouble

Those rumors and reports you've reading about Majority Leader Kenny Martinez challenging House Speaker Ben Lujan for the Speaker post are 100% true. We're talking a full out battle between the old and the new.

Mr. Lujan is the epitome of the old guard. He is a power boss who rewards supporters with contracts, capital outlay, and appointments. His famous "Speaker's Fund", that every lobbyist and political supporter is required to pay into, is supposed to be for "legislative activities." In reality, the fund has no oversight and is used for personal as well as campaign activities.

More importantly, every time a public corruption scandal breaks in New Mexico, Mr. Lujan is just "one degree" away. When the Treasurer scandal broke, it also broke that Mr. Lujan's son was the Deputy State Treasurer while pockets were being lined at the taxpayers expense.

Mr. Lujan's good friend, Smiley Gallegos, is being investigated for the fraud perpetrated by the Region III Housing Authority under his watch. Part of that scandal involves Lisa Ortiz, who earns more than $71,000 a year working in Lujan's office at the Capitol in Santa Fe, yet was able to live rent and mortgage free in a manufactured home on nearly 78 acres just north of Stanley courtesy of New Mexico taxpayers. Mr. Lujan has not demanded the resignation of Ms. Ortiz and has been equally silent in asking for justice with regard to Mr. Gallegos.

And the worst I can say about challenger Mr. Kenny Martinez... well, he wants Peace on Earth.

Fingers and Toes

I pulled out the trusty fingers and toes, and lo and behold, those smart folks over at Errors of Enchantment are right. It just doesn't add up. An important fact to keep in mind, a fact that the supporters of Rail Runner like to point out, is that the first leg of this boondoggle cost the same amount as the Big I reconstruction.

So, let's see... a $100 million transportation investment used by over a 150,000 commuters a day compared to another $100 million transportation investment used by 800 - 1200 people a day.

Hmm, that Governor Bill Richardson sure is a visionary, and a great business man to boot.

Perpetration of a Fraud

A state government agency and the judicial system aids and abets a woman in perpetrating a fraud on her ex-husband. Governor Bill Richardson expresses outrage for the news cameras:

Gov. Bill Richardson has ordered an investigation into the handling of a child support case where the child apparently never existed.

Richardson’s spokesman, Billy Sparks, said Viola Trevino’s case is “pretty disturbing.”

“The governor is asking HSD [Human Services Department] for a full report on this case: how it happened, what measures were taken once the truth came out, and what possible remedies are available to make sure that it never happens again,” Sparks said. “The whole rationale for payment is this court order and how the court accepted it. That’s definitely an issue here.”

Sparks said the department’s Child Support Enforcement Division’s role is strictly to enforce the child support already ordered by a judge.

A judge on Monday declared that Trevino’s five-year-old daughter never existed. But Trevino apparently conned several government agencies into believing in her existence.

Her ex-husband, Steve Barreras, has paid about $20,000 in child support for the baby. His attorney, Rob Perry, said he hopes to help Barreras get that money back.

But when the media attention wanes, so does Governor Richardson's attention. Shouldn't the government that assisted Viola Trevino in carrying out her fraud be held fiscally responsible for their role? I think so. Especially, if the Governor promised to do something about it.

Corruption Scandals - Round Two

Larry Barker has an investigative report into the Courthouse construction kickback scandal. Speculation regarding this scandal has been circulating for months. It's too bad this story didn't break before Election Day, it would have been interesting to see what, if any, effect it would have had on some of the down ballot statewide races.

Hope everyone had a Great Thanksgiving! Plan on eating those leftovers tonight in front off the television set at 7:00 p.m., and you can catch me on The Line on KNME Channel 5.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Looks like there is a good news regarding the Mayor's Desire Named Streetcar (subscription):

The tax for streetcars will go on a ballot after all.

Mayor Martin and City Council President Martin Heinrich said they will ask voters to decide whether the city's transportation tax should continue until 2020 to pay for a streetcar system on Central Avenue.

Councilors recently approved a rewrite of the transportation tax ordinance to provide money for streetcars while extending the tax until 2020. It led to controversy because the council did not send the question to voters, who had approved the original tax in 1999 with the idea that it would expire after 10 years.

So, the Council and Mayor has seen the errors of their ways and realized that it is wrong to extend a tax willy-nilly that only passed the first time by about 700 votes. But, here's the bad part. Despite, the Mayor's "strong commitment" to education, he is showing that his desire for a streetcar trumps all:

Councilor Ken Sanchez said officials should consider putting the tax on the ballot in October, during Albuquerque's regular municipal election.

He said it would be less costly than holding a special election in February, and it would provide more time to study the streetcar issue.

Sanchez said the APS election on Feb. 6 will deal with a property-tax proposal, and adding the transportation tax to the ballot might hurt the chances for both measures.

Chávez said an election in February would provide a decision while the Legislature is still in session. That could help the city in its efforts to get state support for the streetcar system, he said.
Now for the ugly part:
They also pointed out that the transportation tax would provide money for road projects, trails, bikeways and the bus system, in addition to the streetcar project.

I hate when they do that. This tax increase is about building a Streetcar for the Mayor because... well, because he wants to build one. Yet, now that the voters are actually going to get a chance to vote on it, the supporters are already trying to position it as something else. If this were about providing money for "for road projects, trails, bikeways and the bus system," you think they would have thought to tell us that in the first place.

It was shenanigans just like this that killed the Quality of Life Tax Initiative.

Corruption Questions Face Attorneys General

Patricia Madrid has until the end of the year to begin an investigation into the pervasive corruption exposed in today's Albuquerque Journal (subscription):

A state judge and a top aide to House Speaker Ben Lujan have been living rent-free in homes owned by a government affordable housing agency that has been rocked by scandal in recent months.

Bernalillo County Metropolitan Judge Theresa Gomez, who earns more than $93,000 a year, resides in a government-owned, ranch-style home in southwest Albuquerque.

Lisa Ortiz, who earns more than $71,000 a year working in Lujan's office at the Capitol in Santa Fe, lives in a manufactured home on nearly 78 acres just north of Stanley.

The Albuquerque-based Region III Housing Authority purchased both homes in 2004. Its mission includes acquiring homes and selling them to qualified low-income buyers.

Vincent "Smiley" Gallegos, the ousted executive director of the housing agency, is a former House member, Lujan friend and lobbyist who frequents the speaker's office when the Legislature is in session.

If Madrid doesn't do it, it will be left to the new Attorney General, Gary King. So far, no one has announced their resignation for defrauding the poor and our state's taxpayers. If King and/or Madrid do not make an announcement regarding an immediate investigation, it will send a strong message endorsing another four years of a thriving corruption economy in the Land of Enchantment..

Let Go of The Impossible Dream

A couple of days ago this gem (subscription) was in the Albuquerque Journal:

Madrid spokeswoman Heather Brewer said the battle wasn't over.

"Any new votes for Patsy are good news. What we like most is that the process is moving forward, and votes continue to be counted," Brewer said.

"If there's anybody who can do the impossible, it's Patricia Madrid."

By now, everyone has woken up from the impossible dream and is looking forward to a new day. Make that almost everyone (subscription):

Herrera said the results from Bernalillo included all but just over 500 provisional votes that were disqualified. Voters who cast those ballots will be notified by certified mail that they can protest their disqualification at hearings Nov. 22 and 27.

Madrid spokeswoman Heather Brewer said Democrats would wait for all possible votes to be tallied before making a decision on whether to seek a recount.

''The bottom line is we can't make a decision about what to do next. Other people can declare victory but we choose to wait and let democracy play its course,'' Madrid said.

The end to the drawn-out ballot-counting in the state's largest county came 10 days after the Nov. 7 election.

C'mon folks. You lost. There is no shame in that. It goes with the territory. However, refusing to acknowledge the loss is just embarrassing. It's even worse than that awkward silence during that televised debate. So, save some face and lose with honor and grace. Bring your friends and supporters together, concede and plan for the future. Anything else is just sad - pathetic really.

Absolutely Unbelievable

I figured tonight would be the night. The final ballots would be counted and this election would finally be over. I figured wrong.

Earlier in the day I had been asked by two different people if I could give a couple of hours at the warehouse to help observe as the final ballots were counted. Now, I had already gone on election night, and I was taping The Line in the afternoon (don't forget to watch Friday night at 7:00 p.m. on KNME, or Sunday morning at 6:30 a.m.) But I thought, "Why not go in the evening? It'll be fun to be there when the final ballot is counted."

Unfortunately, tonight was not the night.

For the life of me, I can't figure out why not. The room was packed with people. I was told there were thirty tables, and each table had four people sitting at it. So, you'd think we could run through the remaining ballots pretty quickly. And my guess is that if they would have handed out the ballots, we could have. But they didn't, so we didn't.

Go ahead, guess how many ballots my table of four counted in four hours time? Seriously, take your best guess. In all fairness, keep in mind that only two people were counting. The other two were observers. How many ballots do you think two people could tally in four hours?

The answer... ONE! I kid you not. ONE BALLOT IN FOUR HOURS! There were at least sixty people in the room who were getting paid (the rest of us were volunteers) to do nothing but sit... then take a break... then sit... then get something to eat... then sit... then count one ballot (maybe three) then start the whole sitting process again.

There is something very, very wrong with this process. The worst part is I was told by someone at my table that yesterday they went EIGHT HOURS without counting a single ballot.

Don't Make it Worse

Election Day was nine days ago, and we still haven't completed counting ballots in the 1st Congressional District. Now one of the groups that had advocated for this paper ballot mess wants to further muddy our election process (subscription):

Lawmakers were urged Wednesday to revamp New Mexico law to allow people to register and vote on Election Day.

The goal, supporters told a legislative committee, is to increase voter participation in state elections.

Lawmakers also were asked to implement a more rigorous postelection system for random audits of voting machines— such as new tabulators used in this year's general election— to ensure the equipment accurately counts ballots.

Seven states currently have same-day voter registration, which allows people to register on Election Day and then cast a ballot.

Stephen Fettig of Verified Voting New Mexico, a group that backed the state's switch to a paper ballot voting system this year, said Election Day registration could be done on paper. People would fill out voter registration forms at polling places.

Mr. Fettig, haven't you done enough harm already? We have been in limbo for nine days because of provisional and in lieu of ballots. Now you want to complicate matters more by allowing people to register to vote on Election Day?

No.

And as long as we're on the subject of election reform, how about we call this paper experiment for what it is? A total and complete failure. After taking part in the warehouse vote counting, I can tell you, this should do nothing to increase voter confidence.

We need to go back to electronic voting. Since we now have both types of machines, at the very least we could allow voters to decide how they prefer to vote. Going to the polling place would be like going to the supermarket. The precinct workers would check you in and ask, "paper or electronic?"

My guess is the majority of people would opt for electronic voting. If you want a paper trail on both ends, just make sure that the electronic machines print out a receipt for the voter - think ATM. If you want confidence in the software, just make sure it is open source.

Enough with this paper ballot fiasco. And I'm sorry, if you can't take the time to register by the deadline, you just don't deserve to vote.

Be Mad at Yourself

The most recent DWI accident was a tragedy that should not have happened. How is it that a man with five DWI's is allowed to continue driving? In an Albuquerque Journal article today Governor Bill Richardson has this reaction (subscription):

Gov. Bill Richardson reacted to New Mexico's latest drunken-driving tragedy by announcing Tuesday a series of anti-DWI initiatives.

"I'm frustrated and angry, and I do not accept the attitude that we have done enough on DWI," Richardson said in response to the deaths of five members of a Las Vegas, N.M., family in a head-on collision Saturday evening just east of Santa Fe.

Really? You don't think we've done enough? Well, then why does your campaign website celebrates your accomplishments in battling DWI's?

The Richardson administration is cracking down on DWI at every level and it's working.

No Governor, it's not working. You take baby steps each legislative session instead of pushing through a comprehensive package. But, here is how you make a bad situation worse:

The governor also expressed concern about accounts by fellow airline passengers that Dana Papst, 44, of Tesuque was obviously intoxicated and drinking during a flight he took into Albuquerque hours before he drove the wrong way on Interstate 25 and plowed his pickup truck into a van carrying the family.

"I want to know why local law enforcement was not notified about a suspected drunk passenger who was flown to Albuquerque and was allowed to climb behind a wheel of a vehicle, threatening the safety of hundreds of drivers between the Sunport and Santa Fe," Richardson said in a news release.

Shifting the blame. Trying to take the focus off of policy failures and shifting it to the airlines. That's shameless. It is flawed legislative policies that allowed a man with five DWI's to have a license to get behind the wheel of a car. It is not the airlines that ultimately deserves the blame.

No, that blame should sit squarely with Governor Richardson and the legislature. This tragedy could have been prevented, and it wasn't. How many times are we going to let the Governor get away with turning the needless death of New Mexicans into a political press opportunity?

Over the last four year, our Governor has time and time again announced a series of anti-DWI initiatives. Yet, in the end all we really got were a series of announcements. When do we get real reform instead of rhetoric?

Now the nation is watching this Governor, and it remains to be seen whether or not this time he'll actually do something.

Dumb and Dumber

Please make it end (subscription):

Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron defended the decision to go to the Attorney General's Office for advice and said it was not Madrid herself who provided the advice.

She said the request had been made by the Bernalillo County attorney, but county spokeswoman Liz Hamm denied that county officials had sought an opinion from the Attorney General's Office.

"Not only was it appropriate, but they gave me the right advice," Vigil-Giron said of Coppin's [who wrote an anti-Wilson letter to the Editor less than a month earlier] advice.

Wilson claimed victory in the race last week, but Madrid has not conceded, and Democrats say the count of provisional ballots could close the margin with Wilson if not overturn it.

One Democratic elected official seeks advice from the office of another elected Democratic official on how to count provisional ballots in a close race involving the latter official. Give me a break.

Please New Mexico, when this is all over, DO NOT ever again elect these two individuals to public office. Please.

So, What's Next?

We're only days away from confirming once and for all that Heather Wilson is the victor in the 1st Congressional District race. The canvass has to close by the 17th, so they can't drag this out more than another four days - unless they decide to file suit. However, Democratic Party Chairman John Wertheim has seemingly backed off of that threat.

Which leaves us to wonder, what is Patricia Madrid going to do next? Will she go back to being a lobbyist? Definitely a possibility. Of course, that would be ironic considering at least one of her early campaign commercials, and one of the televised debate gaffes.

At some point, it had been rumored that she was promised the UNM President slot if she lost. Now, that would be scary. She's not exactly the poster child for an intellectual institution. I hope her visit to The Pit yesterday with her husband to watch the game was not in preparation for a leadership role at UNM. No, I'm not stalking our Attorney General. She just happened to be sitting a couple of rows in front of me. Gotta love New Mexico.

How about our Governor? On some lists, he has actually moved up to the top five. He'll be announcing in January his run for the White House, but it remains to be seen whether or not he can raise the money he will need to be truly competitive. My guess is that he's a number two man on a ticket. Time will tell.

Of course, that means that our Lt. Governor will be the woman in charge in New Mexico for at least the next two years and probably four. The good news for Republicans is that she's beatable in 2010. The bad news is that if we don't take back the Governor's mansion in 2010, we're looking at the 1st Congressional District being redrawn.

There's a lot at stake.

A Perfect Picture of Incompetence

Election Day (subscription):

In Bernalillo County, election workers ran out of paper ballots in two precincts about two hours after polls opened Tuesday morning, and several more precincts were running low on ballots later in the day.

The Day After AKA Day One (subscription):

But the outcome of one of the nastiest campaigns in New Mexico political history won't be known until Friday, when Bernalillo County Clerk Mary Herrera said she expects to have results from more than 2,698 provisional and 1,058 in-lieu of ballots.

Day Three (Subscription)

Madrid and her supporters may have to wait several more days to learn whether their hunch is right: Bernalillo County Clerk Mary Herrera said late Thursday night that the final tally of the remaining ballots might not come until next week.

Day Four (Subscription)

Each ballot must be checked before it can be tallied. Herrera said that process wouldn't begin until Monday and is expected to take an additional two or three days.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Congratulations to all those who elected Mary Herrera to become New Mexico's next Secretary of State. You must be very proud.

Post Election Analysis

Congresswoman Heather Wilson has declared victory (subscription). The Madrid camp and State Democratic Party are searching closets everywhere. The Bernalillo County Clerk's office is continuing to struggle with these newfangled paper ballots. Rumsfeld's gone and so is Mehlman. The President is making nice with soon to be Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

If you're interested in my post election analysis, you should tune in Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. and watch Eye on New Mexico on KOB-TV Channel 4. I promise it will be interesting.

Time To Call It A Day

Patricia Madrid's message, the nationally crafted message, was about change. Many of the people I spoke to on the left confirmed that they weren't voting for Patricia Madrid, or even against Heather Wilson, but instead, they were voting against one party control of our national government.

Ok, you got the change. Time will tell whether or not it makes a difference. Since the change has been made, will some of you left leaning readers please call Patricia Madrid, John Wertheim and Governor Richardson and tell them to put an end to this ballot counting fiasco and call Heather the winner.

It is embarrassing that we can't finish counting ballots in a timely fashion. This is simply ridiculous. It's not like we're talking about counting a record number of ballots. We couldn't get it done the last go around on time, and two years later we still have the same problem.

New Mexico is too close to call and will not release presidential election results until later Wednesday because thousands of absentee ballots remain uncounted, according to a spokesman for the secretary of state.

It's absurd. No, it's inexecusable.

We've got more PhD's per capita than anywhere else in the nation, and we can't figure out how to get ballots counted in a timely fashion? Give me a break. Let's address the obvious. If a ballot is fed into the scanner, and it is not readable because of one mistake, why does the whole ballot have to be rejected and hand counted? Why not, just have the machine indicate which marking(s) are unreadable, so that those can be verified by a bi-partisan verification team and keyed into the machine on the spot?

C'mon folks this isn't rocket science here. Even if it was rocket science, it's not like we're lacking rocket scientists.

Let's call it a day. It's time for Patricia Madrid to do the right thing. It's time for her to call Heather Wilson and say congratulations. She can always take another shot at it in two years.

NM 1st Congressional District Still Undecided

I just got home. It's 4:00 a.m. Wow, talk about a long day. I blogged in the morning. I did a half day of poll watching. Got in a couple of hours of work. Followed that with KNME's two hour Election Day live broadcast. Went to the Republican event at the Marriott. Then for kicks at about 11:30 p.m., I volunteered to go count ballots at the warehouse. I just got home.

The Secretary of State's website has Heather Wilson ahead by about a 1,000 votes. However, there were still several thousand ballots to be counted at the warehouse when I left. I don't expect we'll know anything until tomorrow afternoon.

I'll keep you posted... Now I'm going to bed.

Ballot Scandal Video

Ballots Withheld from Republican Districts

Whitney Cheshire has the unfolding details on the boondoggle that is bound to land at least one Democratic Election officer in a heap of hot water with the Feds. You can read the blow by blow here, here and here.

Good Luck and Go Vote

Good luck to all the candidates out there... Yes, on all sides of the aisle. It's tough to run, and the smears get nastier every campaign cycle. But, what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger, right?

I'll be out poll watching this morning, and I'll be on KNME tonight from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. with a great group of characters providing balanced post-Election Day analysis. Make sure to tune in and watch. This is new ground for KNME, and I'm honored to be a part of it.

Court Denies Effort to Suppress Votes

The 1st Congressional Race and many of the down ballot statewide races are close enough to make Governor Bill Richardson and his state Democratic Party more than a little bit nervous. So, what do they do? Redouble their Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts? Get more volunteers knocking on doors? Fill those phone banks?

no, No and NO.

Instead, they decide to file for a court ordered injunction to try and shutdown the Republican GOTV efforts because some volunteer(s) mistakenly gave out the wrong polling information. Thankfully, the judge saw this filing for what it was - an effort to stop GOP momentum. The judge refused to play along and aid the Democratic powers that be in their endeavor to further tilt the scales in their favor.

That's right, the Democrats' legal tomfoolery came right on the heels of concerted efforts to severely hamper early voting by Republicans by placing the vast majority of voting locations in comfortably Democratic districts. Then by adding insult to injury and refusing to provide an adequate number of voting booths at these polling locations.

Think about it.

Now that we have these wonderful paper ballots, a "voting booth" is nothing more than a card table with a privacy enclosure. Is there any legitimate reason not to have dozens of these at every polling location? No. Plus, what's the deal with not providing enough chairs for everyone to sit down and vote?

But, let's get to the kicker of the whole thing. Yesterday the Richardson Campaign put out a statement that said in part:

All voters should be warned that false information is being spread in an apparent desperate attempt to win the election through confusing and potentially illegal actions.

And...

Senator Jeff Bingaman said, "Governor Richardson and I call on the U.S. Attorney to investigate these incidents to determine whether there has been a violation of federal election laws."

Will Senator Bingaman and Governor Richardson also be calling on the U.S. Attorney to investigate this:

Though the [Richardson Campaign] mailer had our address on it, it wasn't sent to my wife or me. It was addressed to someone named Vanessa Gonzales.

As far as I know, no one by that name has ever lived at this house, even before we owned it, and there is certainly not currently anyone with that name who is registered to vote at this location.

The mailer also has a section that is supposed to help Vanessa find her polling place. It says her voting location is Riverside Elementary School in Sunland Park, almost 50 miles from my home.

Yeah, I didn't think so.

Let's Look at That Other Poll

The most recent poll done by Research and Polling of New Mexico's 1st Congressional District came out in this morning's Albuquerque Journal (subscription), and oddly enough Mr. Sanderoff, president of Research and Polling, reported finding no change in numbers after Patricia Madrid's abysmal debate performance:

Many believe Wilson turned in a much better performance than Madrid during a recent live, televised debate. But Sanderoff said the 1st District race is not about whether voters personally like or dislike Madrid or Wilson.

"Let's face it, it was a lopsided debate performance," Sanderoff said. "The fact there was no shift in polling numbers afterward demonstrates how entrenched the voters are.

Wait a minute. Mr. Sanderoff is now saying, "It was a lopsided debate performance." Somehow that seems incongruent with what he was quoted as saying in a Journal article (subscription) the day after the debate:

Journal pollster Brian Sanderoff, a longtime New Mexico political watcher, said Wilson appeared to be more "at ease and poised" than Madrid. He said he thought Wilson's "no one buys access in my office" line was the strongest of the debate.

But he said neither candidate landed a knockout blow.

Of course, just about everyone now acknowledges that there was not one, but two knockout blows delivered during the debate.

It's also worth mentioning that I was at one lunch and one breakfast the week before last where Mr. Sanderoff was the featured speaker. I enjoyed the presentations, and he seems like a very nice guy. He asked that everyone not hold it against him that he used to be a Democratic pollster. Now, he is still a registered Democratic - something I don't think he mentioned at the lunch or breakfast - but in no way does that affect his polling.

Ok, let's say we give him that benefit of the doubt. It may not have affected his polling, but it sure does seem to have affected his post-debate analysis. And if it so obviously affected his post-debate analysis, couldn't it also be clouding his judgment when interpreting the significance of his polls?

I'm just asking.

You see, I've become aware of another poll out there. This one done by the polling powerhouse, Public Opinion Strategies . Yes, they are a well-respected Republican polling firm - translation: they're experts that don't do work for Democrats. Most importantly, they have been conducting polls in the 1st Congressional District since at least 1998.

According to a memorandum dated today, here's what they found:

The Bottom Line
Congresswoman Heather Wilson not only has a two point lead heading into Election Day, but has the momentum and a superior turnout operation that will help her win on Tuesday.

Key Findings

1. Heather Wilson has the momentum and now leads Patricia Madrid by two points.

Congresswoman Heather Wilson leads Patricia Madrid 48%-46% with 5% undecided. Among those who have voted early, Wilson leads 50%-45%.

Madrid's poor performance in the debate has helped shift the momentum in the Congresswoman's favor. In our October 22nd-24th survey, Wilson was trailing Madrid 45%-48%.

Furthermore, Madrid's poor performance in the debate helped shift voters opinion of her. Madrid now has a net negative image, with just 43% favorable/51% unfavorable, while Wilson's image is 51% favorable/46% unfavorable. It is almost unheard of for a challenger to have unfavorables above 50% and makes it very difficult for Madrid to win.

Methodology
This survey was conducted October 31 - November 2, 2006 among 450 likely voters in New Mexico's 1st Congressional District. The survey has a margin of error of ±4.62% in 95 out of 100 cases.

What's most significant about this poll is that Heather Wilson leads her opponent by more than the margin of error among those who have voted early. The Republican GOTV effort has always been superior to the Democratic effort, and this poll confirms that this year is no different.

This is going to be one close race, and I believe that when the dust settles there won't be more than a 1,000 votes separating Congresswoman Heather Wilson and Patricia Madrid. But, I also believe the tide has changed and Heather Wilson will return to Congress as our representative.

There's a Shocker

If you don't read Jim Baca's blog, you should. It is always good for a few raised eyebrows and an occasional hearty laugh. Ok, first the raised eyebrows:

We had a relatively full day of campaigning. Rodger drove me to Santa Fe where I hopped a plane with the Governor to go to Gallup for a get out the vote rally.

I hope that plane Mr. Baca jumped on with the Governor wasn't a state plane on the taxpayers dime. They wouldn't do that, right?

And now for the hearty laugh:

If the Republicans are doing any of these kinds of coordinated campaign things around the state I sure have not noticed them.

Um, yeah... although you've basically been a career politician Mr. Baca, I guess no one has ever pointed out the obvious to you. Republicans don't usually invite the Democratic candidates to their "coordinated campaign things around the state," and vice versa. That's probably why you "sure have not noticed them."

Mr. Baca, as a sincere bipartisan gesture, please allow me to apologize for everyone involved in politics on both sides of the aisle. Someone should have explained to you how this all works. In all fairness, they probably just assumed you would have figured it on your own by now.

Anyway, best of luck to you on Election Day.

Paper Ballot Havoc

The Law of Unintended Consequences is once again rearing its ugly head. This time in the form of paper ballots. A friend of mine called me yesterday, and ranted non-stop for five minutes about his voting experience earlier that day.

It took him two hours.

First, he tried to find a place without long lines. He couldn't. Then when it was finally his chance to vote he couldn't believe his eyes. Although politically active, he just didn't realize that we had made the switch to paper ballots. And based on other conversations I've recently had, he is not alone.

Now this is a friend who does not usually vote a straight party ticket, but he did this election. He went into the polling place planning to vote for at least one Democrat that he thought was the better choice, but because the process took so long and was so frustrating, he just filled in the oval to vote a straight party ticket and called it a day.

Well, at least he voted. I've had other people tell me that they drove past the early polling place, saw the long lines, and just kept on driving. This Election Day promises to be a disaster. I strongly recommend that you get out there and vote early because the lines you see today are nothing like the lines you're going to see on Election Day.

Speaking of Election Day, I'll be back with the gang at KNME on Election Night from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. with Election Night coverage and commentary. So, make sure to turn your television on and watch Channel 5.

While Nobody is Looking

It's an old magician's trick. While folks are distracted by something else perform your sleight of hand. This is exactly what the Albuquerque City Council has planned for Monday's meeting:

I see in the Journal this morning that Mayor Chavez and the City Council are considering making the transportation tax the voters passed after I campaigned for it as Mayor in 1999 into a permanent tax. I had to take that tax to the voters and after an all out assault by Republican city councillors we ended up winning by about 1000 votes. The tax has modernized our transit system, reinvested in our streets in the older parts of the city, and fixed deficiencies generally around Albuquerque. Mayor Chavez has done a good job of following up on this. Now, because of an improving economy the 1/4 cent tax has ballooned in dollars received and there is talk of a street car system up and down Central Avenue. Go for it!

Ok, first thanks to Jim Baca for illustrating exactly why he shouldn't be elected to Commissioner of Public Lands. Anyone who thinks that a street car system to go up and down Central is a priority should not be running our land office.

Now reread that paragraph written by Mr. Baca. This tax was originally sold to the taxpayers as a means of modernizing the transit system and fixing streets, and it has done that. The tax has also "ballooned in dollars received." In other words, it brought in a lot more than expected. Yet, rather than let the temporary tax sunset, the Mayor and City Council want to make it a permanent tax while no one is looking.

It's the old bait and switch, and it is blatantly UNETHICAL.

On Our Way to Number One

Steve Terrell has an interesting post up this morning which includes this nugget of news:

On our way to the top: The governor had an interesting answer this week when a reporter at a news conference asked him about the recent "Most Dangerous State" list compiled by Morgan Quitno Press, an independent research and publishing company based in Lawrence, Kansas.

According to Morgan Quitno, New Mexico is now the third most dangerous state in the union. Last year we were ranked 6th.

The ratings are based on per capita statistics of various crimes: Murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft. New Mexico ranks second and third in all categories except robbery and vehicle theft.

Richardson's comment: "We're making progress, but we've still got a long way to go."

I guess rising from 6th place to third is "progress."

But he's right. We do have a long way to go. So come on robbers and car thieves, get with it. Do your share so we'll whip Nevada and Louisiana and we'll be number one next year.

How can this Governor have such a high approval rating? Each year, student performance is worse than the last, and now we're "making rapid progress" at becoming the most crime ridden state in the nation.

I don't get it.

Gobs of Comments

Ever since the Wilson Madrid debate on KOB-TV - the only televised debate that Patsy didn't duck - I've had a huge influx of new readers. For awhile there, we were the number one return for anyone who Googled: Wilson Madrid Debate. Now, we only hold the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th and 9th positions.

I know many of my regular readers enjoy reading the comments section as much, if not more, than my posts, so I thought you might be interested in reading the 31 comments that have now been left regarding the streaming video of the uncut version of the Wilson Madrid Debate from Congregation Albert.

Should Kerry Apologize?

The Republican National Committee released a web video this morning calling on Senator John Kerry to apologize to our troops.



It would be great to hear in the comment section from those supporting Patricia Madrid and those supporting Heather Wilson whether or not you think John Kerry owes our troops an apology.

Stage Set for Election Fraud

Democratic polls are showing that many of the statewide races are so close that they are within the margin of error. With so many close races, and a brand new untested paper ballot system in place, common sense would dictate that the Secretary of State would want to require a "random voting system check" to help ensure that votes are counted accurately - in other words, an independent audit.

Consider this from an Albuquerque Journal article (subscription):

Gov. Bill Richardson earlier this year pushed the Legislature for a paper-ballot law, promoting it is as a way to recapture public confidence in elections.

A separate law passed last year and signed by Richardson requires a "random voting system check" to help ensure that votes are counted accurately, but it doesn't take effect until Jan. 1.

New Mexico is using the new paper-ballot system for the Nov. 7 general election without having first tested it in a lower-turnout election, such as June's primary elections.

Democratic Secretary of State, Rebecca Vigil-Giron, is thumbing her nose at New Mexicans and the Legislature by taking advantage of the legal loophole to avoid an independent audit. She has spent millions of taxpayer dollars on self promoting media ads, yet she won't spend a couple hundred thousand to insure the integrity of this election. An election that everyone agrees is going to be very close.

It looks like the only public confidence that will be boosted is the confidence that corruption, fraud and deception are alive and well in New Mexico politics.

Update: For an opinion from the left on the "integrity" of this year's voting process, here is a link to a liberal who just voted.

Kerry Sends a Message

Unlike during the Vietnam War, there is no draft right now in America. That means ALL of the brave men and women who are serving in our armed forces have chosen to do so. They have volunteered to fight to protect our freedom and defend our nation.

And this is the respect they get from leading Democrats:



Insulting and disgraceful.