Actually, "war" is way too strong of a word. Both the Heather Wilson ad, which was released today, and the Martin Heinrich spot, released last week, are soft-focus, introductory spots stressing the background and biographies of the respective candidate.
(Don't worry. Both sides will be ripping each other to shreds on TV before you know it.)
Republican Wilson's stresses her experience -- and her family's history -- with the U.S. Air Force, as well as applying what she learned in the military ("leadership, responsibility and integrity") to Congress.
Heinrich's commercial stresses his working class roots and his learning about the "dignity of work."
As some state and national pundits have noted, neither Wilson nor Heinrich directly mentions being a member of Congress in this first round of ads.
Heinrich mentions "extending unemployment benefits…" which, as a Congressman he voted for. I happened to speak with Heinrich earlier today on another matter today. He said he's not running away from being a member of the unpopular institution. Future spots, he said, will focus on specific issues he's pushed in Congress.
I haven't spoken with the Wilson camp about this yet, but I suspect they'd say much the same thing.
Anyway, see for yourself. Here's both ads below:
Here's Heinrich's: (If for some reason you can't see this on your browser, the direct link to Heinrich's campaign Facebook page is HERE.)
Monday, April 30, 2012
Roundhouse Roundup: Who Will Carry the Americans Elect Banner?
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
April 29, 2012
Just a few months ago, a new political organization called Americans Elect seemed to have establishment partisans from both sides worried.
Could this mysterious upstart group with the stated purpose of involving ordinary citizens in the presidential nominating process tap into the frustrations of those fed up with hyper-partisanship and actually blast through the gridlock?
Could the promise of Americans Elect’s Internet-based system launch a political revolution that would cast out the special-interest weasels and the uncompromising zealots who make up the bases of the major parties?
Well, six months out from the general election and only days before the Americans Elect nominating process is set to begin, it sure doesn’t feel like anything momentous is about to happen.
Americans Elect has been successful in getting on the general election ballot in 25 states — including New Mexico — and more are bound to follow.
But there have been well-publicized problems with Americans Elect. As the Washington Post recently noted, the online voting was supposed to start earlier this month, but AE postponed the online voting until May because of anemic participation.
Many critics, including AE front-runner Buddy Roemer, have complained about a lack of transparency, specifically the group not disclosing its contributors. (It’s classified under the tax code as a 501(c)(4) “social welfare” group).
Some don’t like the fact that AE has a Council of Druids — actually called the “Candidate Certification Committee” — that must approve any candidate selected by the participants.
And some have complained about the clunky, hard-to-navigate $9 million website and the complex nomination process.
But the main question is who’s going to be the candidate of this uprising of moderates?
Of the declared Americans Elect contenders, in first place so far, with less than 4,000 supporters (as of Thursday afternoon), is former Louisiana Gov. Roemer. He’s best known recently for being one of those Republican presidential candidates like former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who was snubbed by media companies and left out of the Republican debates last year.
Before that he was best known for losing the GOP primary in Louisiana 20 some years ago to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. In second place is former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson with just over 2,400 supporters.
In a distant third, with 1,498 supporters, is some guy named Laurence Kotlikoff, who is an economics professor at Boston University. On his campaign website, he touts The Purple Tax Plan, The Purple Healthcare Plan, The Purple Energy Plan, etc. Maybe he’s going to choose Prince to be his running mate.
I signed up to participate in Americans Elect, though that does not mean I’d actually vote for the eventual nominee in November.
I answered about 160 of the 200 questions in the website’s mind-numbing and tedious questionnaire before I couldn’t take it any more. Jason Linkens of The Huffington Post recently confessed he was only able to get through 43 questions “before I started to have existential worries about my own mortality.”
According to my answers, my best candidate match — someone with whom I allegedly agree with 62 percent of the time — was one Blake Ashby.
No, I’d never heard of him either. He had a whopping 188 supporters on the AE site.
I found a campaign website for him and learned he’s the president and co-founder of a medical software company in St. Louis. I read his platform and agree with many but not all of his points.
The first thing Ashby says on his site is, “The Americans Elect candidate isn’t going to win this election.” Hey, something we really agree on.
April 29, 2012
Just a few months ago, a new political organization called Americans Elect seemed to have establishment partisans from both sides worried.
Could this mysterious upstart group with the stated purpose of involving ordinary citizens in the presidential nominating process tap into the frustrations of those fed up with hyper-partisanship and actually blast through the gridlock?
Could the promise of Americans Elect’s Internet-based system launch a political revolution that would cast out the special-interest weasels and the uncompromising zealots who make up the bases of the major parties?
Well, six months out from the general election and only days before the Americans Elect nominating process is set to begin, it sure doesn’t feel like anything momentous is about to happen.
Americans Elect has been successful in getting on the general election ballot in 25 states — including New Mexico — and more are bound to follow.
But there have been well-publicized problems with Americans Elect. As the Washington Post recently noted, the online voting was supposed to start earlier this month, but AE postponed the online voting until May because of anemic participation.
Many critics, including AE front-runner Buddy Roemer, have complained about a lack of transparency, specifically the group not disclosing its contributors. (It’s classified under the tax code as a 501(c)(4) “social welfare” group).
Some don’t like the fact that AE has a Council of Druids — actually called the “Candidate Certification Committee” — that must approve any candidate selected by the participants.
 |
| No, not THAT Buddy! |
But the main question is who’s going to be the candidate of this uprising of moderates?
Of the declared Americans Elect contenders, in first place so far, with less than 4,000 supporters (as of Thursday afternoon), is former Louisiana Gov. Roemer. He’s best known recently for being one of those Republican presidential candidates like former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who was snubbed by media companies and left out of the Republican debates last year.
 |
| Laurence Kotlikoff |
In a distant third, with 1,498 supporters, is some guy named Laurence Kotlikoff, who is an economics professor at Boston University. On his campaign website, he touts The Purple Tax Plan, The Purple Healthcare Plan, The Purple Energy Plan, etc. Maybe he’s going to choose Prince to be his running mate.
I signed up to participate in Americans Elect, though that does not mean I’d actually vote for the eventual nominee in November.
I answered about 160 of the 200 questions in the website’s mind-numbing and tedious questionnaire before I couldn’t take it any more. Jason Linkens of The Huffington Post recently confessed he was only able to get through 43 questions “before I started to have existential worries about my own mortality.”
 |
| Are you ready for the Blake bandwagon? |
No, I’d never heard of him either. He had a whopping 188 supporters on the AE site.
I found a campaign website for him and learned he’s the president and co-founder of a medical software company in St. Louis. I read his platform and agree with many but not all of his points.
The first thing Ashby says on his site is, “The Americans Elect candidate isn’t going to win this election.” Hey, something we really agree on.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Rest Easy, New Mexico, Gov's Grandpa Was Legal
Here's a nice non issue for a Friday afternoon: Gov. Susana Martinez's grandfather -- who she never really knew and who died back in the '70s -- was not an illegal immigrant, the Associated Press said.
"Her Mexican-born grandfather was lawfully admitted to the U.S. as a permanent resident in 1918 and became a citizen in 1942," Barry Massey said in a story published today. "Martinez was surprised at the news, but maintained that his status, citizen or not, didn't affect her political views. `I embrace lawful immigration," she said. "I think it's what makes America wonderful.' "
Read the story HERE
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
It Don't Mean A Thing If NM Loses That Swing
New Mexico is no longer a swing state in the presidential contest.
That's the conclusion of the latest Public Policy polling survey of New Mexico voters. According to the PPP news release:
And even though our GOP governor Susana Martinez is one of the nation's most popular governors,"A Romney/Martinez slate still trails Obama/Biden by a 53-42 margin," PPP says. (Martinez has repeatedly said she's not interested in the nomination.)
But, to take the poll, by the Democratic Party affiliated PPP with a little Republican salt, a spokeswoman for GOP Senate candidate Heather Wilson told me yesterday that the company underpolled Republicans in the state.
Of the registered voters interviewed for this poll, 32 percent were Republicans. But Republicans accounted for 37 percent of the turnout in New Mexico's general election in 2010, and 34 percent in 2008.
However, saying that difference accounts for Obama's 14-percent-point lead here would be a harder argument to make than in the Senate race, where PPP showed Wilson trailing Democrat Martin Heinrich by only five percentage points.
When Libertarian Gary Johnson -- a former New Mexico governor -- is included, Obama receives 48 percent to Romney's 35 percent. Johnson would receive 15 percent of the vote, the poll indicates.
Obama's good statistics are due to high support among women, Hispanics and young people, PPP says. Also his approval rating has gone up among Democrats since December. Then only 72 percent of Democrats approved of the job he was doing. That's risen to 83 percent now, the poll says. Among all NEw Mexico voters, 53 percent approve of Obama's performance while 44 percent disapprove.
PPP calls Gov. Martinez's approval number's impressive. Fifty four percent of those interviewed said they approved of her performance while 38 percent disapproved. This makes her the 9th most popular governor in the nation out of the 40 governors the company has polled, PPP says.
PPP interviewed 526 registered New Mexico voters between April 19 and 22. The margin of error is 4.3 percent.
 |
| Obama in Santa Fe 2008 Photo by Anton Terrell |
Barack Obama defeated John McCain by 15 points there in 2008, and the polling so far suggests a similar outcome is likely this fall. PPP's newest poll finds Obama ahead of Mitt Romney 54-40 in the state. That's changed little from when we polled the state in December and found Obama up 53-38.
And even though our GOP governor Susana Martinez is one of the nation's most popular governors,"A Romney/Martinez slate still trails Obama/Biden by a 53-42 margin," PPP says. (Martinez has repeatedly said she's not interested in the nomination.)
But, to take the poll, by the Democratic Party affiliated PPP with a little Republican salt, a spokeswoman for GOP Senate candidate Heather Wilson told me yesterday that the company underpolled Republicans in the state.
Of the registered voters interviewed for this poll, 32 percent were Republicans. But Republicans accounted for 37 percent of the turnout in New Mexico's general election in 2010, and 34 percent in 2008.
However, saying that difference accounts for Obama's 14-percent-point lead here would be a harder argument to make than in the Senate race, where PPP showed Wilson trailing Democrat Martin Heinrich by only five percentage points.
When Libertarian Gary Johnson -- a former New Mexico governor -- is included, Obama receives 48 percent to Romney's 35 percent. Johnson would receive 15 percent of the vote, the poll indicates.
Obama's good statistics are due to high support among women, Hispanics and young people, PPP says. Also his approval rating has gone up among Democrats since December. Then only 72 percent of Democrats approved of the job he was doing. That's risen to 83 percent now, the poll says. Among all NEw Mexico voters, 53 percent approve of Obama's performance while 44 percent disapprove.
PPP calls Gov. Martinez's approval number's impressive. Fifty four percent of those interviewed said they approved of her performance while 38 percent disapproved. This makes her the 9th most popular governor in the nation out of the 40 governors the company has polled, PPP says.
PPP interviewed 526 registered New Mexico voters between April 19 and 22. The margin of error is 4.3 percent.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Heinrich Has Big Lead Over Balderas, PPP Says
Martin Heinrich has a near 2-1 lead over Hector Balderas in the latest Public Policy Polling survey of New Mexico Democrats.
According to the poll of 270 registered Democrats in the state conducted late last week, Heinrich is leading by 51 to 27 percent.
Asked about those crushing numbers, a poker-faced Balderas said he's not concerned. He said he's started out as the underdog in every office he's ever run for.
"Many voters are just getting to know us and our record," he said. "I'm confident that once voters begin paying attention closely in this election and they hear out message, they're going to respond very favorably."
In PPP's poll of 526 NM voters in general Heinrich leads Republican Heather Wilson 48-43 percent. Balderas has a 1 percentage point edge over Wilson.
The company didn't do a horserace poll of Republican voters on how Wilson is doing against her long-shot primary challenger Greg Sowards.
PPP is a Democratic polling company based in North Carolina. The margin of error for the general election poll is 4.3 percent, while the Democratic primary poll's margin of error is 6 percent.
"Wilson is staying competitive with Heinrich and Balderas in this increasingly Democratic state by peeling off 16-17 percent of the Democratic vote while losing just 4-5 percent of the Republican vote," a PPP news release for the new poll said.
"What's keeping her from the lead right now is a lack of appeal to independent voters," the news release said. "Her favorability with them is (36 favorable/45 percent unfavorable), worse than her overall spread of 40/45, and she basically ties both Democrats with (independents)."
According to the poll of 270 registered Democrats in the state conducted late last week, Heinrich is leading by 51 to 27 percent.
Asked about those crushing numbers, a poker-faced Balderas said he's not concerned. He said he's started out as the underdog in every office he's ever run for.
"Many voters are just getting to know us and our record," he said. "I'm confident that once voters begin paying attention closely in this election and they hear out message, they're going to respond very favorably."
In PPP's poll of 526 NM voters in general Heinrich leads Republican Heather Wilson 48-43 percent. Balderas has a 1 percentage point edge over Wilson.
The company didn't do a horserace poll of Republican voters on how Wilson is doing against her long-shot primary challenger Greg Sowards.
PPP is a Democratic polling company based in North Carolina. The margin of error for the general election poll is 4.3 percent, while the Democratic primary poll's margin of error is 6 percent.
"Wilson is staying competitive with Heinrich and Balderas in this increasingly Democratic state by peeling off 16-17 percent of the Democratic vote while losing just 4-5 percent of the Republican vote," a PPP news release for the new poll said.
"What's keeping her from the lead right now is a lack of appeal to independent voters," the news release said. "Her favorability with them is (36 favorable/45 percent unfavorable), worse than her overall spread of 40/45, and she basically ties both Democrats with (independents)."
Monday, April 23, 2012
Gladiator Blues
In declining an invitation from the Santa Fe County Democratic Party for a debate, legislative candidate Carl Trujillo said he would be happy to debate his opponent Mayor David Coss “in a forum that is not run by or beholden to the Democratic Party Machine.”
However, on Monday, Trujillo said he has decided against debating Coss at all in the Democratic primary contest to replace retiring House Speaker Ben Lujan in House District 46.In a blog post, Trujillo wrote that the “increasing focus on gladiator style debates that pit one candidate against another in an adversarial format may do more harm than good to our democracy. ... In this election, we aren’t going to participate in debates that pit one person against the other in a gladiator-style arena.”
In an interview Monday, Trujillo stood by that position, saying he believes that modern politics have become “bitter, toxic and polarizing.” Instead of debates, he said, he plans to focus on “listening parties” and town halls with constituents. Listening to voter concerns, he said, is more productive than adversarial debates with an opponent.
“I want to put the people’s voice back in the Roundhouse,” Trujillo said.
Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, on his Twitter account Monday said Trujillo’s refusal to debate was a “bad decision.”
“Debates give voters a lot of information,” he said. “They show how you think on your feet. A legislator is a debater. Granted you have to work together and compromise in committees, but when a bill goes to the floor, you have to debate it.”
Egolf is unopposed in both the primary and general election this year. But in 2010 he debated at least once with his Republican opponent Brigette Russell, he said.
Both Trujillo and Coss will be appear at events tonight. Trujillo is hosting a “listening party” 6 p.m. at the O Eating House in Pojoaque.
Coss will be appearing at the same time at the Santa Fe County Democratic Party forum at the Center for Progress and Justice, 1420 Cerrillos Road.
There is no Republican running in the heavily Democratic District 46, so the the winner of the primary in all likelihood will be the net representative.
Interesting Take on Secret Service Scandal
My favorite spam email of the weekend was one from a new "travel website" that has an interesting spin on the Secret Service prostitution scandal.
As Jon Stewart would say, "Go on ..."
The company, for a fee, I assume, matches "generous travelers" with "attractive travel partners."
I'm not really familiar with all of the Secret Service's policies and protocol, but I'm pretty sure they don't allow agents to travel with "attractive travel partners" obtained through some website.
"In the past week, the media has been buzzing with news of an overseas “sex scandal” involving the hiring of Columbian prostitutes. While the `sex scandal' was brewing, a new US-based travel website that could have prevented such scandals was quietly launched."
As Jon Stewart would say, "Go on ..."
"Over 30% of Americans travel overseas, many are businessmen, executives at Fortune 500 companies, and officials traveling on official business. While traveling overseas, the traveling man, lonely because he is far away from home, may visit local entertainment clubs or night clubs where he is propositioned by countless numbers of prostitutes. An innocent act powered by temptation may later blow up into a national sex scandal that taints reputation and destroys careers. This however could have been prevented if these men sought out healthy relationships like the ones formed using (this new service)."
The company, for a fee, I assume, matches "generous travelers" with "attractive travel partners."
I'm not really familiar with all of the Secret Service's policies and protocol, but I'm pretty sure they don't allow agents to travel with "attractive travel partners" obtained through some website.
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