5-26 Fed Races Ranked by Excitement

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Finally, excitement is building in some of New Mexico's eight congressional primaries on June 3. Action slowed following the party conventions in March that decided ballot rankings.
The battles gained momentum in early May when television ads began appearing and many now are in full swing. When covering New Mexico's eight congressional primaries, we've always begun with the Senate races and then moved through districts 1, 2 and 3.
This time, for a change, we'll rank eight races in terms of the excitement they have generated.
The hands-down winner is the Republican race in the 2nd Congressional District. It has been exciting since candidates began filing for office. This is the only district in which we can't be sure who is leading either the Republican or Democratic contest.
But it is the Republicans who are having the biggest donnybrook. Even though the district has 33 percent more Democrats than Republicans, Harold Runnels, the only Democrat to ever represent the district since its creation in 1968, voted Republican often enough that the GOP never bothered running anyone against him.
This race offers the best Republican opportunity for a seat in Congress and five candidates are fighting hard to be the GOP nominee. The state convention put Aubrey Dunn, Jr. at the top of the ballot, followed by Earl Greer, Ed Tinsley, Monty Newman and Greg Sowards.
The odds of them ending up anywhere near that order are small. Tremendous amounts of money are being spent on the race, both from personal checking accounts and from special interests.
Second on the excitement list goes to the Democratic race in the 3rd Congressional District. This is the most likely Democratic congressional win and six of them want opportunity. The race appears to be between the two top names on the ballot.
The state Democratic convention voted to list Ben Ray Lujan first and Don Wiviott second and that likely is the way it will turn out. The two have been firing at each other since early in the race and now Benny Shendo, who is third on the ballot has joined in.
The third most exciting race is the Republican contest for the U.S. Senate, with two members of the U.S. House, Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson, giving up their seats to try for the big prize, membership in the world's most exclusive club.
The two have been getting down and dirty about who voted for or against what in the House. Pearce has come up with the unkindest cut of all by comparing Wilson with Sen. Hillary Clinton and Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
Number four on the excitement list is back down in the 2nd Congressional District. Bill McCamley, of Las Cruces, is first on the ballot, with Harry Teague of Hobbs breathing down his neck -- or leading him --depending on whose polls you accept. Teague is putting big money in the race. McCamley is putting boundless energy.
Number five is the first Congressional District Democratic race. Martin Heinrich is first on the ballot and Robert Pidcock is last. The excitement is in between, with Michelle Lujan Grisham and Rebecca Vigil-Giron duking it out on everything but the issues.
Number six, and we're getting to the mild amusement level. The GOP nominating convention put only Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White on the ballot but state Sen. Joe Carraro submitted extra signatures. Carraro is always good for a few laughs.
Number seven isn't even a race. Rep. Tom Udall is unopposed in the Democrat contest for U.S. Senate but Steve Pearce is linking him with Heather Wilson in a campaign ad. If he wins the primary, Pearce won't have to change the ad much for the general election.
And the "huh, whoozat?" award goes to Republicans Marco Gonzales and Daniel East in the heavily-Democratic 3rd Congressional District We just don't hear much from them.
MON. 5-26-08

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

5-21 Why Newspapers Matter

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE – Surveys reveal that newspaper readers are the best informed and most likely voters. I know you'll like that information because we're talking just among ourselves right now.
Rush Limbaugh proclaims that his listeners are the best informed people on the planet, but somehow newspaper readers perform better than his listeners on survey quizzes about current events.
The beauty of newspaper readers is that they are independent folks. You are the boss when you read a newspaper. You read what you want and skip what you don't want. You can read rapidly or slowly, skimming until you find the nuggets you can study closely and enjoy at a leisurely pace.
It doesn't matter when you are ready to read a newspaper, it will be waiting for you. There's no need to watch the clock, waiting for an electronic media report. And there's no need to twiddle your thumbs while waiting for the news reader to get to the subject that interests you.
If the phone or doorbell rings, if the baby cries or junior needs help with homework, no matter what the interruption, you won't miss the part that matters. Your newspaper will always be there waiting for your return.
Sure, you have to take the initiative to do the reading yourself, rather than having it spoon feed to you. But it is a quality experience with no worry about only a fleeting mention of your favorite topic on the air waves. There, before you, is much more information on a far wider range of topics than radio or television can ever offer.
And it's all yours. You can save it, re-read it, copy it, frame it, enlarge it, or mark it up with stars, underlines and highlighting pen. And when you finish, you can file it, send it to a friend or stick it in your pocket to back up an argument at your office or club.
Personally, I like to spread a newspaper on a table in front of me. None of this leaning back on a sofa, reading a section at a time. I want to get the total feel of a page layout. That's not for any intellectual exercise. I never took Journalism 101 or any other such course. I do it for the esthetic experience. Since I read many newspapers a day, I like to compare styles, fonts, layouts and editorial page placement from a purely eye-pleasing point of view.
It is unfortunate that politicians and their highly-paid consultants haven't realized the advantages of newspaper advertising. A few candidates have gotten the idea.
Mike Foster, a long-shot who was elected governor of Mississippi a few years ago, ran a series of newspaper ads formatted and sized as opinion columns. While other candidates were investing heavily in television, foster enjoyed a direct and unfiltered access to average voters, as well as political, civic, business and media leaders.
Some candidates also buy newspaper space so they can run the full text of the statement announcing their candidacy. Then, they don't have to worry about a reporter and various editors deciding what they will and won't print.
Other candidates even go so far as to buy space to print their entire campaign platform. These candidates have spent much time and effort writing a detailed platform and they want to be sure as many people as possible read it. There are people who read such things – people who have grown weary of sound bites and want some substance.
But perhaps the biggest advantage of newspaper advertising is for timing last-minute messages to voters. Typically, candidates try to do that with direct mail, but the vagaries of the U.S. Postal Service mean the message will not hit in a uniform or timely manner. Many candidates and all consultants have stories of catastrophes inflicted by the U.S. Mail.
With a newspaper ad, a candidate can decide the exact date voters will read that final appeal – even on a Sunday, when mail isn't delivered.
WED, 5-21-08

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

Oops, I didn't send 5-21.

5-23 The Power of Dad

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- All four of New Mexico's congressional races this year have candidates who owe some of their political stroke to their fathers.
New Mexico already is unique for having all of its federal elective offices vacant for the 2008 election. It also is unique for having a candidate in each of the four races with strong family ties to politics.
This column would work well as a Fathers Day tribute but that occurs after the June 3 primary election and Dad's help might not be enough to get all of them through.
In the U.S. Senate race Democrat Tom Udall comes from a family dynasty in Western politics that has held high elective posts for five generations.
Arizona has been electing Udalls to various public offices since the late 1800s. Currently three members of the Udall family are in Congress. Tom is a New Mexico representative. Mark is a Colorado representative. And Gordon Smith is a Republican senator from Oregon.
Tom and Mark both hope to join Gordon in the Senate next year. Both of their fathers represented Arizona in the U.S. House. Tom's father Stewart went on to be Secretary of the Interior Department during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Mark's father, "Mo," ran for president in 1976.
Last week Stewart endorsed Ben Ray Lujan for the House seat Tom is vacating. As a candidate himself, Tom couldn't make an endorsement but his father, who lives next door, could. That endorsement may be important to Tom's Senate race. He needs a big Hispanic turnout in the north.
In the 1st Congressional District, Democrat Michelle L. Grisham has gone to court to obtain permission to place her full middle name, which is Lujan, on the ballot. She isn't a relative of the Lujans in the 3rd Congressional District, but her father, a retired Santa Fe dentist, is a member of the Manuel Lujan family. Manuel represented the 1st District, as a Republican, for 20 years.
In the 2nd Congressional District, the father of Republican Aubrey Dunn, Jr. was a powerful member of the state Senate representing Otero County. He also was in the newspaper business.
Aubrey, Sr. was a Democrat, but a typical southern Democrat, who was as conservative as most Republicans. He ran for governor in 1982 and was defeated by former Attorney General Toney Anaya. He was a bit too conservative to win a statewide Democratic primary but had he gotten past that hurdle, he could have been elected governor.
The fact that Dad was a Democrat won't help Aubrey, Jr. in a southern New Mexico Republican primary. For various reasons, many Democrats in that congressional district have opted not to switch their party registration even though they vote Republican in the general election. The district still has one-third more Democrats than Republicans.
But Dad's name recognition and outstanding reputation will help, especially in Alamogordo and surrounding areas.
In the 3rd Congressional District, Public Regulation Commission chairman Ben Ray Lujan, a Democrat, is receiving significant help from his father, House Speaker Ben Lujan.
Ben Lujan has helped his son with raising a sizable war chest. He might have helped scare some strong candidates out of the race soon after Udall announced he would be leaving the seat. And some think he may have helped gain Ben Ray some influential endorsements.
Having help from Speaker Lujan, one of New Mexico's most influential politicians, likely would come in handy if Ben Ray were to win the primary.
Two of the most important jobs of a 3rd District member of Congress is to assure the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis are treated well. During crises such as both installations have recently experienced, it took every connection our congressional delegation and state officials had to pull them through.
Families are important in our small state and it should be no surprise that they are playing a part in our congressional elections.
FRI, 5-23-08

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com