Barack Out With My Cock Out

Paying to play all night long

2009-01-08T15:47:00.003-07:00

The Nut: Richardson won’t be Obama’s Commerce Secretary because of a scandal that won’t quiet down quickly enough. It shouldn’t cripple him politically forever, but it has blocked his present ascension. The Albuquerque Mayor’s race has begun with Michael Cadigan, Richard Romero and Debbie O’Malley jumping into the fray. And finally, we’ll tell you what you’ll learn over the next year or two.

Why Richardson will not be Commerce Secretary

Whatever happened to being able to just take a nice trip to L.A., and seeing the Lakers and some old friends? Who invites the Feds along?

If you’re a Governor of a tiny state that solves international crises and saves hostages, you should at least be more suspicious than others. Campaign contributions from CDR Financial Products higher-ups and a contract CDR won from the New Mexico Finance Authority have a federal grand jury making sure everything was in order and no one got any special treatment due to a $100,000 donation to Richardson’s Hispanic and Native American voter registration campaign Moving America Forward. Let’s briefly go through the full situation and assess the likelihood of it moving forward, why he will not be Secretary of Commerce and what his future should hold for him.

The withdrawal of his nomination is the simplest part of the whole mess. The process of this grand jury will take at least a couple more months. With Blagojevich blowing up an enormous mess in Illinois and people already being up in arms about pay-to-play politics (pay-to-play: I’ll give you a big campaign contribution, if you give me a good job/state contract/political appointment/etc.), Richardson is a victim of circumstance at the very least.

As Commerce Secretary, he would have been at the forefront of the $1T bailout. Just imagine the outcry of Limbaugh and Hannity screaming “you’ve got this shady career politician that’s under investigation for pay-to-play politics and he’s the one that’s deciding where ONE-TRILLION-DOLLARS (cue spooky sound effect) of my hard earned tax money is going! We’re getting ripped off . . .”

Obama needs cabinet members ready to help his proposals pass without being mired in traditional political scandals. Obama has no time to sit and wait for an instrumental position for economic development to be confirmed. Maybe if Richardson would have been selected for the post he deserved – Secretary of State – he wouldn’t have anything to worry about . . . Pay-to-play politics are just everywhere! In New York, Hillary Clinton is getting checked for the very same thing as Richardson: nytimes.com/2009/01/04/washington/04clinton.html

But she’s just going to run foreign policy, so what does he pay-to-play deals from her time in the senate have to do with her negotiations with leaders around the world? We’ll get into the conflicts of interest raised by the real Clinton’s foundation donor list and the nations they lead some other time.

Ok . . . but he’s still guilty, right?

The Governor has a pretty well rounded case thus far and the grand jury isn’t even looking at him yet . . . they’re just talking about the most powerful names that have surrounded him over the last six years. So here’s the full history of Big Bill and CDR Financial Services.

David Rubin, President of CDR Financial Services, helped out a couple of Richardson’s efforts in 2003 and 2004. He and his company gave $100,000 to various Richardson campaigns and also footed the bill for Bill and his crew to attend the 2004 national convention. At the same time, CDR was bidding on a contract with the state of New Mexico and won a job worth $1.6 billion to the state and $1.5 million to CDR in business. CDR won the bidding process for re-negotiating interest rate swaps for the state (you have fun figuring out how the hell those things work on your own and email me the answer).

The other half of the contract dealing with investments went to a joint venture of Salomen Smith Barney and Ryan Labs. The joint grow earned the highest score overall with CDR earning the second best of the six firms that bid on the contracts. They tied on the section involving interest rate swaps for the best bid and were awarded the contract.

Now we face the tricky part of sorting through how CDR’s bid earned their high marks – were those results cooked by an influenced finance authority? Did Bill send Dave Contarino (chief of staff at the time and manager of the campaign for President) with orders to give to the NM Finance Authority? Was Mike Stratton (close associate of Richardson’s and heavy-hitting politico) hired by CDR because that he could secure the contract with the state? Is it all simply mere coincidence and due to the incestuous nature of New Mexican politics? This is what the grand jury is trying to figure out.

Romero, Cadigan, O’Malley and someone else

Meanwhile, in Albuquerque, the town’s biggest political names and making maneuvers in preparation for a bid at the Mayor’s office in 2009. Liberal north valley city councilor Debbie O’Malley has thrown her hat into the ring to block Mayor Marty’s vie at an unprecedented, previously-unconstitutional third consecutive term. Moderate west side councilor Michael Cadigan thinks he would be best fit to not only end Marty’s reign at the only office he can win but also replace he poor conservative governance with more backward proposals. And former state senate president and two time candidate for congress Richard Romero would like to resurrect his political career at the behest of Marty (now that’s a career in Albuquerque politics – take down south valley boss Manny Aragon AND mayor-for-life Chavez) Oh yea, and Marty wants four more years so he can qualify for the city’s retirement plan.

The good news for Albuquerque voters is that the race shouldn’t bother them nearly to the degree of last year’s campaigns because of the new city finance law. Candidates are much more restricted from accepting any money from contractors doing business with the state or much of any kind of business. There will probably be a few groups that form outside of the official campaigns that run third party ads, but not nearly to the degree of 2008. So relax and look forward to laughing at Marty as he defends his red light cameras.

What 2009 and the future will hold

It wouldn’t be the beginning of a new year without an attempt to see what lies ahead. Here are a few things you should be able to count on in the next year or two.

NM will be better sheltered from the recession because all 5 members of congress are Democrats working in the majority caucus in good connection. Their freshman status (excluding Bingaman) will surely drag their abilities down a bit, but they will treat us better than if the Albuquerque and southern congressional districts would have stayed Republican.

Richardson will have plenty of headlines during the legislature about his terrible relationship with the Senate. The budget will be a horrible point of contention due to the drastic shortfall in revenues and the battle for capital outlay money will bring the legislature and the Governor’s office to blows.

Political observers will do their best to create drama in the Governor’s race, but the closer election day comes, the more obvious it should be that Diane Denish will be New Mexico’s first female Governor. Sorry Heather, we just don’t like cry babies.

According to Ben Simon, Israel will stop beating up Gaza before Obama is initiated. Another week and a half of bombing? That sounds about right for Israel.

Sarah Palin and Joe the wannabe Plumber will never go away. Alaska’s senate primary could feature the beauty pageant queen against the republican incumbent, Lisa Murkowski. Since being exposed that Joe would qualify for one of Obama’s tax cuts, Joe has been doing everything a normal plumber does – maintain his blog and reporting on the Israeli-Gaza fight. Their love-child is sure to be on the way.

Fart jokes or Politics?

2008-12-19T13:43:00.008-07:00

The Nut: Governors are not as untouchable as they hoped and Blagojevich and Richardson are proof-positive of just this. Coloradoans’ energy rates went up despite voting down the measure that was supposed to cause just this very thing. Minnesota still can’t figure out who won their senate seat. And Jared Polis demonstrates how you truly connect with your constituents.

Hold your fire!

Its December and thus, its time for political punditry to retrain their aim from lambasting those who aspire to exploit the political process to that, that is involved in the game of Politics through tasteless reference only. Yes! In celebration of the secular observance of the holiday of your choice that just happens to occur conspiratorially close a couple important days on the Christian calendar, we’re taking a breather from blasting corrupt governors to instead, mock the comparison we often reserve for those governors. As f-brilliant.blogspot.com so succinctly states it, we observers and digestors of all things political enjoy three pastimes: politics, potty jokes and getting rich quick. And when we run the world, we’ll get rich in record time through astronomical sales of a truly terrible potty joke.
. . . someday.

Goober-natorial Maneuvers

So let’s open the toilet bowl and see which politicos come swirling to the rim! First and foremost, Rod Blagojevich (pronounced: “Rod B.”) is enjoying the final few days that he can honestly call himself the Governor of Illinois. His glory days of pay-to-play politics have passed and after failing to strong arm the President-elect, Roddy is recognizing that the price is never right when you over bid in this game.

He is showing signs of coming to his senses as he releases a statement through his lawyer that he will not make any appointment to fill Obama’s Senate vacancy. Detractors will argue he’s only doing this because the U.S. Senate has told him they would reject any appoint he made. But hey, surrendering at the tip of an enormous gun, is still a surrender, right?

Now the state of Illinois has to patiently wait as that same lawyer goes back to his team and devises some form of agreement that trades Blagojevich’s resignation for a lighter penalty for all of his less than gubernatorial behavior. Obviously, he acknowledges he’s at the end of his rope, but he’s not letting go of his last handful until they replace the shark tank with a more cushy landing pad.

And who could blame him? If you had run around high on the smell of your own farts thinking you were king of the world (see: South Park episode on Smugness) and now faced decades behind bars, would you throw your hands up in acceptance of the 30 year term or would you try to reason with your prosecutors for maybe only 5-10 years? The court of public opinion already came to an easy conviction, but this is only the first step in resolving the problem. The real courts will take much longer constructing their cases and it would take far too long to litigate against him to remove him through power this way.

Instead, the state of Illinois will attempt to find a compromise that provides Blagojevich with a lighter sentence in exchange for his acceptance of the fact that this is the end of his road. He’ll step down and get out of the way. He’ll probably spend a little time behind bars, but not as much as his favorite reporter from the Chicago Tribune would have wanted.

The state legislature can impeach him, he can resign, it’s a matter of time. So let’s be reasonable and allow the man that was able to elevate himself to the highest ranking office in the state of Illinois, yet fail to recognize the office’s immeasurable inferiority to that of the President (-elect or not) to peacefully implode upon himself. We can come along with the dust pan and sweep up his mess soon enough.

More goober Governors

Blagojevich is only the best-known of the Governors currently surrounded in scandal. New Mexican Governor Bill Richardson has been nominated to run the Department of Commerce for Obama and with such an opportunity surely comes political scandal. Just in time for his confirmation hearing, announcements of his possible involvement in another pay-to-play scandal emerge.

Richardson is accused of trading state contracts for campaign contributions . . . AKA being a politician. Honestly, what is the point in dumping big bucks into some self-absorbed politicians voter registration machine if your company isn’t going to get this money back in the form of business? Furthermore, if you knew that giving money to a politician that supported your ideals would preclude them from legislating in support of these ideals, would you still give them money?

Joe Monahan nailed the significance of this news in his Tuesday addition of his perspective on New Mexican politics:

“The betting line is that Bill makes it through Senate confirmation hearings relatively unscathed, but the R's now have reason to cause some unpleasantness. . . . It's assumed that the Obama team looked at what the feds are looking at and believed it would not stop Bill from getting in the cabinet.”

That’s how smart, savvy, not-on-their-way-to-jail politicians work. Unlike the when McCain went hunting for a Governor with sex-appeal (oh settle down! that's an non-sexual allusion to Palin's ability to garner more support than McCain, not her rack. Grow up you perverts), Obama did his research, analyzed the skeletons on display in Richardson’s closet (during viewing hours only, hours posted nowhere, reservation required, viewers will supply own light and repelling equipment to access and view said closet. No cameras, cell phones or lucid memories) and concluded that while he’s no saint, he’s also not the devil some people believe him to be.

Assuming as Monahan did that this probe won’t come to full fruition, Richardson will assume his second cabinet position and up-and-coming New Mexican Democrats will break the elevator as they hurry to the fourth floor of the Roundhouse to get their turn to beg Governor Diane Denish for a chance to become the state’s next Lieutenant Governor. The halls located behind the scenes aren’t wide enough for all of the running around that is going on. Hector “Kojak” Balderas is thought to be a favorite for the position. Other notables include Lawrence Rael and some people have even had the lack of sense to utter the name of political rival Mayor Marty Chavez. These people have quickly forgotten that he currently has an open campaign for Governor in operation – a campaign that is set to go head-to-head with Denish in 2010’s primary season. Last I checked, the two weren’t too keen on being in the same room together. Rael is the candidate of aged experience. Balderas is the up-and-coming young guy at the party. Barack Out With My Cock Out always favors a fresh face over a seasoned veteran: give us Kojak!

Pardon me, Cletus

And while we’re discussing Governor’s, let’s not forget about the greatest lapse in campaign research history and dig back up the great clip of St. Palin, savior of not enough turkeys.

Ok, so one of her asinine press hits isn’t entirely her fault. After seeing bigger news operations function and how they will often send one staffer to an event like this to take footage, conduct interviews and run everything on their own, its no surprise this happened. The cameraman/reporter probably saw the turkey coop and figured it was her best background for the pull-aside interview that would follow the formal ceremony. She probably made this conclusion during or before the formal ceremony when Cletus the Butcher was on his lunch break. Then once the interview was rolling, Cletus finished lunch and got back to work . . . slitting the necks of soon-to-be Thanksgiving feasts in the background of the shot. Since the reporter was likely on her own, she didn’t have many options aside from grinning and bearing it.

. . . and what unknown reporter from Middle of Nowhereville, Alaska passes up such a golden opportunity for national fame and glory? None that have ever earned 3.4 million youtube views and counting.

Amendment 58 = rate increase NO MATTER WHAT

For any Coloradoan that endured the ads of the political season as they tried to enjoy a fair game of Jeopardy!, I am sure you’re plenty familiar with the advertising campaign that was run against Amendment 58 – the severance tax increase on the oil and gas interests that enjoy great profits through the exploitation of Coloradoan resources. The ads repeatedly reminded us that voting to increase taxes on these companies would only increase the rates we, the consumer paid in our monthly bill. Now the election has passed. The amendment failed. Oil, natural gas and coal prices have fallen. And yet, Xcel just sent out a notification that our rates – us the consumers, the same ones that were supposed to experience a tax pass-through if the bill succeeded – have experienced just that. Our rates went up despite the tax break we provided to our energy providers. Coupled with the written notice that quoted an exact dollar figure that we can expect to shell out, Xcel got a few local news reporters to state that Xcel rates would soon be going down for all of us. We will believe it when we see it.

The only thing left to do is ridicule you morons that just took money out of your own empty pocket. You just got duped by mega-millionaires AND you’re already getting stuck with the bill. Colorado has some of the lowest severance tax rates of any mineral-rich mountain west state. Defeating a measure that would have kept the money earned from Colorado’s minerals in the state has made you – you the fool that was carelessly misled by a few poorly written ads – poorer. Don’t bitch about Obama or tax and spend liberals stealing your paycheck, you just took a chunk of change out of your own account.

You just got jacked! Next time you get worked up about a proposed tax increase, remember that day in 2008 when you voted to remove money from your own wealth to give it to an energy corporation that will never share this money with you again.

The final countdown

Oregon finally woke up the hippies in Portland and got their ballots counted and were able to make Jeff Merkley the newest Senator from the Beaver state. Alaska sobered up and realized they were about to reelect a convicted felon and swallowed their Republican pride as they elected Mark Begich to be their first democratic Alaskan Senator since Mike “Drunk Uncle Frank” Gravel left the chamber. Georgia’s Senator that earned his seat by defaming a double-amputee Vietnam veteran won the run off election to ensure the Democrats wouldn’t hold a 60-seat majority.

There’s only one election result still to land. In Minnesota, things have gotten fuzzier and fuzzier as the canvassing board re-counts all of the 2.5 million votes cast to elect their next Senator. Out of 2.5m, the race has come down to anywhere between 1 and 800 votes depending on what source you read on what day. Franken has enjoyed beneficial rulings from the State Supreme Court, but the latest judgment has left both campaigns scratching their head in bewilderment of how to proceed forward. As it currently stands Franken is ahead by an insignificant margin and it will be Coleman to file the first lawsuit contesting the results.

Today, the Court ruled on how the improperly rejected absentee ballots be counted. While, us laymen might expect that an improperly rejected ballot would be, by definition, counted in order to guarantee suffrage to every eligible Minnesotan, its hardly that simple when a Senate seat is at stake. After all, as Gov. Blagojevich said, “a Senate seat is fuking valuable thing. You don’t just give them away for free.”

There’s no end in sight. Both campaigns have equal reasons for optimism as well as dread. But no matter what, if you’re going to put a volunteer on the phone to raise money, make sure they know more about the current standing of the race, than the author of Barack Out With My Cock Out does. Just yesterday, your’s truly, Ron Domino, received a request for some campaign cash to help them take their case to the courts. As I rudely forced the phone monkey off of his scripted notes and into the unpredictable abyss of a real conversation I came to learn that this man knew nothing more than was printed on the page in front of him. Campaigners of America, please take note: you should never be outsmarted by the guy in the cushy chair in the 30th row; you’re the ones playing this damned game!

Check back in March for the results. Minnesota can keep its fingers crossed that what happened to New Hampshire in 1974 does not befall them. Let’s all hope we’re capable of successfully counting all the way up to 2.5 million and avoid a re-vote.

Congress is working?!

Woa woa woa! Only fools read this page and interpret all claims literally. No, our Congressmen and women aren’t doing much more than lighting fully-secular holiday trees and attending secular holiday parties right now, but there is one man that is making waves despite not even being sworn in yet.

Boulder, Colorado’s Congressman-elect Jared Polis made a splash on the national stage as he became the first openly gay man elected to an open seat, but he’s not leaving that as his legacy. Jared knows there’s no better time than the present to address the problems that burden us. In the Washington Post, Jared opines about how Congress could best serve in the recovery of our economy. Step 1: send legislators with law degrees back to work writing law and have them stop reading business plans from failed American corporations.

In addition to Jared’s well-planned approach to addressing our financial crisis, Jared is raising the standard for openness and accessibility of an elected official. He didn’t hire a crew of webmonkeys to run a fancy online community based on his work. No, instead he’s writing his own words on his own blogs and bringing us along to more briefings and meetings than ever before.

His staffers can’t stop him from responding to every curious constituent and there isn’t a person in the world that will ever convince him that the bloggers, trolls and sock puppets of the political internets are insignificant. Between his regular postings on Coloradopols, myDD, DailyKos, Square State and his accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and My.BarackObama, he’s permanently plugged right in and always eager to talk with any interested party – be they a voting constituent, a die-hard member of the opposition, an underage student or a foreigner interested in our governmental workings, he never hesitates to fill you in on the latest news from Washington or CD-2.

Any other public servant – from dog catcher to President – would be wise to take note and follow his lead. If rumors emerge about Jared possibly getting in trouble for sharing too many of our government's secrets (the very same government we established to be transparent and open to the public), consider him doing a better job than any of the other 534 in those chambers.

Apologies

So we seem to have failed miserably to come up with a fart joke. And as we failed to come up with any cleverness, we regressed into the traditional assault on the fallible politicians. Maybe next year! Please send the coal over, our stockings are ready for it.

It’s almost over!

2008-10-29T15:59:00.005-06:00

The Nut: Ads do stop?! Enjoy the final week of ads with this guide to a fun filled election night. If you still haven’t voted, you must read the list of needed victories. And who doesn’t need a drinking game for election night?

Would you like to buy a monkey?

Are you really ready to watch TV without political advertisements? Get the credit card out of reach and be prepared to see products you may actually want to buy. But before it’s all gone, let’s pay homage to everyone that has provided us the entertainment of the last year of politics.

For the stragglers, you’re not too late, hell, you can even still count yourself as doing it early if you hurry. Voting has been going strong and if you don’t do it by Tuesday, Nov. 4th, enjoy being shunned for the coming two years. If you’ve still got a ballot to be counted, follow this handy guide through the good and the bad from New Mexico to Alaska.

President: Obama. It’s your choice of being on the cool or lame side of history in this race.

New Mexico Senate: Tom Udall. Do you want the up and coming progressive supporter of renewable energy, a set timetable for ending the war in Iraq and at least making an attempt at establishing an affordable health care system or the guy that thinks those ideas are socialist dreams?

New Mexico House 1: Martin Heinrich. For those in the Albuquerque area, the choice is the pretty boy Dem that’s never held a real job in his life. The candidate that didn’t chair Bush-Cheney’ re-election bid in Bernalillo County. He’s also not the candidate that gave up his job because Gov. Johnson wanted to end the war on drugs.

New Mexico House 2: Harry Teague. Who says all Dems are the same? This guy made his money from oil, but still knows how to invest in clean fuel technologies. Everyone in southern New Mexico needs to give Steve Pearce an extra slap on his way down and put his old seat in Democratic hands.

New Mexico House 3: Ben Ray Lujan. The easiest part of the solid blue New Mexico plan.

New Mexico State Senators: Tim Eichenberg. Anyone living in the midtown/near heights area that can vote for Tim Eichenberg, please do and help this progressive Democrat unseat a conservative Republican.

New Mexico 2nd Judicial District, District Attorney: Kari Brandenburg. Torraco is just like Palin: Not trustable with a vote.

New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 5: Yes. Think about it. The candidate for Governor picks the Lieutenant Governor he or she runs with, so who else should pick who the sitting Governor works with?

Other good races around the nation:

Colorado Senate: Mark Udall. Just think of the synergy freshman Senators and cousins Mark and Tom will have. Coloradoans should also think about electing the dood that supports the Department of Peace:

Colorado House 4: Betsy Markey. In the only competitive Colorado House race, Betsy Markey must replace the Heather Wilson of Colorado. For the Sarah Palin lovers out there, this is a cute politician.

Kansas House 2: Nancy Boyda. She only had one term, there’s no point in throwing her out just yet. Give her another few years before you pass judgment.

Kansas Senate: Jim Slattery. If this race is close, expect massively gargantuan accusations across the nation about voter fraud from the defeated right. But Jim’s a good guy so vote for him if you get the chance.

Alaska Senate: Mark Begich. If there’s an Alaska reader out there, please ask yourself “do I want my state represented in the Senate by a convicted felon?” If not, vote Begich!

Minnesota Senate: Al Franken. Just so we get to the do the ‘good enough, smart enough’ joke one more time. Also, because Coleman has gotten in his share of trouble.

Texas Senate: Rick Noriega. If you’ve got a vote in Texas, use it to oust old-timer John Cornyn. We won’t hold it against you if this race doesn’t tip Dem, but if it does, look out for a wild night.

Mississippi Senate Race 1: Ronnie Musgrove. This is step one in Operation Isolate Alabama.

Georgia Senate: Jim Martin. Step two of OIA. Let’s see the Obama turnout machine kick in!

Kentucky Senate: Bruce Lundsford. Step three of OIA. Give the House Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell the boot and let another Republican take the reigns in the Senate.

Oregon Senate: Jeff Merkley. If there was one Republican Senator that could be spared, it might be Gordon Smith of Oregon, but without Merkley, the dreams of cloture are out of reach.

Montana Governor: Brian Schweitzer. Brian earns the Barack Out support just for an excuse to post video of the best campaign commercial of the year.

California Marriage Amendment: No. Attention Californians! Don’t give away all of the perceptions people have of you being a progressive, smart, forward-thinking state with one stupid vote you will soon come to be very ashamed of. See the way future, see a tolerance for gay marriage.

Down Ballot Races: Go to your county clerk’s website and find a sample ballot (to the googler!) Side note: if your county clerk doesn’t provide a sample ballot for you to view, we suggest hiring a new county clerk. Look up the races you will be voting on. Then call up the League of Women Voters and see what they have to say about the different judges, amendments, bond issues and various other questions on the ballot.

There’s plenty of action to watch across the nation on election night. The size and breadth of the Democratic wave that’s about to land will dominate, it’s just a question of how wide the destruction is felt. With that being said, it would be irresponsible to proceed further without predicting the future for everyone too eager to live it.

The official Barack Out With My Cock Out 2008 Election Predictions

Presidential popular vote: 55% Obama, 44% McCain 1% Barr, Nudar and Co.

Electoral Votes: 396-142

Final Senate Count: D-58, R-40, I-2 (and Lieberman will not caucus with the Democrats)

Final House Count: D-258, R-180

Election night surprises: One of the three southern senate races will go the Dems’ way (GA, MS or KY), New Mexico will turn solid blue with Udall taking the Senate race, Heinrich claiming the first district and Teague eliminating the last corner of red by winning the southern congressional district. Watch out for Montana, North Dakota and Georgia propelling Obama up to that 392 total.

Election Night Drinking Game

What’s a political event without booze? It’s voting in Utah, where they still mandate no sauce be poured on a polling day. Everyone else should be ably equipped with a quality drinking game to celebrate election night. Toast all of your hard work . . . celebrate victories . . . mourn the end of Heartless Halliburton Heather “I just love Janet Jackson” Wilson, Ted “It’s all my wife’s fault” Stevens, Tim “I thought the Rep from this district got to sleep around” Mahoney and the careers of so many more . . . place your bets with drinks and get started with these basic ground rules:

Take 1 drink for every house seat that changes hands
Give 5 if you’re from that state
Give 20 if you voted in that election

Take 5 drinks for every senate seat that changes hands
Give 10 drinks if you’re from that state
Give 20 if you voted in that election

Take 1 drink every time you hear a commentator say “too close to call”

Take 2 drinks for every Bush 2004 state that Obama wins.
Take a shot for every Kerry 2004 state McCain wins
Give 5 drinks if you have lived at one time in that state (at least 1 month)
Give 10 drinks if you cast your ballot in that state

Take a shot for every called state that is changed back to a toss up or the opposition

Side betting on all races is highly encouraged

Its been a long fun road. We’ll be back at least one more time to recap how it all played out. Happy electioneering everyone!

Remember New Hampshire or uncork the champagne?

2008-10-21T00:11:00.013-06:00

The Nut: While no staffer will tell you its over yet, we are no fool: its over! Like a turtled box turtle, John McCain is on his back, helplessly flailing in a desperate attempt to right himself before a predator swoops down to swipe up a tasty snack. And like any other turtled tortoise, it is going to take a great outside force to upend his plight and restore his chances for survival. The work isn’t completely done, so pitch in like many artists around New Mexico did in their own unique way. Early voting has started in New Mexico and the County Clerk says my ballot is in the mail . . . let’s party!

Crayon or Magic Marker?

The writing on the wall has overtaken the canvass and we’re going to need a bigger wall (not along the border, settle down) if we have to write McCain and team “crap, this isn’t working either” another message. Surely, they have observed the clear signs from . . . North Carolina and Virginia that have swung out of his reach and will not just support President Obama, but also switch a senate seat to the Democrats side with Kay Hagen from NC and Mark Warner from Virginia. . . . or maybe they’ve taken notice that once unthinkable West Virginia is in play despite the Campaign for Change’s own worries that the state wasn’t progressive enough to elect a man with such a dark complexion. . . . maybe they figured out the game was over a couple weeks ago and signaled their concession by pulling out all efforts in Michigan. Take your pick of which state and what day, but one or the other had to have tipped off the former member of the Keating 5, the 21-year Senator that has called his wife worse things than bigots have called President-elect Obama.

Is that not direct enough proof for you? Ok, who has ever heard of a bookie paying out before the game ends? http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081016/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_bookmaker_obama_odd

So what’s left to do?

A lot more than planning the big Election Night party and post-Election Night cheap excuse for why you were so late to work that morning. Polls don’t vote (nor do yard signs according to many disgruntled Obama staffers) and as all of the Democratic candidates reminded John Edwards during the primary, polls are great, but election results are real (ethmm, 2004 . . . national result with that guy on the ticket, NC result . . . not in favor of Edwards). Go turn out the votes!

Go turn yourself out and don’t waste the gas on driving just yourself to an early voting location. (click on Voter Info) ** New Mexico guarantees you at least two hours away from work to get that ballot in the box, so make the most of it. The sooner you vote, the sooner the calls will stop. That’s a guarantee. The campaigns get updated lists from the County Clerk on a regular basis and once your name is listed as “already voted” they will leave you alone.

Go knock on doors and take advantage of the fact that you’re enjoying an Indian Summer in New Mexico and not the bitter beginning of winter in states further north. Go recruit your friends and take them early to the linked locations around Albuquerque. (click on Voter Info) **Disclaimer: Yes, the early voting locations list is provided by the Democratic party’s website . . .because they County Clerk doesn’t have her act together and the link to her listing is broken.

Or better yet, get creative like many artists around Albuquerque did and show your support in your own unique way. Maybe your explanation of Obama’s health care plan doesn’t sound as good as your guitar, ok, work with it like Bekah Wiggins did and raise a little money for Obama:

This picture was from the event Art for Change, which gathered numerous artists from five different states to offer their own personal creations to raise money for Obama’s New Mexican Campaign for Change. In addition to pulling in nearly $4,000 of cash, the event registered a few new voters and recruited many new supporters to do the real work of the election – turning supporters into voters. Hannah Macpherson and Bekah Wiggins came up with the idea and put it into action utilizing their circles of friends. The Obama campaign wasn’t involved in any of the planning until they graciously accepted the money that was raised. Hannah and Bekah will be beating down the doors to find everyone that hasn’t cast their ballot yet and they’d love to have you join them.

Blue Suspenders

There is still plenty of fun-filled speculation left, though. The biggest question Barack Out With My Cock Out faces is if a symbolic Bible Belt will remain intact across the electoral map. In 2000 and 2004 it was strong and wide, ready for the most excessive of New Mexican belt buckles, but in the last 4 years the belt has withered down so thin, only the trendiest hipster doofus might sport it. For the visually inclined, Realclearpolitics.com provides a great chart of where things stand. When you do the math on how Obama is running at least double the amount of advertising of McCain’s campaign and then add in the fact that Obama’s supporters are twice as enthusiastic about his candidacy as McCain’s (in fairness, the Obama Nation is much younger, more agile and generally more active than McCain’s geriatrics) you start to see the where the election is going.

Now get another plate, we’ve got more things to add. Add in the ties McCain has to Mr. Unpopular AKA President Bush and his proud support of the President’s policies “over 90% of the time” ‘. . . more than most of his Republican colleagues.’ Add to it his statement that he just doesn’t know so much about the economy. On top of that, add the fact that the majority of the battle of this election is not being fought in the swing states, but in the states that were surely expected to support the Republican nominee.

The big question that remains about the election is whether there will be an unabridged belt wrapping across our nation from North Dakota down to Georgia. Barack Out With My Cock Out has studied fivethirtyeight.com, realclearpolitics.com, politico.com and countless other sources for far too long to have any uncertainty in stating that the belt will survive without the blue connecting New Mexico to Maine, but with a shocking surprise in Kansas or South Dakota that goes out the window. It won’t reach from Canada to the Atlantic, but it will get to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Bradley effect and other unfounded notions

Much has been made about the issue of the accuracy of polling and how each poll represents the forthcoming actions of the voters. Every poll has a margin of error for a reason – they just aren’t perfect. We’ll skip the Stat 101 lecture and brush gently on the issues the pollsters face. Finding a perfect representation of the overall population is impossible because you don’t know what that overall population looks like. Not everyone will or is able to vote so pollsters attempt to determine how to represent the portion of people that will participate in the election. A “likely voter universe” is as easy to identify as a Chupacabra or a Poltergeist. But one issue we are confident they are not facing is whether race will skew the polling results in comparison to the electoral results.

A quick stop in History class teaches us that the Bradley Effect derives its name from former Mayor of Los Angeles Tom Bradley and his failed candidacy for the Governorship of California. Bradley was a black politician that was leading in the polls going into Election Day only to end up losing. Many people attributed the divergence in polling numbers and the result to the presumption that people being interviewed for the poll were ashamed to admit they would be voting for the white guy rather than the black man. This theory has had few opportunities to be tested since Bradley’s 1982 defeat. Some fear pollsters over-compensate for racial tensions. Some worry they poll the wrong portions of the population that would have these sentiments. Some fear just the mention of this idea might encourage others to mislead pollsters. Some people go on with their lives. After a painful winter experience in Iowa, Barack Out With My Cock Out knows that people love to mislead pollsters, but does not worry about this throwing the election. The Bradley Effect, if it does exist is said to only account for up to a 5 point shift. So if you look around the nation and award Obama all of the states where he hold at least a 6 point lead, he still wins 277 electoral votes (calculated from realclearpolitics.com’s poll averages – a conservative-leaning site). Let’s say NM Sec. of State Mary Herrera screws up everything in New Mexico and gives away the state’s votes to McCain, . . . Obama still wins with 2 extra votes.

We’re looking at the numbers of young voters that might finally turn out en masse to support the Democratic nominee. We’re looking at the portions of the population that pollsters may not be accurately accounting for in their samples to swing this election far past any Bradley Effect or worse.

We’re also thinking of all of the friends we have that may let a distasteful remark here and there that are still voting for Obama. The most fascinating aspect of Obama’s candidacy is not that he is going to become the first black President, but that he is earning the support of people that otherwise would have nothing to do with people of a different race of your own. More and more voters stuck in the ante bellum days of our republic are coming out in sincere support of Obama. Think about it. Think about all of your friends and those that have used an ugly joke or a slur you’d never imagine uttering in front of a member of that minority group and think about how many of them still have friends of the minority groups they take so much joy in belittling. Racism is not dead, but it has evolved into a very odd form where people hold their views internally, but still behave in a mature manner when face to face in the real world. The world isn’t perfect yet – as evidenced by McCain’s un-ending attempts to convince voters Obama is a Islamic terrorist in order to gain ground in the race – but it is improving and racism has no chance to derail Obama’s victory train.

390-148 and . . . ?

You saw it here first. Two weeks out and that’s the way it’s going to be. Barack Out With My Cock out came to this number by looking at all battlegrounds and acknowledging the superior ground effort, the superior expenditures on advertising and the general shift in the opinions of the country put these states in President-elect Obama’s column. Now the real guessing game is which state that is supposed to be outside of any reach of Obama will also fall his way. Georgia was our choice, but Arkansas, West Virginia, North Dakota, Montana and even Mississippi are all vying to be the surprise of Election Night.

The more important question is if the Democrats will achieve a cloture-proof majority in the Senate (look it up). As good as this wave we’re riding is, we aren’t holding our breath. The one flaw of fivethirtyeight.com is that it consistently states that the Democrats must pick up nine seats to achieve this very important legislative advantage. However, we cannot hold any faith that the turncoat Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) would abed such ruthless legislating after spending the last year on the campaign trail with Sen. McCain. Maybe it could happen in 2010, but not this year. But we’re dying to be proven incorrect.

To quickly count seat by seat, it appears the Udall boys are ready to roll and will pick up the seats in New Mexico and Colorado (Tom and Mark, respectively). In Oregon, moderate Republican Gordon Smith can’t say enough nice things about Obama to save his seat from being claimed by Jeff Merkley. Virginia has the safest of safe seats for a Dem to win and Mark Warner is doing just that. Jeanne Shaheen will upend Sen. John Sununu’s career in Maine. Kay Hagen will claim what could have been the second senate seat for the Democrats in North Carolina if John Edwards had run for reelection in 2004 (maybe. according to insiders, Edwards probably would have lost his reelection had he at least attempted to hold the seat). Mayor of Anchorage Mark Begich is relieving 40-year Senator Ted Stevens just in time for Stevens to head to jail for the free home makeover he received from lobbyists (way to blame your wife! You’re the man!). And the most laughable of races takes place in Minnesota – those guys just can’t get enough of celebrities and are on track to send Al Franken to Washington because he’s good enough, he’s smart enough, and damnit, people kinda like him.

So that’s eight seats they’ll add. NOW your complaints that the Dem’s aren’t ending the war in Iraq fast enough are valid. Previously, they were unfounded since the Dems did not have a majority in the Senate on that issue because Lieberman just loves dumping $10bil a month into a mission President Bush stated was already accomplished.

The Gut Feeling

At the end of the day, it comes down to the little things. And at the end of the day, Barack Out With My Cock Out wants a President that can stroke a jumper from 15 feet like Larry Bird, not a dying bird. The next update will contain the official voting guide for New Mexicans with encouragement to residents of other states for important contests. As soon as the lazy Mary Herrera-wannabe County Clerk gets me my mail-in ballot, its on. Hey Maggie, put a staffer on dropping my ballot into the mail and get the rest of the team working on fixing your website.

The official Barack Out With My Cock Out Presidential Debate Drinking Game

2008-09-26T12:31:00.005-06:00

The Nut: Are you considering watching the first debate between presidential nominee Barack Obama and senator John McCain? Don't foolishly head into such an endeavor without making use of the following rules to keep the booze flowing at the proper rate - a waterfall pace guaranteed to make your head fuzzy enough to understand what the hell they're suggesting.

Also, if you find this combination of booze and politics to be an enjoyable, time, there's an awesome event to check out on next Friday. Details about Art for Change follow after the drinking game.

The official Barack Out With My Cock Out Presidential Debate Drinking Game:

Begin the opening round roughly 20 minutes before the beginning of the debate (9 eastern):

For Your Affiliation:
- Take 3 drinks if you're a registered republican
- Take 2 drinks if you're Independent or other.
- Take 3 drinks if you're not registered to vote.
- Take 1 drink if your registration does not match your current address.
- Take 1 drink if your registration does not match your ID.
- Give 3 drinks if you're registered as a Democrat.

For Your Voting:
- Take 1 SHOT of cheap whiskey if you voted for Bush in 2004.
- Take 1 SHOT of cheap whiskey if you voted for Bush in 2000.
- Take 1 SHOT if you voted for Ralph Nudar (or other candidate) in either election.
- Give 3 drinks if you voted for John Kerry.
- Give 6 drinks if you voted for Al Gore.
- Get outta my house if you're old enough to have voted for Clinton.
- Take 2 drinks if you voted for Bush in a swing state (NM, OH, FL, PA, MI, etc.)
- Give 2 drinks if you voted for Kerry in a swing state (NM, OH, FL, PA, MI, etc.)
- Give 4 drinks if you voted for Gore in a swing state (NM, OH, FL, PA, MI, etc.)
- Give 2 drinks if you voted for Kerry in a solid red or blue state (the heartland, the west coast, New England, etc.)
- Give 4 drinks if you voted for Gore in a solid red or blue state (the heartland, the west coast, New England, etc.)
- Give 2 SHOTS (to different people) if you voted absentee or early for Kerry or Gore.
- Take 1 SHOT if you voted absentee or early for Bush.
- Take 2 SHOTS if you voted absentee or early for Nadar (take 4 if your vote was cast in a swing state)

For Your Activism:
- Take 1 SHOT if you actively campaigned for Bush by knocking on doors, making phone calls, attended a rally, etc.
- Give 5 drinks if you actively campaigned for Kerry or Gore by knocking on doors, making phone calls, attended a rally, etc. (A person that worked to support Kerry AND Gore will give 12)
- Take 1 SHOT of cheap whiskey if you donated to Bush's campaign.
- Take 5 drinks if you donated to a PAC of any type.
- Give 1 SHOT if you lied, cheated or deceived the GOP in order to attend a Republican rally.
- Give 3 drinks if you saw John Kerry live.
- Take 1 SHOT if you were paid for your work for the Bush campaign.
- Give 5 drinks if you were paid for your work for the Kerry or Gore campaign (12 if you worked on both).
- Give 3 drinks if you woke up before the sun to campaign on election day in 2004 or 2000.
- Take 3 drink if you got into an argument with a complete stranger while out campaigning in 2000 or 2004 (8 if both)
- Take 3 drinks if you had a poltical bumper sticker on your car for the election.
- Take 5 more drinks if it is still there.
- Take 3 more drinks if the bumper sticker was replaced with an anti-Bush sticker.
- Take 3 drinks if you’re mad that the local Obama HQ was out of bumperstickers the last time you went by.

During the actual debate:

Take 2 drinks every time someone has to tell you to shut up so they can hear the debate.
Take 5 drinks if that person has to ask a second time without you responding.
Take 2 drinks if you are left confused by the answer a candidate gave.
Take 2 drinks every time a candidate runs over his allotted time.
Take 1 SHOT if your vote was determined by what you heard during the debate.
Take 2 MORE SHOTS if your vote switched from Barack to McCain because of the debate.

The words of the night: Everyone takes 1 drink every time either man says any of the following words:

Any reference to President Boosh
Any reference to a foreign head of state.

Economic Hard Times:
Bailout
Bank(s)
Economy
Home-owners
Garn-St. Germain
Gramm-Leach-Bliley
Investments
Keating 5
Mortgage
Stock Market

Foreign Policy:
Al Qaeda
“The Surge” (in Iraq)
Terror(ism)

Heroes:
Any former U.S. President
Any random American a candidate names as a good example of American values

Nations:
Afghanistan
China
Georgia (take a shot of whiskey if you thought the capital of this Georgia was Atlanta)
Great Britain (or UK)
Iraq
Iran
Mexico
North Korea
Pakistan
Russia
Sudan
Vietnam

Rhetorical ideas:
Any questioning of Patriotism
Any reference to experience gained while imprisoned in Vietnam
Change
“drill for oil” (or any suggestion of such an idea),“Equal Pay for equal work”
Hardwork
Hope
Maverick
(bi)Partisan
"Rebuilding international coalitions/support"
Renewable energy development

To end the debate: everyone toasts a shot to celebrate being able to have so much fun participating in the American political process.

And as promised:

See you there.

Baracking it for the ladies

2008-09-19T15:20:00.005-06:00

The Nut: Politicians are on parade as shining examples of how to live a smarter, safer, protected life. John McCain’s sexy VP pick, warrants the revisiting of the sexist remarks he has used to court his base supporters. Meanwhile, the Tina Fey-wannabe has involuntary gone on record with a thorough demonstration of her ability to handle, sensitive, secure matters.

Progress doesn’t pile on

It took a weeklong, psilo-landen venture through the hills, but the Sarah Palin bashing urges have been buried in a deep hole under a mountain of LANL waste. It won’t come back because it can’t come back. For those that don’t like the freshman Governor from Alaska or her support of hunting wolves from a helicopter or use of state dollars to pay her mortgage or her recruitment of millions in pork for her town of 6,700 or her threats of banning books or her perversion of an otherwise gorgeous Tina Fey, heed this call: Do not attack her. Do no callously insult her. Do not mock her husband’s snowmobiling, her daughter’s abstinence-only education or her firm belief that god will save her before the floods of the rapture (better known as global warming among the school-educated crowds) come and cleanse the land of all evil. Just like Barack Obama, it only builds her support and re-doubles her disciples’ efforts.

Yahoo-gate

Before we return to the inevitable days of not knowing the names of any Alaskan politician, it does serve purpose to examine how she functions as a political figurehead (i.e.: governor, VP nominee, mayor of podunkistan, dog catcher) should her date to the prom kick the bucket before the final dance.

As soon as Gov. Palin was announced as the member of the GOP that will live on in Jeopardy! answers and political almanacs as the token offering of the GOP in a lame attempt at being progressive, reports emerged of email exchanges concerning an alleged attempt by Palin to get her ex-brother-in-law fired. Barack Out With My Cock Out is fully unconcerned with these allegations because they are still simply that: allegations. But other netizens concerned with electing only the best and the brightest to lead our nation took it upon themselves to expose what FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests have not obtained.

We will be brief in summarizing the tale of Palin’s pirated email account, but you can read all of it through that link. It didn’t even take true hacking. A person cobbled together Palin’s personal information and took advantage of the dangerously generic personal questions most email services use to send people forgotten passwords. This isn’t hacking, this is just being wiser than your average beauty queen/small town news reporter.

The person got into her account, looked around for the dirt Extra and Inside Edition dream of and was crushed to only find a few email exchanges between her and other Alaskan officials discussing official business. They tired of it and hoped leaving the log-in information on the web’s biggest forum for hackers and trolls would let the next anti-Palin netizen finish the job they had begun. Unfortunately – for the federal government that could have had their job done for them and for all of the Democrats eager to reap the political benefits of this exposed material – Palin’s e-guardian angel swooped in, emailed her advisor (either an oxymoron of a term or quite the substantial fete as Palin only takes guidance from one man and that man: god) and helped rescue the account before it could be further abused. Good night and sweet dreams!

Nightmares of implications

So what does any of this have to do with the election? Everything because it is a real example of how Gov. Palin has run the state of Alaska and how she conducts herself as a political leader. It’s not a campaign-polished, spun-dry presentation of her as the quintessential American mother. It shows her ability to guard her own privacy and conduct her own office and a substantial lack there-of. While a court of law will take forever to formally convict her of the ethical charges, it is now proven in the court of “I know my ass from a hole in the ground” that she has used a private email account to conduct official state business.

Chime in Palin apologists. “All politicians do that. That’s how they all conduct the real business.” Yep, you’re fully 100% right. But all of the others have the brains of a savvy businessman to know how to cover their own ass and do it without putting it into easily searchable records. We’ve seen the personal email addresses of seasoned, wise politicians . . . they resemble the subject line of a piece of spam with a jumble of letters that if rearranged might spell out one of their names, the year the account was set up and the office they are seeking. Why? Because gov.numbnuts@yahoo.com is too easy to find. It’s a tried and true practice of job seekers, headhunters and savvy PR gurus to guess at what the intended receiver’s email might be and to try random combinations of firstname@theirbusiness.com until one doesn’t bounce back. In addition to her illegal actions of conducting state business through private accounts, she left these accounts vulnerable and accessible to any random 8th grader that knows how to work a google search (note of clarity in her defense: Alaskan students typically do not learn how to use google until they go to college out of state). Do you want the #2 in the land to leave sensitive matters of national security and economic policy open and available to anyone with an internet connection and a proxy server?

Hear it here first: Gmail’s thorough note taking WILL be the downfall of many candidacies in the near future. The first candidacy to fall because of publicized emails that aren’t fit for the public eye is that of McCain because he brought along Palin for the ride.

More important is her man

Let her go. Let’s focus on why she is on the ticket. She’s a vice presidential nominee, as even she’s wondered, the actual job of being VP doesn’t get too interesting until the senate has a tie to break or the President has a heart to defibrillate. The real job of the vice president is done from the day he or she is selected until the general election. Ideally, they will swing their home state to vote for their ticket when they were previously disposed to vote against them (like when John Edwards ran with Kerry and brought North Carolina into the D column . . . almost). The VP is a handout to the base to rally their support. Typically, they do not receive the attention the true leaders of the ticket receive and thus, their exposure is confined to the party-faithful, involved voters that want to vote for their side, but have some personal, petty beef with the Presidential nominee (i.e.: democrats that don’t support Barack because he made Hillary cry to win New Hampshire). She’s not important. She won’t be a major decision maker in our nation’s policy. She is here to pander to the Republican base that heeds their pastor’s guidance in filling out their ballots.

Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?

Because Janet Reno is her father.

Whoaaaaa. Before you get upset with Barack Out With My Cock Out and its editorial board, please direct your anger to the man that can be credited as the source of this tasteless joke that was first used when Chelsea was only 18.

This joke made its national debut at a 1998 GOP fundraiser in DC. Wooing the audience and their deep pockets was maverick entertainer, John McCain. Set aside McCain’s fervent love of this country and the unending respect he holds for its leaders . . . like Attorney General Janet Reno. This is a clear, undisputed incident of John McCain insulting a defenseless 18-year-old girl just to raise money for a Republican fundraiser. That’s more Maverick than the Dallas Maverick’s then record-setting season of winning only nine games in 1994.

We’ll hear anyone’s defense of McCain and his clever joke. Was it a single occurrence? No. Google “John McCain’s seven sexist rants” and read all about his belittling of women, even the one’s he loves (the Alaskan-educated readers can click here, apologies for the taunting of using google to find something). He once mocked his current wife (not the one that he left when she was no longer the beauty queen he married) for her caked-on make up. He said it better than we can recreate it: “At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a dolled-up trollop, you cunt.” In his defense, he said he had had a long day before he told his new wife the truth about her plastic face.

Is he partisan in his sexist comments? Nope. As shown, he’ll go after his own family. He does like referring to all pro-active women as “Pat Schroeders” – a former congresswoman from Colorado that is remembered for her work on women’s rights.

When Jake Tapper interviewed McCain about his selection of campaign chairmen for the state of Nevada, his perfectly timed, well-judged humor reemerged. He tried out the old line “and I stopped beating my wife just a couple of weeks ago,” looking for raucous applause. Unfortunately, the crickets stood at attention as Tapper wondered to himself if McCain was aware of the Gov. of Nevada’s messy divorce and the accusations of infidelity. In Tapper’s words: “awkward.”

Feminism is for women, not woman

So when did feminism stop being about women? Answer: the day a man started using a woman to further his political ambitions. Electing McCain to the Presidency and letting Palin tag along to the white house will do as much for woman’s rights as elevating Al Gonzalez to the office of Attorney General did to eliminate the racial disparity between white Americans and Hispanics (nothing for those curious of the answer).

Don’t kid yourself. Don’t talk about glass ceilings. John McCain is holding up Sarah as a battering ram to blast through the glass ceiling Pres. Bush (W without the H) erected over McCain in South Carolina in 2000. Attention feminists of the world: do you support McCain using a woman to achieve his political dream?

More importantly, are you content to tolerate the GOP’s relegation of women as unable to perform tasks in as productive a manner as their male counter parts; should they continue earning 77 cents for every dollar her brother makes? This is a simple matter of government policy and there are only two choices: One side, Barack Obama, that supports mandating equal pay for equal work and the other side, John McCain, that has stated on record and worked against enacting such a law because it would place an undue burden on business. John McCain does not support equality for women and he stands in the road towards a sincerely enlightened and equal America.

Are you worth 77 cents or a full dollar?

Porn is Bipartisan?

2008-09-04T14:09:00.002-06:00

The Nut: National Conventions are miserably dull unless you’re there in person. Sarah Palin is not hot, does not have a record to support anything she claims to stand for and will be remembered as ‘that lady that lost with the old guy in 2008.’ A full breakdown of her candidacy included. Simple talking points to properly highlight Palin’s credentials are at the bottom.

Is Porn Bipartisan?

I’m asking! There was a trailer with an inflated elephant proclaiming that porn is bipartisan cruising downtown Denver during the convention. With the pick of Sarah Palin, the GOP has attempted to beautify the old wrinkly Presidential ticket they have been putting together.

With the selection of the two-year (not two-term) Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, the GOP and John McCain have a Vice-Presidential candidate with so much experience, she makes Barack Obama look like Bill Richardson. In addition to being the mother of a newly born infant with down-syndrome, she brings a record of raising taxes on working Alaskans, increasing spending without balancing budgets and a few good years in front of the camera covering the local news in Michigan.

Experience v. Change

Palin’s choice as McCain’s running mate takes the question of Obama’s experience off the table. Sarah Palin has spent two short years in the Alaskan Governor’s igloo and before that she was mayor of the town of Wasilla. Wasilla, AK had roughly 5,000 citizens . . . the size of the more over-crowded high schools in some big cities. As mayor of Wasilla, Palin had to hire a city manager to attend to truly administering the city. So, she has two years of experience as chief executive of a state of 670,000 people and the experience equivalent to a high school student body president of a large high school . . . bear in mind, the class president usually leaves most real decisions to be made by the principle of the school and the school board (just like Palin did).

Oh, you argue that she’s only going to be #2 and she’s along for the ride whereas, Obama is running for President where he’ll do all the work. First, lets remember the last 7 ½ years of Cheney running the show from the VP seat and then lets be reasonable. Obama’s VP pick brings more experience to the executive than the other three candidates combined. More importantly, the worries of Obama not completing his term in office are not nearly as high as the worry of McCain. AND if some idiot would miraculously pull off the unthinkable, Obama has Joe Biden – the man that would probably be the nominee if experience was all it took to become President.

Real reform

She made her name in Alaska as a reformer that cleaned up the ethical lapses that permeated the Alaskan Republican Party. While she did bring many corrupt politicians to justice, she has not found herself outside of the inquiries. Her work to expose and prosecute corruption has led her to be exposed for her own political improprieties. There are accusations of her attempting to get an ex-brother-in-law fired from his post as a state trooper. She has a record of political hiring and firing that echoes of Alberto Gonzalez’ administration of the Department of Justice. It almost leads one to wonder if her presence on the ticket could put Alaska back in play for Obama with disenchanted Republicans voting for Obama out of spite.

What about the family?

More disgusting than her fierce aggression toward people who disagreed with her politics is what she has drug her family through just for her own political ambition. The fact that she has a infant child with down-syndrome while sitting Governor doesn’t confirm her conviction to her opposition to abortion rights, it affirms her bond to her political ambition. This demonstrates her selfish conviction to her own goals. Being Governor of a single state is not a day job. Its not a 60-hour a week job. When you’re Governor of just one state, you’re busy 24/7 attending to political and governmental duties. When you run for one of the only two nationally elected offices in the United States, you miss the quiet days at the Gov’s igloo.

Now that she has accepted the Republican nomination to be one heart attack away from the oval office, she has overtly stated she has no interest in being a real mother to her newborn child. Do not credit her for sticking with her conviction to anti-abortion stances. Credit her political ambition. She knew if she would have aborted the pregnancy, it would have been discovered and her political career would have been trashed. But despite needing to attend to a newborn child, she has seized her one impossibly lucky political opportunity despite the needs of her family.

Not only does she tout this as her true proof of her anti-abortion stance, she offers her husband’s membership in a union as proof of her support of working class Americans (as opposed to a record of signed legislation guaranteeing labor unions the right to form or raising wages for the members of these unions [raising the minimum wage raises most union wages as union wages as often set as a percentage of the minimum wage, i.e.: 250% of the current minimum wage]). She offers her son’s voluntary enlistment in the nation’s military and being sent to Iraq this year as her proof of her patriotism, not a record of what she has done to provide our veterans with health care, mental health care or quality jobs after they leave the military.

And the little things

The little things with no extrinsic meaning do bear significance, as well. Palin’s announcement demonstrated the true difference between Obama and McCain’s campaign. Obama had millions across the nation receiving text messages on Friday night as they hung out with friends. The message was instantly spread virally to everyone’s local networks (there are rumors that a fake message proclaiming Hillary won was also spread to many people’s chagrin). People didn’t learn about it from Matthews or Matthews or Wolf, they learned about it from their friend (as I did) and it began a discussion about the election.

Sarah Palin became the VP nominee around 10 on a Friday morning (eastern) after a monumental speech from Sen. Obama. I watched ABC break in with the news. When they went to show who McCain had picked to accompany him on the ticket, they had to dig up grainy youtube video to show footage of her.

The colossal difference in messaging and style is more than just the little things they do. This is a simple game of contacting the number of voters you need to win the election. Obama’s campaign is contacting the people they need to win the election while McCain’s team is almost approaching the election as a foregone conclusion. If Mit Romney really turned down McCain’s offer of VP, you would surely have to conclude that the GOP recognizes that this election is un-winnable for them.

Hillary lovers unite!?

The first thing everyone has said about this selection is that it was targeted directly at disaffected Hillary backers that are unwilling to support the presidential nominee that supports all of the public policy that they need and desire – Barack Obama. While Sarah does share anatomical similarities with Hillary (i.e.: earrings), her politics are as divergent as possible. The educated guess of Barack Out With My Cock Out is that polls will show around 15% of former Hillary supports stating they are supporting McCain because of Palin’s choice.

There is little to do about this number of people and votes for Obama are best found elsewhere. It is unlikely that these voters would have supported Obama even if he had picked Kathleen Sebelius (Gov., KS) and McCain would have picked a man (Sebelius if offered as an example because Hillary had absolutely no chance of becoming the VP nominee. NONE!). If that number stays around 15% or less of former Hillary supporters, there shouldn’t be many problems in November for Obama. Currently, roughly 30% of former Hilldoggers say they can’t pull their head far enough out to vote for Obama and these same polls show, with no ties or toss ups, a 273-268 win for Obama realclearpolitics.com with New Mexico being the 5 vote difference. Now, think about what happens when 15% of those voters vote for Obama instead of McCain.

Talking the talk:

So to boil it all down to what is and is not, here are the simple positions of the hockey mom of a 5-month old child with down-syndrome, Governor of Alaska, former mayor of Wasilla, AK and GOP Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin:

Abortion: So against it, she even carried through her down-syndrome pregnancy and now has a 5-month old child to bring along on the campaign trail. However, she has no record in governmental action (legislative or executive) of taking action to eradicate abortions or to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.

Budget and Fiscal Responsibility: She raised taxes on middle class Alaskans and gave tax breaks to larger companies. She took office with balanced budgets and left behind deficits. She proposed bond issues (borrowing money to pay for a current project) when the state had plenty of money from oil and gas severance revenues.

Environment and Energy: She is a true Republican in support of undeterred oil and gas exploration. She has questioned the existence of global warming and has worked to keep the Department of the Interior from holding oil and gas mining operations accountable for their environmental impact. She supports drilling to solve our energy problems, not renewable resources.

Iraq War: Her son is on his way to the warzone and she couldn’t be prouder. She supports John McCain’s approach of stabilizing Iraq as our operation point for the Middle East and does not support a timetable for a phased, controlled withdrawal.

Ethics: In her limited career of public service, she has fired many political opponents even within her own party and has taken criticism for making many of the firings because of political and personal motivations. She is currently under investigation for attempting to get her ex-husband-in-law fired as a state trooper.

Real World Experience: Before entering politics, she worked as a local news reporter . . . a perfect fit for a former beauty queen.

But She’s Beautiful: So are millions and millions of other women. Do you really want to lust after your Vice President? The porn star that ran for President in Italy lost because Italians weren’t idiots (they naturally went for the bigger celebrity in the race).

Bottom Line: If Mit Romney really refused the VP nomination, you must wonder who else passed up McCain’s offer. When they finally came around to finding a two-year Governor of Alaska to make a feeble attempt at woeing Hillary supporters, they may have conceded the race to Obama.

Winners!

2008-08-27T02:55:00.002-06:00

The Nut: The DNC is in Denver and Barack Out With My Cock Out is reporting on the scene. Taking in every last bit of action leaves a man devastated by this hour of the morning and thus, this will be brief. Photos will be posted shortly as soon as its not 3am. Protesters haven't been spotted yet, but the Tent State was visited and two tickets to Rage were scored. Lots of free booze, great food with cute girls everywhere . . . they're even interested in politics! Death Cab for Cuties rocked a great show.

Where's the Outrage?

A short walk down Wawetta around some corner, under an overpass, over a couple bridges and up the sidewalk eventually leads you to the protest park and the great Tent State. While it resembled a dilapidated street fair without a customer for miles, I will spare it because it began the day of winning. Courtesy of Tent State and a bunch of sponsors we'll hear all about tomorrow, Barack Out With My Cock Out will be attending the Rage Against the Machine convention concert. Not just a big show with a big name, its also free and its the one and only concert that Rage always does for any big political event like this. To ice the cake, the Flobots will be opening for them. I was curious if they would have a roll in the convention with their pro-democracy message and this is a perfect fit.

Best protest poster: Bring back Crystal Pepsi. . . . They're absolutely right.

Trick or Vote!

After sweating off a few pounds with the neglected, forgotten, disenfranchised upper middle class white folks we wandered our way to a completely non-partisan party with New Era and a bunch of folks that were psyched to hear I'd ridden the bus to get to the party. It was the beginning of the free hooch and tapas courtesy of everyone's favorite special interests. The first party featured younger people amassed from the northwest for the central idea of improving public transportation systems. Way to go kids!

ByaRRRR!

It was tragic to miss the official welcome to the DNC party hosted by Governor Bill Richardson, but half was made up by seeing him speak at the New Democrats Network event. The Samba Room hosted the Governor, Senator Bingaman and plenty of other self-proclaimed notables. A few mojitos, a few calamari fingers and a little shadow boxing with the Gov and we were doing well.

A whole New Era

New Era - also the host of the Trick or Vote party - took care of us after the NDN at the Meadowlark. "Disappointment of the night" doesn't even begin to describe the scene. There was no open bar, there were no gulf shrimp or brie wedges and worst of all, we even had to sit down and watch a bit of the speeches. We took in Hillary's improved endorsement of Obama and got on to the show. Hillary did a better job of plainly stating that she is no longer an option and that her supporters would have to be high off both types of cheesing (the real definition and the South Park idea) to think that John McCain stood for anything they would desire in a President.

for Cutie

"Hey, what do you know going on tonight"
"Want me to put you on the list for Death Cab for Cutie?"
"Ok. . . and my seven friends."

Its about as simple as that to score a free ticket into a great show. Unfortunately only half of Death Cab made it, but it was still a great acoustic set. And yes, they were still pouring free suds all night.

Up Next

Tomorrow features an early morning of going to see Rage Against the Machine and Flobots. Then a party, then another party and then another party. Have fun watching those speeches on TV!

Getting all philosophical

2008-06-03T09:32:00.003-06:00

The Nut: We begin with a ripped-off, jumbled quote found earlier while trolling the news:

“Give me the power to select the nominees and you are free to vote for whomever you please.”
- A famous very powerful despot with a snide sense of humor that shall remain forgotten.

You've got a vote to cast and you probably didn't even realize how soon its due at the ballot box. Hold my hand and follow me down the path to a well-educated vote. Here’s the cut-out list, for the excessive defense of each man or woman’s merits, vote first, then keep reading.

President: D’s voted in February you pothead, John McCain for the R’s
Senate: Tom Udall (D), Steve Pearce (R)
CD-1, ABQ's house seat - Martin Heinrich (D), Joe Carrero (R)
CD-2, Southern NM - Bill McCamley (D), Earl Greer (R)
CD-3, Northern NM - Ben Ray Lujan (D), ? (R)
State Senate 14, ABQ S. Valley – Eric Griego (D)
State Senate 15, ABQ Near East Heights, – John Blair (D)
State Senate 17, ABQ War Zone and East Side – Shannon Robinson (D)
State Senate 25, Santa Fe – Peter Wirth (D)
State Senate 33, Roswell – Rory McGinn (R)
State House 57, Roswell – Dennis Kintigh (R)
District Judge Division 9 – Benjamin Chavez (D)
Judge of the Metro Court Division 10 – Clyde Demerssman (now a D)
County Clerk, Bernalillo Co. – Ambrose Chavez (D)

I want to vote, again!

Friday morning, a young befuddled voter came to me this morning with a barrage of questions on what was going on with the current elections and needed to know when she was expected to vote again. November you guess? Do you really think Heather Wilson would be ‘taking her dominatrix whip to the back of the Steve Pearce’ so hard if voting didn’t end until November? Her frail little arms wouldn’t last through the summer.

Do you really think Jeopardy would be so dominated with campaign commercials if there weren’t a primary to decide before we proceed on to the general election? Don’t be naïve; be ready to get the right people on the general election ballot so come November, you’ll have the options to elect quality representatives to serve you. Barack Out With My Cock Out couldn’t let such an important day pass by without attempting to help every voter make the best decision possible.

Remember way back in February when we all stood in line for a couple hours to state our preference of the Presidential candidates? We’re doing it all over again (minus 110 minutes of the 2 hours it took in February), only this time it truly matters and it is guaranteed with full certainty that the winners of Tuesday’s primary elections will be the parties’ nominees for their respective offices . . . unless Rio Arriba gives up on counting votes again.

The dog and pony show of New Mexico’s February 5th Caucus has come and gone, now its time for the real primary election where we vote up and down the ballot for the people we feel best fit to proceed forward into the general election as the Republican or Democratic nominee.

Go where? When?

Today, is the last day for everyone who hasn’t voted early or mailed in an absentee ballot to voice their choice for their national and local Senate and House Representatives as well as a plethora judges and county officers. With a guarantee of at least one interesting race on your ballot, you can’t miss this opportunity to stand up and state your opinion.

For those uncertain about where you vote that live in Albuquerque, the Bernalillo County Clerk can help you find your proper polling location (click it). For those that want to know who’s going to be on their ballot, click the same link and then look half way down the next screen for “View Democratic Sample Ballot” and Republicans, obviously, you will click the link to the right of that one.

For those living beyond Bernalillo County, the Secretary of State’s website should, theoretically, be able to point you in the right direction, but keep in mind, this office is run by a lady that went around the campaign trail boasting her willingness to vote with coloured marbles should the voters feel it was appropriate.

Through the barrel, up the ladder, under the bar

Who can vote? Registered Democrats and Republicans. Beat it Independents, Greens, Constitutionalists and all other voters too cool to join the only two parties capable of fielding primary campaigns, you find two candidates to run for the same office from your party and then we’ll conduct a primary election for them.

Where do I vote? Find it through the links to the Bernalillo County Clerk and Secretary of State’s websites.

Is there going to be a two-hour wait like on Feb. 5? No, it is highly doubtful, but don’t jinx yourself in New Mexico. This election is being run by the state, not the Democratic Party and without Barack Obama on the ballot, interest has waned.

What do you mean Barack’s not on the ballot? Pay attention, you already cast your primary (technically ‘caucus’) vote for him. What would be the purpose of you voting again for the same office in a primary?

What do I get for going to all of this trouble? A pat on the back a lot less harassment if you try to hit up the campaigns’ “victory parties” Tuesday night – they stomach attendees that vote against their candidate, but mentioning you abstained from the election is asking for an ass whipping.

How can I avoid all of this trouble? Two ways, one good, one unfathomable: The smart choice is to get signed up for an absentee ballot and vote from the comfort of your own couch. The choice that welcomes an ass whipping is also on the table, but don’t bother considering it.

What if I don’t know whom I’m voting for? Keep reading. Other recommended reading can be found in the list of “News” to your right on this page.

New Mexico Republicans, welcome to the show! You’ve been so patient and reserved to wait until the day even Bill Clinton whispers ‘Hillary’s finished’ to vote for your nominee. But it has to be worth it to be the called upon at such a penultimate time in the election to cast your ballot. It was the toughest choice of any of the races of the year, but Barack Out With My Cock Out bestowes the honor of its support for one day and one day alone to Senator John McCain of Arizona. He narrowly defeated Arizona Senator John McCain to secure the 24 hour support.

The real Top of the Ticket

The Senate Race is half decided with Tom Udall being the Democratic nominee (because after the 51st phone call from a sitting Democratic Senator, Mayor Marty got a clue and conceded his candidacy to Tom), but on the Republican side of the ballot, Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce both think June 3rd should be the end of the other person’s political career. Whichever way it falls, Steve or Heather will officially be a lame duck looking in from the outside when they lose the election. With Tom Udall as the proper choice in the general election, we must look to which of the two Republicans would be easier to defeat. Despite Heather’s steadfast support of any proposal from Bush’s office, Pearce actually carries an even more conservative reputation. So for a state that swarms to promises of moderation, Steve is the most beatable and thus the best choice to put forward as the Republican nominee for Senate. Vote Steve-O for no other reason than he looks like the Sicilian from the Princess Bride.

The only other races everyone is half-aware of

Moving from town to town we’ll start in Albuquerque with the congressional race in CD-1. On the Democratic side, front-runner Martin Heinrich is leading the polls for good reason – he’s done a fine job standing up to Mayor Marty while on the City Commission and has also done good work on environmental issues. “But the man’s never worked a real day in his life!” Oh stop listening to the negative campaigning of his Republican opponents. He’s busted his butt plenty and no one gets in the position to run a real campaign without doing their share of sweating. The other Democratic primary candidates appreciate the work of the GOP against Heinrich, but think about why they’ve hit him so hard already . . . maybe they aren’t as scared of the other choices in a general election match-up?

On the other ballot in CD-1 (Congressional District 1 – Albuquerque, with nibbles of Torrance, Valencia, Sandoval and Santa Fe counties) is State Senator Joe “paying child support sucks” Carrero and Sheriff Darren “I love Bush” White. Darren’s heavily favored against the west side’s favorite senator. Joe’s always been more of an attack dog than an office holder. He’d make for a much more interesting general election so we see no ability to tell anyone to support Darren White . . . even if Senator Joe took the time to stand in opposition to a bill that seized lottery winnings to pay delinquent child support before it passed with the support of everyone not named Joe Carrero. Joe was just trying to make a point about the bill that earned unanimous consent, Darren on the other hand was trying to ensure Bush’s reelection when he chaired his New Mexico campaign in 2004. Forgive Joe and his poor fathering and remember who helped continue the war in Iraq at the expense of every New Mexican and American.

The dirty

Heading south to the second congressional district (CD-2) you’ll run into a great mess with few things clear on either side of the ballot. Harry Teague – favorite of the Gov. and Lt. Gov. – has pulled out a solid lead against young challenger Bill McCamley, but Bill still has high hopes. While we recognize that Bill’s chances are as good as Carrero’s we still think his youth would better serve southern New Mexico than the oil man that gets likened to Colonel Sanders. This is the year of change and hope and other meaningless ideals, so go with the youthful candidate and let Bill take the whipping from the Republican in the general.

The whipper of McCamley should be Earl Greer. Unfortunately, like Bill, Earl has been drowned out with millions of spending by his opponents. Southern NM voters haven’t had a fair chance to learn that Earl is the only true, traditional Republican in that race. Instead they’ve been inundated with ads from millionaires from Hobbs and Roswell seeking to elevate themselves into an office that can fill the coffers of their oil buddies and other business owners.

Y los Nortenos

The most interesting race on the Democratic side has been held in Santa Fe and all of the counties to the north of Albuquerque. Millionaire Don Wiviott has endowed the ABQ news stations with more cash than any other candidate in the state as he has attempted to battle back against the insurmountable candidacy of the son of the speaker of the New Mexico State House, Ben Ray Lujan. As much as we frown upon judging a candidate on anything more than their merits and policies, we must admit that New Mexico would be lop-sided and underserved without one Hispanic representative in Congress. Luckily, Ben Ray is a great choice to end the streak that began when Richardson left the House to become Ambassador to the UN.

Since the Republicans in this race are so meaningless, we’ll use their space to highlight the most colourful episode of the 2008 primary campaign. During a debate in Farmington, failing candidate Benny Shendo abandoned all rational judgment and hit Ben Ray as low as any punch has landed in any race in the state. Seeing that every other approach was failing, Benny went after Ben Ray’s “lifestyle.” He asked Ben Ray how he could represent the district and stand up for their needs in Congress when he was unable to stand up to his parents about his “secret lifestyle.” Unfortunately for Shendo and luckily for humanity, it didn’t give him the 30 point bump he needed. Not gay, not lesbian, not bi-sexual, not trans-gendered and not even questioning, Lujan laughed off the pathetic attack and continued on his way.

Getting more particular

Don’t get in a hurry, you’re not even half finished with the choices in front of you. And if you’ve made it this far without something to rebut, well . . . glad to hear you’ve been studying.

Moving along! State senate, state house, county clerk, county treasurer and a big pile of judges are also in the running and a few names deserve to be mentioned.

For anyone that sees John Blair’s name pop up on their ballot, don’t let it pass you by. He’s a smart progressive young Democrat that will mount the best campaign against entrenched Republican Senator Diane Snyder. If Blair wins he will have a very tough battle in the general, but can be expected to wage an aggressive effort against Snyder.

For anyone that thinks its cool to have movies made in New Mexico . . . especially those that think its cool that their friends make a living in the newly created film industry, State Senator Shannon Robinson must be re-elected. Tim Keller has to have enjoyed running his first campaign. He got some great exposure for the future. But it’s the year of the younger candidate all across America except on the southeast side of Albuquerque. Shannon Robinson has carried the film legislation in the senate . . . i.e.: the Senators would have sat on their ass and done nothing with all of the bills that brought the film industry here if Senator Robinson hadn’t made sure they got the work done. And the Governor kicked a few lazy Senators in the ass, too.

Staying in Bernalillo County before we traverse the state, there is one interesting judge race. Judge Ben Chavez is in a tough battle with former Richardson drug czar Bob Schwartz. Chavez doesn’t have the political grease and grime that builds up over a career like Schwartz’ and well, we think its safe to say its wisest to side with the less soiled candidate for a position of administering the law. Clyde Demerssmen is also a sound moderate voice that is fully capable of locking up only the truly deserving people.

Finally in Albuquerque is Ambrose Chavez is the sensible alternative for Bernalillo County Clerk. If you’re looking to ship out the old and bring in the new, you have to dump the political sweetheart appointment of Maggie Toulouse Oliver to fill out the remainder of Mary Herrera’s term. Anyone that knows her and her husband know that she goes way back with the Governor.

And the Un-Burque

Santa Fe voters have a choice between a dignified intelligent tenured Senator, or the ever so amazing Letitia Montoya. Letitia is best remembered for her 2006 tour where she blew people’s minds making Mary Herrera sound well spoken. Not that anyone’s scared of Senator Peter Wirth losing his seat, but Letitia’s random foray into another impossible campaign had to be noted.

Roswell has the best action of the whole state. Rory McGinn is launching a formidable attempt against Senator and leader of an ever so New Mexican wing of the party, “Lightning” Rod Adair and Dennis Kintigh is taking on sitting Representative Dan Foley. You know you’re going to be vulnerable when your opponent can send out mailers featuring your mug shot from the last year. Poor Foley couldn’t contain his displeasure with the officiating of his son’s basketball game and took it personally upon himself to remedy the injustice. . . justice was served to Foley as he was hauled off the court as he spat dip on the arresting officers. Give him hell Dennis! Rod Adair has one thing going for him that Foley doesn’t: a disorderly arrest in the last year. Adair has held the honor of leading what most people refer to as a radical faction of the Republican Party. It might be the kind of year that sees him ousted in the primary.

The Simple Path

Yes, there are other, simpler ways to do business. Here’s a group that deserve the sincerest of apologies. Flying over the jungle along the Brazilian Peruvian border, members of a fully autonomous tribe in Brazil were recently discovered. The lucky bastards had the joy of living life free of harassment from anyone beyond the few members of their village and now they will be forever haunted by images of the plane they tried to shoot down with their bow and arrows. How does one go about joining such an autonomous tribe?

Is today the beginning of the campaign to stop Hillary from seeking the VP nomination? Barack Out is back just like ugly 80’s fashion.

Real Action, VP Rice and the Best of the Best

2008-04-08T00:42:00.004-06:00

The Big Nut:
Presidential candidates and part time Senators Barack Obama and John McCain will also take the campaign through their real office and grill Gen. Petreaus on the war in Iraq. Previous candidates Sen. Clinton, Dodd and Biden will be asking the truly incisive questions the candidates couldn’t touch. The GOP is testing Condo Rice’s name as a potential VP candidate for McCain. The Alibi recognized how truly superb Barack Out With My Cock Out’s coverage is and I, Ron Domino, would like to thank the voters, the readers and the editors for their kind words.

Real action! Senators set to bash Petraeus.

When was the last time you tuned in to see what the candidates were talking about and you found them actually atop capitol hill, doing their job? Tuesday and Wednesday the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Armed Forces Committee will check up on the progress in Iraq as Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker stop by for a Q & A.

While little policy will be established, the contrasting rhetoric of Obama and Biden (D-Del) compared to McCain and Jim Demint (R-SC) should set the stage for a good debate on the direction of the war. Barack will need to be especially careful to demonstrate a strong command of the issue to reaffirm his readiness to hold the office of the Presidency. McCain could dig himself a deep hole if he takes too hawkish of an approach and puts himself on the record for a lot of quotes of him supporting nothing but a continuation of the war. Keep in mind: the General and Ambassador may be the honored guests, but that won’t stop the senators or congressmen from wasting most of the time listening to themselves preach their thoughts on the war.

Finally you have a reason to figure out what channel CSPAN2 is. For those of you burdened with the hassle of receiving your cable from Comcast, its number 26.

VP Rice?

After the Republican Party fielded 12 pale, white Christian men for candidates for President, they’re looking to get in on the Democrat’s progressive ways with their Vice Presidential choice. They have seen the problems one can encounter when choosing between a black man and a woman and decided to just go for it all. Enter, Condoleezza “Condo” Rice.

First, let us be clear that her nickname is not “Condi.” Where do you see an “i” in Condoleezza? If you would like to save the trouble of those last two syllables, don’t go cherry picking letters for the half of her name you decide to pronounce. Its “Condo” the gruff bulldog that has butchered our foreign policy under Bush’s watch, not “Condi” the smart, adorable (in comparison to other cabinet officials such as Ashcroft or Rumsfeld) woman that appears in interviews with Barbara Walters.

What do you think? Do you like the progress she has achieved in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian crisis? How about her ability to assist the new Iraqi Parliament in forming a working government? Middle East isn’t your favorite place, ok, what do you think of her dealings with Hugo Chavez and her ability to keep the northern region of South America from going to war?

If you appreciate her work in these areas as well as her ability to smile longingly while looking President Bush in the eyes, then McCain-Condo is probably your dream ticket. For those that are tired of having OPEC raise the price of oil as they sight “escalating tensions in the Levant/Iraq/Columbia/Mars” you might want to encourage McCain to seek out someone with a little better experience in negotiating with people that hate you. . . maybe someone like the last major political figure to visit Columbia on a diplomatic mission. Too bad Richardson endorsed McCain’s opposition--Obama.

Journalistic Excellence

The Pulitzer prizes have been doled out, again. Barack Out With My Cock Out can settle for the local accolades for the first month of work.

The Audacity of Power-Hungry First Ladies

2008-03-27T00:39:00.007-06:00

The Nut:
The low rumble is quickly becoming a loud roar of requests that Hillary Clinton abandon her candidacy and surrender the nomination contest to Barack Obama. More and more pundits are calling for her exit from the race. UNM First Lady Janet Schmidly made a power grab forming an organization for the parents that pay the big bucks for their UNM students. She gets a salary for controlling this board of parents as well as a vote with the Board of Regents. The only real reason for the group’s existence that was given was “Because of the money that is spent.” The real significance of Bill Richardson’s endorsement: no one is talking about that Reverend guy any more. What was his name, anyway? You don’t have to listen to Limbaugh to hear Hillary get bashed apart.

The Audacity of Hopelessness

What will be the triggering event to set up the farewell speech for Hillary Clinton? Will it be a surprise loss in Pennsylvania? How about a resounding defeat in North Carolina? Or is it going to be a hot scandal so filthy the Drudge Report won’t have a font big enough for it.

Pick a date and place a bet, it’s just a matter of time. Another drove of pundits join in the call for Clinton to accept the harsh reality of defeat every day. Who would you like to hear tell you that it’s over and it’s time for Obama to start searching for a VP. How about NY Times columnist David Brooks? He calles it the 5% chance. The NY Times Caucus Blog says 'Hillary needs Obama to suffer a political collapse akin to the sub-prime mortgage market -- a view shared by aides in both campaigns.' And Adam Nagourney furthers this thought and points out that this kind of collapse would cripple the Democratic Party heading into the general election.

Its probably all just the NY Times editorial board conspiring against the Clinton family, I’m sure she’ll be just fine and prove them all wrong.

UNM PTA

. . . More like the UNM-PA. The professors know they have better things to do than get stuck running in circles with uppity parents and their grand ideas to perfect the University. But that’s not stopping UNM First Lady Janet Schmidly from redefining the meaning of “Everyone’s a Lobo” with a fat handful of a power grab.

Continuing in a dangerous downward spiral, UNM has again demonstrated that the University is not ready to allow adult students to attend school and live an autonomous life. Instead of allowing UNM students to begin to venture into the real world, Janet Schmidly and this new parents organization has extended that magically bubble of high school on through college.

First, don’t question whether it is helpful or harmful to increase parental involvement at the university-level. This is a power grab and an ugly one at that. UNM President David Schmidly’s wife, Janet Schmidly’s wife found a method to get have a stronger position with the Board of Regents and get a little stipend along the way. She has devised a method to ease the solicitation of contributions and build her some political support in the university community.

All of the motivation can be summed up in one quote from Janet, "Because of the money that is spent and the love of their children, parents want to be a part of the university experience, as well. A parents association gives them that power." Its too bad parents can’t appreciate giving their child an education for what it is and they need to have a role and power to feel good about their investment.

Ok, now let’s examine if UNM’s students need their parents peering over their shoulder just like they did in high school. Its just brings tears to your eyes to see a state university not trust their students enough to allow them some space to screw up and learn a few lessons the hard way. Instead they have proclaimed they will never trust any student any further than they could throw one.

Pop Quiz: Do your parents have access to your transcripts and student record? Answer: No. Why: Because 99.99% of you were a legal adult when you began your degree (let alone six years later when you landed that B.U.S.) and it is your degree, not your mother’s, not your father’s, not your dead grandfather that endowed the education. High school has the training wheels of parents and counselors and over-bearing teachers to hold the student’s hand all the way through. High school is the time for intervening before students screw up in unimaginable manners. And there is a time and a place for everything . . . say it all together, its called college.

In college, mom isn’t there to throw you out of bed and on to the bus. In college, mom isn’t there pestering you about completing homework assignments and preparing for tests. If you want to be a full-on worthless lush who does nothing, you absolutely can. And if this just happens to lead to failure, then that is exactly what the student receives.

The average age of a student at UNM is 26 (26.45 if you want to be a dick about it) Will the average 26 and a half year old’s mother be joining Janet for this parents’ club? Will PhD candidates’ parents also be involved? What if the student is paying for all of his or her tuition, will he or she then have the power that the parent’s would have had? After all, this board was created because the parents wanted to have some form of instant gratification for the checks they write to UNM. If the parents aren’t paying anything, where do they buy in to this whole process? The board is made up of 19 members, how helpful can they be to the 20,000 undergrads?

There are good ways and bad ways for parents to be involved with their child’s education. A PTA-like organization for a college is not on the side of good. It is a good thing UNM still stands for University Near Mom -- she won’t have to travel too far to help improve the university experience.

Wait, what were we talking about?

Enough of the ranting, let’s all enjoy a hearty laugh from the bottom of our bellies at the expense of Campaign Clin-ton. In all of the fun media pundits have had debating the significance and impact of Bill Richardson’s endorsement, they overlooked the true consequence of his action. Through the light news weekend, his saturation of the political coverage helped America forget about the last man that was stood up next to Obama. Clinton has tried to rekindle the smothered flame of the Rev. Wright scandal to no avail. Its dead and forgotten and was handled masterfully by the Obama campaign.

Instead of worrying about what a passionate black preacher was saying on Sundays, people are now outraged at Hillary’s bold faced lies about her trip to Bosnia. She described her journey to the region a year after the war had ended as a harrowing adventure through sniper fire. The video cameras that were trained on her and Sheryl Crow as they comfortably strolled through the former war zone told a much different and more accurate story.

Clinton has apologized for ‘misspeaking.’ Translated into real terms, a direct admission like that so quickly is a full acknowledgement that she was caught in a lie and there was no where to go. Damn those media! They’re always there at all the wrong times covering your politically-inspired trips to former war zones to burnish your foreign policy credentials.

There’s so much more. Big Bill’s Easter weekend media bonanza created a kink in the line and there’s all kinds of top-notched ridiculousness still to come. Can you guess which convicted murderer is running for Congress? Barack Out With My Cock Out will have the answer to that as well as coverage of the movie Hillary doesn’t want you to see or me to promote.

Backward Lobbying and Big Bill's Big Endorsement

2008-03-23T20:30:00.004-06:00

The Nut:
Instead of politicians receiving plush treatment from lobbyists, both Republicans and Democrats have been accused of trying to buy votes at primary conventions. The newest development is accusations against Don Wiviott and Ben Ray Lujan – candidates for congress in northern New Mexico – that they purchased hotel rooms and food for their delegates. Not nearly as serious as the allegations by former governor, Dave Cargo, that Heather Wilson and Darren White paid delegates $35 per hour and covered their $30 registration fee. Bill Richardson tried to bury his endorsement of Barack Obama over Easter Weekend. He echoes the call for Clinton to end her campaign for the sake of party unity. Clinton supporter and politico James Carville remembered the holiday season as he attacked the move comparing Richardson’s support to Judas selling out. . . hooray for James’ clever attempt at smearing Big Bill. There’s no negative campaigning going on here.

Lobbying gone backwards

First, Heather Wilson and Darren White’s campaigns were accused of paying delegates to the Republican Bernalillo County Pre-Primary convention. Now, after the Democrats have held their statewide Pre-Primary Convention, congressional candidates are again being accused of being a little overly kind to its supporting delegates.

Don Wiviott and Ben Ray Lujan – the two leading candidates for Northern New Mexico’s congressional seat – are both taking hits for being too overly funded and for dispersing their campaigns’ funds in possibly illegal manners. Lujan was blasted for purchasing delegates food at the convention, as well as utilizing fancy headsets to communicate with staffers at the convention. Wiviott has admitted to paying for hotel rooms in Rio Rancho for delegates who came in from around the state.

This story has not attracted much attention yet because it very routine to provide food to convention delegates. This year’s convention was actually slightly unusual in that the Santa Ana Star Center did not allow campaigns to bring in the normal lavish spreads that they traditionally lay out. It is a normal tradition for campaigns to bring bottles of water and any other kind of food or comforting item for delegates to help them survive the afternoon of speeches.

Purchasing hotel rooms is not as traditional, nor as nominal. When campaigns shower delegates with food, they may give them up to $10 worth of grub. . . its doubtful they got such a good deal on the hotel rooms. Go have your own debate on how much money a delegate’s vote is worth. Consider this though. If a campaign is going to pay for a person to stay the night in a hotel so they can attend a convention the next day, do you think they would purchase a room for just anyone or would they only foot the bill for guaranteed supporters?

All of these allegations pale in comparison to the charges against Wilson and White that they paid delegates $35 per hour and covered the $30 registration fee for them to attend the Bernalillo Pre-Primary Convention. While the hotel rooms are of the same monetary value, the direct payment to a person for their vote is nothing similar to identifying a supporter and then providing them with a means to attend the convention. . . none of the Republicans at the Bernalillo convention incurred $70 in expenses as they attended.

If you’re upset about this story, you’d better get on the phone to Gary King. The Attorney General’s office has already said it would not investigate any of the allegations.

Big Bill’s big support of Obama

How do you make big news, quieter news? Religious holidays! In the first hours of Good Friday Bill Richardson sent his supporters his endorsement of Barack Obama. As a holiday weekend campaigns normally avoid working on approached, Richardson attempted to make the normal rounds that such a big endorsement brings in as quiet a manner as possible.

Barack Out With My Cock Out has discussed how Richardson was stuck between endorsing the family that made his career – the Clintons – or being accused of betraying them and endorsing the man that will have a job to offer him at the end of it all. Richardson recognized that the primary race is decided and that there is no longer any risk in publicly stating his support so he did just that. He still didn’t want to make it any bigger of a deal than necessary. So on Friday of a week that campaigns forbid their staffs from annoying voters, Richardson came out with his opinion.

He tried to bury the reports of his support because he knew he would become the punching bag for attacks against Obama. He also saw the charges of traitor coming. As soon as he weighed in, James Carville, another surrogate supporter of Hillary Clinton retorted by comparing Richardson’s support of Obama to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. Expect CNN and MSNBC to spend the next day fighting over which side wins this trade of blows. Also expect them to say that it goes Obama’s way.

Richardson’s support has been labeled as a way to curry support with Hispanics, but you should not expect too many people to come aboard simply because of the endorsement. However, if played properly, the back and forth during the announcement should win Obama a point or two. The shift in support isn’t from Richardson’s endorsement, its from voters seeing people like Carville making heartless attacks against Richardson. Bill is also helped to shift the focus from Rev. Wright and onto Richardson’s decision to leave behind the pattern of Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton in favor of that intangible sparkle of hope. With it being a weekend that normally takes people away from the news, it will significantly help Obama avoid losing support.

If there are people that will support Obama directly because of Richardson’s endorsement, expect anti-war advocates, moderates and very active Democrats that are still on the fence to follow Big Bill’s lead. Richardson caught voters’ attention by taking the most aggressive stance on ending the war. He also won his support from moderate Democrats and many Republicans, as well.

His presidential bid fizzled when voters showed that they wanted a new leader that did not come from the traditional circles of power. His supporters saw his unmatched foreign policy experience, record of cutting taxes and creating jobs and came to his side because of his ability to site accomplishments for any constituency. While they may be few and far between, there are plenty of well-read politickers that know of New Mexico’s Governor and his long career of public service.

More articles to read:

Obama has reclaimed lead in national preference poll:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/105529/Gallup-Daily-Obama-Edges-Ahead-Clinton.aspx

How to conduct a proper political scandal:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/03/23/foreman.scandal.etiquette.cnn

Obama fighting back:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/21/obama-camp-says-clinton-deeply-flawed/

NYTimes highlights McCain’s political infidelities:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/us/politics/24mccain.html?hp

Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $1 Million

2008-03-19T13:48:00.004-06:00

The Nut:

Obama’s speech against the attacks on his pastor won’t go away. Now everyone’s debating how the speech went and running in circles. Eliot Spitzer’s favorite lady that’s not his wife missed out on a cool mil from Girls Gone Wild because they already have plenty of footage of her shaking her tatas. And back home in NM, state senate, house and PRC candidacies were filed. Sen. Robinson deserves a little extra support in assuring his re-election. Oh, and a happy 5th anniversary to the biggest waste of our tax dollars ever!

Who wants some beads?

Its Spring Break and even if it wasn’t, we’d still be fully fed up with this worthless focus on Obama’s pastor. If you really can’t enjoy a week that is traditionally reserved for intoxicated debauchery, go read that first amendment to the Constitution that tells religion to take a hike. Unlike Bush’s Administration, Obama respects the Constitution and will heed its restrictions on bringing his religion into office. If you want to blast a President for chosing the wrong spiritual advisor, give President Bush a call and ask him why he relied on a meth-head that solicits male prostitutes to guide his faith-based initiatives.

Luckily for us, Barack Out With My Cock Out has Marquis Solis to report in from South Padre Island the news that Ashley Dupre, the hooker that helped Eliot Spitzer throw away his political career, just missed out on $1 million. Fresh out of jail, Joe Francis offered her a full mil to be featured prominently in upcoming Girls Gone Wild videos and magazines. Luckily, he has some smart interns scouring the archives and not just focused on everything below the neck. Just as he laid the offer on the table, he pulled it away. It turns out that he doesn’t have to pay for something he already owns. Yep, she was featured in the 2003 GGW Spring Break video shaking what she’s got.

Barack Out With My Cock Out has found the censored video here. Barack Out With My Cock Out doesn’t care to find the uncensored action firstly because the internet is double-stuffed with beautiful girls showing themselves off. Also, Ashley was only 17 at the time of the video and while we’re not into grannies over here, we do draw a firm line in the sandy beach and on our side only adults party. But a great kudos to Marquis for finding the singular important piece of news of Spring Break Week.

“Liberal Bloggers Put Positive Spin Obama’s Speech On Race”

No they didn’t. They reported what he said. They reported how he reaffirmed that he is a strong independent mind that denounces hateful rhetoric and loves our nation. We’ll say it again, get over it!

Testing the waters

Anyone wishing to be referred to as Senator, Representative or Commissioner filed their paperwork yesterday. Most of the primary match-ups that materialized will be meaningless forays into the political arena, but there are a few to watch. Most notable is liberal Tim Keller’s desire to unseat veteran Senator Shannon Robinson.

Tim can be commended for holding the right ideals in mind. He supports improving our healthcare and education systems as well as finding renewable sources of energy. Our only problem with his candidacy is that he is everything Senator Robinson is, without the power to get these things done.

Sen. Robinson is the go-to Senator for anyone involved in the New Mexico film industry. Losing his support of the Governor’s film initiatives could cripple an industry that is just getting off the ground in our state. Robinson was in the lead to kill the bill to cap tax incentives for films. If the bill had gone through, all of movie stars would have gone straight back home to L.A.. Massive infrastructure is under construction in the Mesa Del Sol development as well as many other places and if the incentives would have been capped, these buildings would have been left as nothing more than a ghost town.

It is agreed, Sen. Robinson and all of the other Democratic Senators need to be reminded that they support providing quality health care to all New Mexicans and that if the Governor puts his name on a project to do that, they should support such a measure. It is good to see Tim learn how painful being a candidate can be, but it is unfortunate if he thinks he can unseat a long time advocate of progressive ideals.

For those readers that like the excitement of blockbuster movies being filmed in your backyard or enjoy the pay check you receive for your contributions on them, maybe you should give Jon Hendry a call and see how you can get involved in defending Sen. Robinson’s seat and your own job.

Pastors, Florida and State Conventions

2008-03-18T18:48:00.001-06:00

The Nut:
The right-wing talking heads reached a new low trying to defame Obama by tying him to colourful remarks made by his church’s pastor. It’s a sad character attack, don’t buy into it or encourage it. Its nothing to worry about or consider. Florida decided against conducting a new election to ensure their delegates are seated. They press the DNC to accept the Jan. 29 results or abandon the state in the general election. Everyone should thank the selfish Florida Democrats that just betrayed the party and screwed everything up even more. The NM Pre-Primary conventions were held on Saturday. Heather Wilson lost her first election since her political career began to Steve Pearce. Other than that, it was a boring day.

Obama Defends Pastor

Before we explain why Barack Obama shouldn’t have to defend the words of his pastor, we will explain why we do not have to explain why we didn’t post yesterday. The feds may not know it, but St. Paddy’s Day is as high of a holiday as any other and deserves as much respect. Anyone that made it to Oniell’s, O’Malley or any other bar with an O in it knew that there was no room for political discussions in the packed pubs. It’s a day of celebrating not picking bitter fights over politics. After enjoying a three-day weekend, we’re back right on time. Happy hangovers to everyone!

Attack after attack has failed and all of the people that fear the Presidency of Barack Obama are proving that there’s no low, low enough to keep them from attacking him. The latest attempt to derail his ride to the White House is the release of tapes showing Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ, making inflammatory remarks criticizing the leaders of the United States for their abuse of power and neglecting the racial divide. The attackers know how powerful this charge is. They know if handled poorly, Obama could alienate the black voting bloc or many white supporters by standing too far or near to Rev. Wright.

The baseless attacks gained enough steam to force Obama to make a public speech affirming his membership in the church and his friendship with Rev. Wright while acknowledging that he strongly disagrees with many of the Reverend’s views. Why a candidate would have to apologize for his pastor’s views is beyond me. Barack Obama is a Democrat and therefore, we can trust his ability to think for himself. He subscribes to a faith possibly because it gives him moral strength, possibly because this nation has failed to elect anyone who does not pray to Jesus to its highest office. Yes, I’m suggesting his membership in this church could be purely political posturing. I’m also stating with 100% certainty that Barack Obama is a wise enough man to take Rev. Wright’s extreme ideas with a grain of salt.

Get over it. Wait, lets first acknowledge that the Reverend has very strong points about the continuing racial divide in our nation that is constantly downplayed. Let us recognize that anyone who dedicates their life to helping people and witnesses acts of violence and hate that come from people’s prejudiced hatred of another person has full reason to be outraged. As the Reverend suggested, damn any person that allows this pathetic behavior to further itself. Damn any organization that institutes policies that take advantage of a group of people they find lesser than themselves. Damn any radio jockey who is ignorant enough to think we live in a fully egalitarian society where black, white, brown, gay, straight, man and woman all enjoy an equal footing. Ok, now get over the attacks by AM talkers who can’t find a more ethical way to boost their ratings.

You are a weak gullible fool if this attack influences your vote. Four angry sound bites are chump change in a political campaign.

Florida Nixes Re-vote

Look south and to the east to find an idiot or two to relentlessly blast with attacks against their character. Florida Democrats pondered conducting a new primary election to ensure their state’s delegates would be seated and decided in favor of the Republican Party. They chose to forego conducting another vote in favor of saving the money and gambling that the DNC will cave and let the delegates in.

As we have discussed before, Florida, as well as Michigan, knows that their delegates will be seated, it is just a question of how we will get there. Rather than doing the right thing and conducting an election within the DNC’s rules, they are again gambling that the nominee will be decided before the convention and that their delegates will be welcomed in since the vote will not matter.

It is a risky move, but should prove to pay off in the end. But if there are still issues, the nation can turn to Florida Democrats when McCain claims the state in the general election and the White House. A $10 million bill to conduct a new election is a very fair penalty for their violation of the DNC rules. They should just pay it, have a vote and be done with this issue already. But who likes to swallow their pride?

State Pre-Primary Conventions

What a snoozer. Two years ago Geno Zamora proved the odds-makers wrong and triumphed over son of New Mexico’s favorite Govenor, Gary King and that creepy D.A. from Grants, Lem Martinez. Ok, that’s pretty boring, too.

The highlight of Saturday’s Democratic and Republican Pre-Primary Conventions was Heather Wilson suffering her first loss since the beginning of her political career as Steve Pearce Captured 55% of the votes. Despite Wilson’s best efforts to stack the odds in her favor, Pearce’s support amongst the party insiders gave him the victory.

The other results came in as expected. Martin Heinrich easily won the top spot on the ballot in the first Congressional District. Bill McCamley took the top spot on the CD-2 ballot with Harry Teague close behind. And Ben Ray Lujan is atop the northern congressional seat’s ballot with Don Wiviott doing better than expected.

The conventions are now a bash for the party insiders with any of its actual impact reduced if not eliminated. It is a time for the candidates to pay special attention to those most concerned with the party and get them nice and prepped for the fight through the primary and into the general election. The vote determines the order they appear on the ballot and if a candidate fails to win 20% of the vote they are sent back out on the streets to gather more nominating signatures. No candidate has ever won a primary after failing to earn 20% at the Pre-Primary convention so it as used as a barometer for people to begin to determine how they will align for the primary.

Well, go pick your corner and start knocking on some doors.

Cheap Seats and Dates

2008-03-13T10:53:00.003-06:00

The Nut:

Florida is getting very close to holding a new Presidential Primary election. It will cost between $10-12 million and will be a mail-in ballot. All likely outcomes will help Clinton, unless Obama pulls off an upset, which could be the final blow to the Clinton campaign. Obama won the Mississippi primary in a very racially divided vote. Rush Limbaugh tried to take credit for getting Republicans out to support Hillary and extend the primary fight. Racial issues and slurs are the talk of the week as a Clinton supporter denigrated Obama's success by saying its only because he is black. Eliot Spitzer resigned his office of Governor of New York and now looks to skirt any of the criminal charges in the case. Pun enjoyed, but not intended.

Florida’s $10 million mulligan

Florida Democrats are getting closer and closer to officially announcing that they will take a mulligan on their rebel pre-Feb 5 election and have their voters re-voice their opinion on their preference of candidate. To the tune of $10-12 million dollars Floridians are readying a new election to make sure their delegates are seated at the National Convention.

It is incredibly important to the Democratic Party that these delegates be seated. An embittered Florida in November is one of many things John McCain needs to pull off the unimaginable upset. Maybe ‘unimaginable’ isn’t the right word after witnessing John Kerry and Al Gore be defeated by a coke-headed, DWI-convicted party boy. Either way, the Democrats must kiss and make up with Florida and Michigan to make sure Barack Obama cruises to victory.

When Howard Dean punished the states for disobeying the DNC’s orders he did not do it to spitefully one-up the insubordinate states, he did it to show that the DNC’s rules do have teeth. We all know that he had every intention of seating the delegates once the race was decided and the convention vote was rendered worthless. But with a “no-end-in-sight” election playing on he has been forced to find a new solution to the problem.

Mail it in

The proposed solution is a mail-in election to be held by June 3. Now we must consider who this will benefit. Who are Obama voters and who are Clinton supporters? Most exit polls have shown older, slower, more “curmudgeonly” people support Clinton while Obama is bringing in votes from the more educated, less old, less traditional parts of the enfranchised electorate.

Remember all of that talk about “if it snows and ices, the old folks won’t go to the polls and Obama will win big?” Well, now the La-Z-Boy bound voters have an upper hand. While they may not run wind sprints, most are very religious about checking their mail (for many of them, it’s a highlight of their day) and they certainly know how to sit down and read through all of the directions of the mail-in ballot.

The Obama Bloc has not earned such high marks in the same categories. Thus, while Obama has many supporters eager to elect him, he will be losing many votes from people that didn’t take the time to go through all of the procedures necessary for the Secretary of State to claim that they conducted a fair, honest election with the voters’ privacy staying protected. At the same time, many Clinton supporters that may not have been physically capable to cart themselves down to a polling location will now easily be able to file their vote. Sure, there is always Absentee Voting, but how many of YOU are wise enough to have permanently signed up for it and avoided ever having to wait in a polling line again?

Should we even care?

Yes, otherwise they wouldn’t be spending $10 million on it. Wait, that’s a lie. They would spend $20 million if they thought it would be entertaining and their donors approved. It is likely that Clinton will win a close victory in Florida and nothing will be decided in the grand scheme of things. The delegate totals will stay too close for either to emerge with a definitive victory. Thus, it will still come down to the Super Delegates and they are aligning more and more in favor of Obama -- the winner of more delegates, more states and more total votes.

But worrying about that assumes you are foolish enough to expect the election to go all the way to the Convention. If Karma is watching, it should wrap up right around Memorial Day Weekend. Would that spiteful wrath of random chance be good enough for all of us in the other 48 states that heeded the DNC’s demands?

Seriously, does anybody care?

The Spinsters better have earned some overtime for the work they put in trying to find a way to make Mississippi’s Democratic Primary seem important. They point to exit polls that show that it was the most racially divided state with 92% of black voters choosing Obama.

Obama’s 61/37 trouncing of Clinton could have been much bigger. His supporters are crying foul over many white Republicans that participated in the Democratic vote to help Clinton and thereby extend the no-end-in-sight election. The racial undertones of the division of voters is sad, but we all know the sad truth that the South isn’t as integrated as other parts of our nation. . . So why worry about a state that is going to support McCain 90/10 come general election time?

Don’t get too upset. This has been done as long as there have been political parties. Earlier in this same primary election, the Daily Kos political blog organized “Democrats for Romney” in an effort to help him extend a no-end-in-sight primary battle on the Republican side. Rush Limbaugh takes credit for giving Hillary the bump by rallying Republicans to vote in the Democratic primary for her to extend the battle. Rush knows what we all know: Barack Obama will be our next President.

The difference between Republicans and Democrats: the R’s got out their tri-focals and brought their three person primary into a single person focus. Maybe the young hip Dems have a Lasic appointment scheduled.

The price of having fun

For those who thought Eliot Spitzer’s $80,000 bill for hookers was steep, his fornicating is costing him even more. The resignation Foxnews announced a day before it was, has finally come to be. Yes, that’s right. Foxnews jumped the gun and announced for New York’s Governor his resignation. But on Wednesday it became official and the state of New York readies to inaugurate its first legally blind black Governor.

If the intrigue of the $1000 an hour call girls has escaped you and you’re back to being stuck on Super Delegate totals, yes, this has a bearing. Eliot surrenders his Super Delegate status to Governor-designate David Paterson. And it just so happens that while Spitzer was carrying water for Hillary, Paterson knows that Obama is the junior Senator that we need as our next President. Go get the big board and take one from Hillary’s side over to Obama’s. I’m sure it was his campaign’s plan all along.

Four more whores! Four more whores!

Don’t think that the last pervert has been pulled out of the closet yet. Larry Flint has been threatening for years to release a long list of politicos that can’t stay faithful to their wife or beliefs. Larry Craig is still a Senator after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct charges after he tried to get a blow job in the wrong public bathroom from the wrong undercover cop. He is also up for re-election this year. We have months of time to expose every philandering hypocrite out there and Barack Out With My Cock Out is ready to report on every one of them.

Its just because he's black

I'm still too shocked at how patently racist and pathetic the Clinton campaigns comments on Obama's success were. Keith Olbermann summed it up perfectly with a 10 minute tirade on how pathetic her baseless attacks were. Hear him out.

Barack Out With My Cock Out will be back on Monday to recap all of the action from the NM Pre-Primary Convention and all of the other political fun of the weekend.

Turning New Tricks

2008-03-11T14:34:00.002-06:00

Barack Out With My Cock Out has learned a new trick. For those without the time, laptop power or attention span to read each day’s news in its entirety, we present to you an alternative. We have heard ideas from readers and all have echoed the tag line of EZ E’s “Gimme that Nut” and we are going to do just that. Every day we will present you The Nut. The Nut will be a brief summation of all that you need to know. Then reading further will be the background on the issue and an explanation of all of the events that have transpired. Everyone wins! Everyone can quickly learn what’s going on and those that want to know the full story will now be treated to more in-depth analysis of all of the fun. Don’t worry; we’re not going to start charging for the service.

The Nut:

Hillary’s new campaign pitch is for Barack to be her running mate. Barack has laughed this off and pointed out that she isn’t the one in the lead and doesn’t have an ability to make such an offer. McCain is slowly being forgotten as Hillary and Obama refuse to shift from the primary into the general election. As was predicted here on Barack Out With My Cock Out, he is receiving no attention as the media focuses on the conflict between Hillary and Barack. NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer got busted for trying to get a hooker and he’s probably going to resign and the story will be forgotten.

Be My Bitch

Our inside odds-makers blew their predictions on how long the primary campaign would last. All knowledgeable parties looked into the future and said we would have a long boring wait from February 6th until the Convention in August. They can have half credit for the Republicans getting their contest wrapped up within the month of February, but no points on the Democratic side. As Hillary and Barack continue pecking at each other hoping the other bird will fall they are running out of creative new methods to tactfully attack their opposition.

The latest underhanded insult to be spewed during a campaign rally came from former First Lady Hillary Clinton. As the second placed candidate in the Democratic contest rallied up her die-hard supporters she carefully tip-toed around the idea that the man that she has previously assailed for “not being ready to lead on day one” and being “ill-equipped to be President” could actually make a good President should she be unable to serve in the office. The best answer that has been given during the campaign when any candidate has been asked who they would have join them went like this: “I would chose a running mate that I think would make as good of a President as myself, if not better.” Does Hillary not worry about what could happen should she not be able to be Commander in Chief?

No, she doesn’t. As most VP’s have been chosen, Hillary sees Obama’s ability to bring new people into the process that previously have cared less about politics. She has seen her ass get kicked multiple times in many different states by this voting bloc of educated, young voters. She knows she needs to find an easy solution to a problem that is not going to be solved in a manner she likes -- with Barack winning the nomination.

No, Be MY Bitch

It took Obama’s staff a second to stop laughing at the gall of the second place candidate offering the leader of the race the second place job. Obama was quick to remind her of the silver medal that is draped around her neck. Interestingly, Obama did not extend the same invitation to her. Why would he? To be nice? She’s said a lot of not-so-nice things about him in the last year and to insult him by suggesting he yield to her trailing campaign is not only a slap to the face but flat out absurd.

Obama knows she’s dead weight. Go look at like-ability ratings for both of them. Look at the numbers now and look at the numbers one year ago. See how they’ve moved? Hillary had maxed out her popularity and support to begin the election. People either already liked her or hated her and many many moderate swing voters have directly said they’d never vote for her. It is not only Obama that knows that she is the last person to have riding shotgun on a presidential campaign, the DNC and the entire party is wise enough to find another candidate for the job.

Then who?

If not Hillary then who will Obama pick up to join him on the road to the White House (the real road, not CSPAN’s label for their bus)? Look west young man. The Democratic Party has much to gain west of the Mississippi. With a solid message on creating a real renewable energy revolution and a libertarian stance on social issues, states like Colorado, New Mexico, Montana and Nevada come into play. Almost every state but Utah and Arizona is worth considering in the 2008 general election with a western governor shoring up the ticket.

And which western governor would be that perfect match? No, not our own Bill Richardson. Let it go. It would be my first choice too, but we have to let it go. Look around the region and try out a few other long names. Try to pronounce the Governors of Oregon and Montana’s names. Ted Kulongowski of Oregon and Brian Schweitzer of Montana are two of many Democratic Governor’s of western states that could help establish Obama’s “western” credentials. . . whatever the hell those are.

Forget about Edwards, Hillary and every other Democratic presidential candidate. Forget about anyone who doesn’t have a big “D” attached to the end of their name. No Bloombergs, no one outside of the party. Its just not how it works. Any nominations?

Ver’ nice. . . how much?!

Speaking of Democratic Governor’s that won’t be Obama’s running mate, add Eliot Spitzer’s name to that list. While busting a big dollar prostitution ring, the FBI “accidentally” stumbled upon a well-known name in New York politics. Gov. Spitzer is accused of soliciting a prostitute and is expected to resign soon. The feds claim that they didn’t find him just through the wiretappings for the prostitution ring bust. They say the IRS was also curious about his movement of big cash and this also led them to his dark secret.

Implications shouldn’t reach too far. Unlike Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), Spitzer is owning up to his mistakes and is accepting the consequences. Staff members are rumored to have said that they are going through ‘transitional procedures.’ Spitzer is also a strong supporter of Hillary’s campaign and you can be sure that she won’t continue to roll with such a ‘dirty, dirty boy’ (probably what Craig would say about Spitzer’s actions. He said this about Bill Clinton in the 90’s during Lewinski-gate).

Moral of today: If you’re so horny that you need to call a hooker, keep the bill in the triple, not quadruple figures. Or you could just not cheat on your wife.

Coverage of the 48th most important primary election of the year tomorrow as Mississippi votes today.

My Money, My State, My Paper, My Time

2008-03-10T16:19:00.003-06:00

Don Wiviott and his own dreams

Self-financed candidate for Northern New Mexico’s Congressional Seat, Don Wiviott, has won his court battle and is being placed on the ballot for the June primary. Candidate Jon Adams’ claim that Wiviott failed to collect enough signatures was found invalid and the race will go on.

The next charge being leveled against Wiviott is that his funding has come from the wrong donors. Not big business or oil or lobbyists, not child abusers, thieves and crooks, the disputed cash came from the candidate’s own pockets. Wiviott has brought the Millionaire’s Amendment into play as he has given his own campaign almost $600,000. His opponents have banded together as they claim that ‘he is trying to buy a congressional seat.’

And I say, good! Great! What a perfect way to finance a campaign! Here’s the secret: Politicians run for office to see their name on the yard signs and in the news. They love themselves so much that the only way to obtain the necessary amount of affection is to be lavished in praise by voters and the media. There are two types of people that work in politics: people who sincerely want to do good and people who want to do good so they can take the credit for it. The former is a bureaucrat that thanklessly deals with constituents’ issues day in and day out and works to solve problems. The latter runs for office. Why not let the egomaniac pay for the attention that he demands with his own money? Or were you about to send him $2300 of your cash so you could learn how to pronounce his name correctly?

More candidates that bet their own cash on these elections should be commended. . . even Mitt Romney. Don’t be foolish enough to ask the tired question of “why would a candidate spend $600k of his own money to get a job that doesn’t pay half of that?” Just like athletes get paid ten-fold more in endorsement contracts than they do from their salary, politicians make much more money through their positions of power than they do simply from the office’s salary. Do you really think Wiviott wouldn’t be able to reclaim more than $600k with a seat at the table that determines who gets the tax incentives and who’s businesses get squashed? Any investor can tell you what that kind of inside knowledge can do to grow your portfolio.

So let him waste his cash away. People should commend Don Wiviott for investing $600,000 of his own money in northern New Mexico. Go question the candidates that have as much money through donors. Good luck unraveling the maze they have established of shady deals and obligations.

The most curious part about all of the shots being taken at Wiviott is that he is not leading the race. Son of NM House Speaker and former Chairman of the PRC Ben Ray Lujan is widely agreed to be far ahead of the pack. Are his people putting Adams’ camp up to this?

No, I won Texas!

Hillary won the primary vote. Barack looks like he’ll win the Caucus, but they’re still counting those votes. And thus, Barack should come out with the most delegates. So who gets to put the state in their column? Emails from both campaigns will tout their victory, but how will CNN color their map for Anderson Cooper’s ultra-futuristic demonstrations on the green screen? Will Hillary remind voters of a similar election in 2000 when one candidate won the overall vote, but not the office?

The race may have quieted a bit compared to the buzz going around this time last week, but don’t expect her to pass up an opportunity for such an effective low blow. Democrats still remember the election Bush stole through a system that didn’t rely on straightforward votes and they won’t be eager to endorse any similar tactic. But wait, will they even hear her whine? Every other complaint she has brought against Barack has fallen on deaf ears.

Feeling the Loss

Barack Out With My Cock Out was begun to serve an under-informed electorate in New Mexico. As it began, the Albuquerque Tribune stopped its presses for good and shut down a 100-year operation. The loss of an alternative to the conservative-leaning ABQ Journal was felt last week as accusations of scandal spread across the web.

As we reported on Friday, Heather Wilson and Darren White, candidates for Senate and House, respectively, were accused of buying votes at the Bernalillo County Convention. All local media ignored allegations of Fourth Degree Felony Charges with exception to one reporter. Laura McCallum quit her job of News Anchor at 770 KKOB because after being the only reporter to come with the story, News Director, Pat Allen pulled it because not enough blogs had picked it up. . . his words, not mine. The story was pulled following a phone call from a blogger, no less! After Whitney Cheshire -- Campaign Manager for Heather Wilson’s Senate bid and former writer a hard-right blog -- cried to the station that had always gone to bat for Republicans, Allen followed their favorite congresswoman’s desires and pulled the story.

The Albuquerque Journal finally covered the story in Sunday’s edition, but their coverage wasn’t anything that will get them nominated for a Pulitzer. Rather than discussing the allegations against Wilson and White, the seven-paragraph story recapped that Laura surrendered her job in the name of ethical journalism. It is a tragedy to see a state relegated to such shoddy news coverage. One would think that the current technology would allow for more issues to be covered in a more comprehensive manner. Unfortunately, those dreams were simply that: a figment of our imagination.

To fulfill the duty of the Journal, KKOB, KOAT, KOB-TV and even KRQE, know this: Heather Wilson and Darren White are accused of paying the entrance fee for their voters as well as giving them $35 per hour that they spent at the Bernalillo County Convention. This is big, front-page-worthy news because those charges are fourth degree felonies. This is especially important because Darren White currently is sits in the political office of Sheriff and, as I’ve been informed, the Sheriff is supposed to stop crimes, not commit them.

Bushy Brilliance

For those that were an hour late to work this morning, I feel your pain and offer a more in-depth excuse than the expected “I just didn’t know to change my clock” line. My household actually didn’t have a single clock that needed resetting. The oven’s timepiece has eluded us and still flashes “12:00” and everything else was jumped forward by the internets and the invisible hands that guide them. However, thanks to last year’s energy bill that extended day light savings time, not all clocks knew to change this weekend. So use caution as you manually update your computers and phones -- they could get updated again in another couple weeks. Unfortunately, your boss won’t buy that excuse -- if it gets moved up a second time, you’ll find yourself at your desk an hour early, not an hour behind and no one deserves that. Thank you Mr. President for proving that you can control time.

Fools and 4th Degree Felonies

2008-03-07T12:50:00.006-07:00

New Mexico Catch-Up Day

Too much has transpired in New Mexican politics this week. Let’s briefly go through the happenings of the state. The Governor made his final decision regarding the Red Light Cameras. Republicans have been caught stealing again. Congressional campaigns get ugly in all three districts and more and more and more.

Fool me once. . .

When you fool the Governor, you can’t fool him again. And if you try to, he’ll make you cry. After a year of promises of “don’t worry, we’ll take care of that,” Governor Richardson relieved Mayor Marty of his worries and took care of the excessively punitive Red Light Camera program.

“While I appreciate the Mayor’s concerns and the city’s last-minute effort to compromise, I believe the Legislature spoke loud and clear when it overwhelmingly passed this bill for the second straight year,” Big Bill explained as the state reclaimed lost revenue and lowered the fines for irresponsible motorists.

This can’t be the very end of Marty’s hit and miss political career. Will he re-re-kindle his dream of ruling the state from the fourth floor or has he tired of being everyone’s least favorite Democrat? We will be the first to bring you news of his next pet project designed to restore voters’ faith in him and reenergize his chances of being showered in enough votes to sit in another elected office.

4th degree felony allegations against Wilson and White

Usually parties try to keep their intra-party politics quiet and within the party. The Republican Party of New Mexico is working as hard as they can to keep the events of the Bernalillo County Pre-Primary Convention hushed. Unfortunately for Heather Wilson and Darren White, word is out about a scheme to pay delegates $35 per hour as well a cover the $30 registration fee.

First, a tip of the hat goes to the newly discovered political coverage of Dennis Domrzalski. Dennis has the connections and knowledge of Joe Monahan with a few expletives and honest critiques of the idiots we all assess each day. Check him out.

Also, before we discuss the felony charges, let’s highlight the desperation of RPNM. Democrats of New Mexico do not charge you to attend their convention to voice your opinion on candidates for office. Its sad to see a party be forced to charge people at the door in order to balance their books. Passing the hat is typical of ward and county level conventions, but still, no one drops $30 bills in.

Back to the business, Heather Wilson and Darren White stole a play from the Iowa Republican Presidential Straw poll last weekend. In Iowa, the state Republican Party runs a straw poll in the beginning of the primary season as a fundraiser for the party. Since there is no true significance of it, voters have to be bribed all the way around in order to win their vote. The entrance fee is paid (again, what's with the automatic charge?) and the campaigns spend copious amounts of money wining and dining their supportive voters.

So why can’t Heather Wilson and Darren White -- candidates for Senator and House, respectively -- do that too? Because it’s a fourth degree felony. . . and a pathetic sign of desperation. Heather is losing ground to southern NM congressman Steve Pearce in a race that was hers to lose. Why Darren White felt vulnerable enough to go along with the ploy is probably explained by his close ties to Wilson. Heather obtained her house seat thanks to Senator Domenici. In turn, as Heather departs to seek Domenici’s old seat, she is anointing White the heir to the Albuquerque House seat. And while White is in the clear in his primary campaign, he still owes support to Wilson and her illegal ideas.

Former Governor Dave Cargo leveled the accusations against the two campaigns. When he asked for their names and how they would like to get involved with the party, they told him directly that they would not be attending anything in the future, that they were paid to be at that meeting to cast a vote for Wilson and White and to go on their way. He saw 50+ people show up at a meeting that he usually expects less than a dozen and didn’t recognize any of them as normal activists.

Wilson’s campaign spokesperson Whitney Cheshire, author of the abandoned attack dog blog Wednesday Morning Quarterback, has denied the charges up and down and points the finger at an embittered Cargo that did not get elected as a delegate.

Self-Proclaimed “News Leader” 770 KKOB

Albuquerque lost a prominent political reporter through this scandal. Laura McCallum tried to adhere to 770’s moto as the “News Leader” of New Mexico as she broke the story. But Pat Frisch, Jim Villanuci, Pat Allen and all of the other RPNM apologists running the strongly conservative news station yanked the story claiming it had not be corroborated by enough blogs and other news agencies.

Add barackout to the list of sources crying foul and demanding a full inquiry into the allegations. Sloughing off the responsibility of hard-hitting reporting on to the backs of all of the other worthless television and print news outlets of the town is a pathetic excuse for a political bias. Take away their title of News Leader. Their ties to the Republican Party are as strong as the signal that reaches almost to Denver. Simply because they have the strongest signal in the state does not mean they have real reporting or information to provide to New Mexicans.

What about finding a balance? Clear Channel has been accused of not entertaining any idea of hosting a local drive time show on liberally inclined 1350 Air America. Why would they want to invest all of the money that goes into conducting comprehensive coverage any way?

Laura McCallum deserves multiple awards for her firm stance in defense of real, unbiased, uninhibited coverage of the news. None of the news stations or papers have covered this story in the least. Hopefully the gatekeepers will explore what transpired at the Bernalillo County Convention and not follow Pat Allen’s lead.

Best New Law

Before everyone pencils in SB 442 for “best new law” in the Best of Burque Survey, there are many, many more laws on the books. For those that believe politicians do nothing, time would be wisely invested reading through the lists of new legislation that will govern our state. You might even find a tax break in there for yourself! And as you're filing out your Best of Burque, don't forget to give a nod to barackout and its new angle on New Mexico politics.

It’s a gorgeous Friday. We’ll get to Wiviott’s big bucks and the tame commercials that they purchased on Monday. Get off the couch you bum!

Re-writing the History and Legal Books

2008-03-06T14:12:00.003-07:00

Give me a mulligan

Almost a year ago the DNC came down with an iron fist on Florida, Michigan and any other state aspiring to enjoy the attention bestowed upon the earliest primary states. That tough talk has softened as the general election approaches and Howard Dean remembers how important the electoral votes from those states can be.

Last summer, after the DNC stated that no state other than New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina or Nevada should voice their preference on the presidential candidates before February 5th 22 states heard Dean’s request and scheduled their primary or caucus on Feb. 5th. But Michigan and Florida refused to be lost in the clutter and moved their elections into January.

In May, Florida’s legislature moved their primary to Jan. 29 with a bi-partisan vote. State Democrats attempted to point the finger of guilt at the GOP-controlled legislature, but a review of the vote will show few Democrats opposing the bill. Every Florida official that would appear on the national news to discuss the move would repeat a similar line stating “we could not do anything about this and the voters could not do anything about this, but it is what the voters wanted anyway.” Digested, that translates to meaning “the voters would have moved it up if we let them vote on it, if we Democrats were the ones in charge, we still would have moved it up, but none of us feel we should be punished for directly violating the rules laid out for primary elections.” Feel no sympathy for people who shoot themselves in the feet. A discussing of improving the primary system will be address on another day.

The DNC pondered it over the summer and decided on Aug. 25 that they would not count the state’s delegates at the National Convention. Michigan didn’t flinch and five days later mocked Florida’s shy maneuver and jumped all the way up to Jan. 15 -- at the time, only one day after New Hampshire was scheduled to vote. Most of the candidates that were not a spouse of the party’s last President showed their support of the national party’s decision and withdrew their name from the ballot in Michigan. Clinton, Dodd and Gravel chose the other side of the gamble and bet on the two defiant states.

Come January, the two states held their elections that they knew would elect no delegates and Clinton handily won both contests. While she did not technically break the DNC rule that no candidate actively campaign in either state, even her campaign would agree that she was much more friendly to the state than any other candidate.

Let’s just be friends.

Now with elections in the past and most people ready to shift from primary mode into the general election, the DNC is faced with the challenge of making good with the states it was accused of “disenfranchising.” Dean and the DNC’s logic was that the election would be decided on Feb. 5th and then the DNC could then welcome the FL and MI delegates back in and there wouldn’t be any hard feelings.

The election now stands in a position where neither candidate can eclipse the magical 2025 threshold and individually secure the nomination. I don’t have Anderson Cooper’s slick touch screen that shows how delegates would be apportioned, but I watch him and many other anchors dole out the delegates and the race stay in the same position -- Obama with a 100 delegate lead, but never securing the win. Whether Hillary or Barack wins every remaining state, the race will stand in the same position.

It is still wise to not be foolish enough to believe that this stalemate will not be overcome before the convention, but how it happens is a most difficult question to address. Florida and Michigan think they know they answer. Many national leaders (fingers have pointed at Hillary’s supporters) have suggested the states be allowed to conduct another primary or caucus and use those results to elect delegates that would be seated at the national convention. Since when are there mulligans in politics? This is the U.S. Open, not the Pitch N’ Putt (quite literally).

But something must be done. If Florida and Michigan stay mad at the Democratic Party, the loss of their electoral votes will be an enormous hurdle for Obama to overcome. Clinton should not have as big of problems regaining their support since she tried to support their case last year. But we know who the eventual nominee will be.

“Hey Blue! You suck!”

When you’re losing a game . . . let’s call it the US Open . . . and you are unable to comprehend that you are losing because your team is inferior to your opponent’s, then you are left with only one choice: Blame the refs. Hillary is a Clinton, a Senator and wife to our beloved past President. She’s championed all of the liberal causes while very carefully shoring up her bi-partisan record with a vote for a flag burning amendment or an unnecessary war here and there. She has been the presumed nominee for the last three years. And she’s losing to a freshman Senator? It has to be the ref’s fault.

So Campaign Clin-ton has pointed their fingers all at the media and whined to them like a little league baseball coach about their officiating of the press. She accuses the media of calling more fouls on her and her past actions than on Obama’s. She clamed that she had been fouled numerous times by the Obama without anyone blowing a whistle and that she has been stopped for far smaller infractions.

Obviously, Senator Clinton didn’t have the pleasure of ever officiating a youth sporting event before she got to Washington. Any official of any sport could tell her that the trailing team is always allowed to get away with more than the one in the lead. She would also know that refs like blowouts as much as the fans do and that the refs are going to work toward leveling the playing field.

Speaking un-analogously, you should always expect the media to critique the leading candidate and/or incumbent the hardest. It is the media’s duty to do just this. For the first year of the campaign most polls across the nation showed Obama trailing Clinton roughly 40-20 with some margins as wide as 60-15. Who did you think the media was going to cheer for? Dodd? Now that Obama has taken the lead, he’s getting slammed just like Clinton, just like McCain, just like Romney and Huckabee. Fair is fair. Keep booing the refs, but don’t let one of the campaigns put you up to it.

Why does my hand always spell out ‘Floriday’ every time I spell the state’s name? Local coverage tomorrow on a Friday report to make up for Tuesday’s absence.

Hedging and Hugging

2008-03-05T12:58:00.003-07:00

Enter the Hedge Maze

Hillary Clinton’s media and political departments deserve a day off. The research and polling shops should pay for it. Going in to Tuesday’s primaries, every Clinton spokesperson was spreading the word that it would still be a victory if she were to only lose by a close margin. All of the efforts to lower the bar for her to continue the campaign proved unnecessary as she claimed victory in Ohio, Rhode Island and the Texas primaries. Her campaign had been spreading the word that she would continue on if it were a close race. The added padding has allowed her to continue forward unquestioned. This suggests that it could be an ugly denouement to the foregone conclusion: Barack Obama will win the nomination.

Voters in Vermont’s primary agreed with this and gave him their nod as did Caucus-Goers in Texas’ Second Act. Yes, Texans get to vote twice. If Iowa used the most-least democratic system for awarding its delegates, Texas utilizes the most-least-most democratic system. Moderately interested politickers are able to mail in an absentee ballot or vote in traditional fashion for their preference. Those worried that their vote will not go far enough can return at 7pm and stand in a caucus to demonstrate their support.

Obama’s campaign has enjoyed the grassroots organization that the popular “new” campaign normally receives. He has new voters not just showing up to cast a ballot, but attending rallies and getting truly involved with the election. Thus, he had the sincere supporters to win the more involved election -- the caucuses. This is an important factor to consider for general election time when he looks across the nation to people to do the ground work of winning an election.

Are we there yet?

Not hardly. Tuesday’s elections have provided Clinton with enough momentum to continue her campaign. If she had barely met the expectations of a “close defeat,” she would have felt heavy pressure to bow out and yield to the media darling that has brought out new support across the nation. With wins in two major states, she will demand that the Pennsylvania voters voice their opinion before she makes any move. Dreams of the primary being finished have been crushed.

Many statisticians point to the numbers as her biggest burden. Superdelegates aside, the 100 delegate lead Obama currently has is going to be insurmountable with the Democratic Party’s practice of apportioning delegates. Just as Huckabee was eliminated as he looked forward to winning many upcoming elections, Clinton sits in the same position. She will still win states across the nation, but she cannot cut into Obama’s overall lead.

How this plays for the three remaining contenders will be interesting. Will McCain be forgotten as the media hounds over the confrontation between Obama and Hillary? Will Obama and Clinton tear each other down as they secure the nomination? Will it really go all the way to the convention floor before the nomination is secured? Ok, we can shoot that ridiculous idea down. One of the two will emerge victorious with at least one state still waiting to vote.

McCain Embracing Defeat

Upon being formally crowned the representative of the Grand Ol’ Party, John McCain did what every savvy politician does -- he went to DC and embraced our popular President. Before he could even step out of the limo, Bush was at the door pulling him out to steal the big warm embrace that so many other candidates for public office have dodged. Remember when Bush came to help Sen. Domenici raise money for his legal defense at the Mayor of Los Ranchos’ home? Finished career or not, Pete still kept a few arm lengths between himself and the grim reaper of political careers and kept the cameras at the property’s edge (and then Bush’s motorcade killed a cop). But what does McCain have to lose. "I'd rather lose an election than a war," was McCain's way of rephrasing Huckabee's parting words as he ended his campaign: "I'd rather lose an election than abandon my moral values." I'd rather sit quietly than rip off a day-old phrase.

McCain supported Bush’s unpopular immigration reform. He has been singularly the staunchest supporter of the Iraq War and has no problem seeing troops stay in the region for another century. Maybe he cozied up to Bush to establish his conservative credentials. Maybe at 71, his eyesight couldn’t differentiate the Bush from a bush. When a reporter asked, “who could you benefit most by campaigning for them in the upcoming election” the lame duck squawked “If he wants me there, I’ll be there.” . . . will his phone ever ring?

Who else is coming with me?

Now that he has officially eclipsed the number of delegates needed to earn the nomination, his campaign turns to find some help. Yes, they want your money and will eagerly accept any major or minor credit cards, cash and checks, but they need another person to bring in the money. Running for president is a two man job at the very least and he now gets to survey the party that has, at times, tried to ostracize him and select someone to run along with him.

Names have been floating for months of who will be nominated as the GOP Vice Presidential nominee and shore up worries that McCain is too old, too liberal, too hawkish or too bald. Former Presidential Candidate and Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee’s name has been a popular pick to engender the support of people that vote as their pastor instructs. However, ‘popular’ doesn’t translate to ‘likely.’ Don’t be surprised if you don’t recognize the name of the VP choice. Did you know who Dick Cheney was in 1999?

Other possible names include Condo Rice (there is no “i” in Condoleezza), Rudy Giuliani and Steve Forbes. Safe money is on a pick that hasn’t muddied his name in a yearlong presidential primary race so scratch Rudy and Huckabee from that list. Steven Colbert was at the front of the line of celebrities volunteering their service. Roger Clemens and Chuck Norris have also been offered as suitable good ol’ boys that could round up younger voters that don’t appreciate the 71 years of experience John McCain brings to the table. How about Joe Liberman? The fellow Senators have collaborated on many pieces of legislation and the war support has to give Joe at least a semi.

Fighting Elves

If it wasn’t devastating enough to dash the dreams of Presidential Hopeful Dennis Kucinich before his presidential campaign got off the ground, Ohio Democrats made it more difficult than ever for Kuci to reassume his post in the House. Like our own Governor, he was attacked by his competition for neglecting the home while he trotted the globe pursuing the White House. Most confusing is the campaign of wannabe Congresswoman Rosemary Palmer who ran on an anti-war platform. Wasn’t Kuci the peacenik of all peaceniks?

Hooray for his 50-35 victory and for one more reason to tune in to CSPAN!

Is This the End?

2008-03-03T17:03:00.004-07:00

The Real Super Tuesday

It could all be over before you know it. How has the last year of the primary campaign treated you? Tomorrow could be the decisive day that anoints presumed nominees as the actual representative of the party. The campaigns know that it is now or never time. No one in the Democratic Party wants to see this fight continue within the party. It is time to rally against McCain. While the Republicans will vote tomorrow, their totals are already fairly moot. John McCain can theoretically be beaten, but this is the real election, not a political science classroom. Mike Huckabee should be mathematically eliminated after the votes are totaled tomorrow night. All polls point to the exit.

Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont will state their preference tomorrow and many leaders are saying that this will be the last election to watch before it is time to settle on a nominee. Republicans will be focused on the general election – Democrats will want to keep pace and figure out their race just as fast.

Barack and a Hard Place

And on Sunday our Governor, Bill Richardson kept fighting to hold his silence on his preference in the race. On CBS’s Face the Nation, Richardson continued his balancing act and kept his preferences to himself. And for good reason. The handful of voters that will follow his endorsement in the four states tomorrow are not worth alienation from the side he snubs. As discussed in Tuesday’s coverage, his endorsement of the Clinton is more likely due to his loyalty, but it shows him little chance of eventually paying off. Endorsing Obama – the predicted nominee by all odds makers -- is a general hit against his political loyalty but shows better promise of leading to a cabinet level appointment.

Richardson has played a very careful game of wavering between the candidates. In Iowa, he was accused of sending his non-viable supporters to Obama’s corner. In debates, his rhetoric on the importance of experience was interpreted as support for Clinton (maybe he was talking about his own experience? He had a lot of good stuff, after all.). “I may wake up tomorrow and do it. Then I may not,” Big Bill said. He is wise enough to wait this long, but is now joining the choir of voices asking for the loser of tomorrow’s elections surrender their pursuit of the nomination. Call it a quiet endorsement of Obama if you’d like . . . he’ll spin it right back the other way.

Political Home Remodeling Part 2

Facing an unresponsive electorate, Right Wing Radio, Campaign Clinton and any other Obama-fearing politician has followed up the “Kitchen Sink attacks” with a new fridge, dishwasher and oven. They know the urgency of the historic Super Tuesday states and how they are the end of this primary campaign. They also know that Obama is only gaining momentum and voters are continue to fall to his side despite the best attempts of Clinton’s campaign.

The shallow record only brought more people to support him. Rumors of Islamic schooling and pictures in a traditional Somali dress were not enough to scare people out of voting for him. Bill Cunningham recognized this urgency and went for the insult all political staffers have seen for the last year, but have been too ethical, too moral, too decent, too respectful . . . too politically correct to use. The right wing Cincinnati talker known for his inflammatory rhetoric and low brow attacks referred to Senator Obama by his middle name – Hussein.

According to a news man working in the city, the listening area has seen this cheap shot for what it is: a last ditch effort to save a failing campaign. While Cunningham would as easily insult Senator Clinton, he sees Obama as the unbeatable candidate that GOP knows he is. He says Cincy voters are ashamed of the attention and will not be swayed by the attacks. Surely a few people are ignorant enough to make the links and support Clinton from it. But as many will be turned off from voting entirely or will support Obama in defiance. He adds that it has passed and won’t weigh heavily on voters minds tomorrow. The Hussein Bomb has been dropped and the dust has settled, but accusations of an inability to fight the war on terrorism will persist through November.

If you appreciate having another angle of political coverage, you should share it with friends. Do some grassroots organizing and send them a message or give them a call. Or you can get democratic about it and vote for us for Best Local Blogger in the Best of Burque. This isn’t the end. . . you haven’t even begun to be annoyed with political commercials yet.

Fires, Bombs and Boredom

2008-02-28T13:42:00.005-07:00

Fire!

Early this morning Albuquerque lost not just a landmark, but one of the best medium-sized concert halls in the state . The El Rey theater endured serious injury as its sister saloon was obliterated. Before we all cry out “why couldn’t this happen to the theater at the other end of downtown” hear the plea from the owner, Kathy Zimmer.

Zimmer is reaching out to the community for help in rebuilding a venue that is not replicated in town. Luckily for her, she doesn’t own the theater at the other end of the downtown strip and we should all be able to remember how grateful we are every time our favorite bands comes to Albuquerque, but not the Sunshine Theater. Expect some major fundraisers to be put together and don’t misplace your checkbook between now and then.

Hopefully, local leaders like Martin Heinrich can take the lead in generating the support needed to restore the historic theater and keep the good times rolling. In-fill and responsible growth with respect to the historic landscape were key projects of the former City Councilor. He did well extending Nob Hill toward San Mateo with quality businesses as he shut down seedy motels that balanced their books with illegal operations. Maybe he can tap into the extra $7 million accrued by the Red Light Cameras to fund the restoration of a much-needed performance space.

Who did this?

On the other side of the soon-to-be ticket for Albuquerque’s Congressional Seat is the New Mexico for Bush Director and Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White. No doubt he will emphasize Albuquerque’s need for improved safety while shirking the responsibility a sitting sheriff would have for just that. The Albuquerque Journal has sold their copies in the last week with sensational stories on rising crime rates. This has led the political discussion to the debate on public safety. Will anyone hold his feet to the fire for being the sitting sheriff as crime stats moved in the wrong direction? Or will the voters buy his pitches that he is the right man to protect you and your children? And for anyone that wants to play devil’s advocate, maybe you should ask the sheriff why he would want to leave an office focused solely on public safety in exchange for being one vote in 435? Maybe being sheriff is about more than protecting your fellow citizens. . .

Bloomberg Bows Out

New York City's mayor has finally dropped the bomb and given a definitive answer on whether he will or will not pursue the white house. While this was not expected to happen before the D and R nominees were selected, it comes as no surprise. He had cozied up with Barack Obama and was thought to be working with the Illinois Senator. He was only expected to run if Clinton earned the Democratic nomination and now that it seems this will not be the case, he has thrown his political weight around in favor of Obama. People that have been holding their breath for his entry will now be forced to pick between Clinton and Obama.

Polls have shown from the beginning of the race that people do not support Clinton would not support Clinton if their personal favorite were not in the running. Slap your local reporter if you catch him or her asking Bloomberg if he would accept being Vice President. Of course he would, but none of the remaining candidates will extend such an offer. Remember what the two reasons to join a political party were? To vote in the primaries and run for office. As he is an independent politician, he will stay independent of any ticket. However, expect him to still play an active role through Election Day.

More local political fun

Get the statewide candidates Richardson Clearance for Saturday as they hit the road and glad-hand soon-to-be delegates at the county level pre-primary conventions. The most populous counties of the state will hold their conventions. Bernalillo (Albuquerque), Sandoval (Rio Rancho) Santa Fe (take a guess), Luna (Deming), Quay (Tucumcari) and Valencia (Belen and Los Lunas) will all confirm eligible attendees as they are showered in breakfast burritos, coffee, lapel pins and other campaign SWAG.

It is unfortunate for Luna and Quay that their meetings landed on the same day as four of the five most heavily populated counties in the state. All of the counties begin between 9 and 10:30 in the morning leaving minimal chance a candidate can make even two meetings. While there may be little to gain, a snub by a favorite candidate will surely lead to a loss of support in that county. . . who knows how that will translate in the slightly more important State Pre-Primary Convention. One thing is certain: sending a rookie staffer as your surrogate is a sure-fire way to write off that county’s support. Just ask Geno Zamora how he did in Valencia.

The winner of this weekend’s festivities will surely be the local businesses that provide all of the union-approved food and printed goods. The loser: anyone responsible for cleaning up after the convention. Most attendees will show up at 9:30, sign in, eat their free burritos and be on their way as soon as the convention begins at 10. It will be a lonely gym for those that have to tear down the thousands of signs and pick up the empty cups.

This step in the process is all theatrics with little to no implications. It is an opportunity for the candidates to have the most active members of the party gathered together and to solicit their support. And for the dirtier politickers, the official vote at the State Convention is public record and you can expect it to be held against you. For those dreading their morning at Cibola High, be grateful you don't have to pay to play like the Republicans. If you attend and are able to keep your clothing free of a campaign sticker without making anyone cry, please share your secret with all of us (and a photo to prove it).

Are you feeling left out of the process? Its probably too late to be a delegate this year, but you can find your county’s pre-primary convention on the New Mexico Democrats’ website. Insiders will have a full report on everything that happens at the Bernalillo Convention on Monday's blog.

Rough riding through Dodd Country and the Southwest

2008-02-26T17:22:00.002-07:00

Free Home Remodeling

Barack Obama’s campaign says they are receiving “the whole kitchen sink” attack from Clinton’s camp. The lull before the next round of primaries has turned into a free-for-all against the leading presidential candidates. Major “scandals and charges” are being levied against Obama and Sen. McCain as they try to wrap up their respective party’s nominations.

McCain is accused of accepting more than dinner and a round of golf from a female lobbyist. Obama is being slammed for his poor voting records in the Illinois and U.S. Senates. Emails are circulating with pictures of Obama sporting ethnic Somali attire. And amature voters everywhere are spinning in circles as they try to figure out what to think. Here’s what to think: the same thing you thought before these heartless attacks came out. Think less of the opposition making the accusations and enjoy brushing off most of what you hear in the next week. Tuesday night’s news might actually have something important to say, but lets not rush the vote counters, if they need an extra day to make sure they get it right, that’s fine.

Welcome to Dodd Country

Add another percentage point to Sen. Obama’s total. Barack Obama has conquered the presidential territory dubbed by Jon Stewart as Dodd Country. If all of Sen. Dodd’s green necktie lovers follow his endorsement and move in to the Obama Nation he can count on a solid 0-1% boost.

The nod from the former presidential candidate and long time senator is another punch for Obama’s campaign to throw, but they don’t expect to hurt Hillary with it. It is important for him to be able to point to “yet another high profile Democratic leader” that has endorsed him over the former first lady. It is doubtful that Texans or Ohioans are hinging their decision on this, but it could give a small nudge in the two smaller states that vote next Tuesday – Rhode Island and Vermont.

The Renaissance Governor

Obama tried to keep the ball rolling with former presidential candidates’ endorsements but Governor Richardson wasn’t having any of it. Big Bill has worked the national media circuit in the last week as he played hard to get. Semi-daily personal calls from Obama and watching the Super Bowl with Bill Clinton can’t sway him. He says if he’s going to pick a side during the primary it will happen within the next week and if you would like to host him on your Sunday morning news show to please contact Gilbert Gallegos.

He knows where he stands. Yes, he owes Clinton his endorsement. She won New Mexico’s Caucus and her husband made his career appointing him Ambassador and then Secretary of Energy. Simply endorsing Obama would be spun as a stab in the back to the family that enabled him to run for President in the first place. But he also sees where this election is headed. He knows there is no hurry and that Obama can still forgive him later. And if Clinton regains control of the race, he can still cozy back up to them. In the meantime the self-proclaimed Renaissance Man is going to focus on growing out the beard and signing legislation. Maybe we’ll see him atop his throne at the Lobo game tonight.

Meet the Handicap! Illegal ID’s and NM wins!

2008-02-25T23:28:00.002-07:00

Never Forget

Before anyone gets too excited by the polls showing likely nominee Sen. Barack Obama handily beating likely nominee Sen. John McCain, it would wise to shave that margin down to compensate for the perennial waste of a vote – Ralph Nadar. In a year where good looks and smooth words bring out record numbers of supporters a new chiseled face with a slick tongue has emerged.

Just as Rep. Dennis Kucinich likes to play with the big boys each year during the primaries, Nadar likes to tag along and sneak into the spot light during the general election. Citing the lack of press his name has received since the fourth time Americans laughed at his presidential candidacy, he tossed his crumpled hat into ring and proclaimed ‘by god, if Mike Gravel can get on CNN for a debate, why the hell can’t I?’

Tim Russert was the first television newsman to surrender valuable program time to allow Nadar to announce his desire to be loved by America and showered with the attention other real presidential candidates are receiving.

Many people have begun to forget about 2000 when he cost Al Gore and the Democratic Party the presidency and the war that was waged by the winner of that election. What better time to rekindle a political career and thwart another Democrat’s shot at the White House than now? Anyone who knows anything about government knows that the only office capable of doing good is the Oval Office and vying for anything less would be an insult to all that he’s done.

Never Remember

Since the days of fighting for unions and worker, the dark side has taken a hold of his political aspirations and he has developed an unhealthy obsession with public attention. Much like a stray dog begging for a morsel of food, the best way to deal with this pest is to give him no attention. Don’t acknowledge his presence. He’s not a candidate and should not be considered as such. With that being said, let us never mention or vote for his name again.

Is this thing sideways?

In the nation with one of the highest drinking ages, New Mexico has found a way to post-pone a 21-year-olds rite of passage a few extra days. Across Albuquerque many new patrons are finding their money unaccepted as they attempt to enjoy their first beer of their legal drinking career. Bouncers and bartenders have united in opposition to accepting vertically oriented ID’s and insist drinkers prove their old age with a document printed in a landscape orientation.

Missing in the article was a decent reason as to why a bouncer would be unable to read the ID’s made for persons not yet of age. The vertically printed ID’s are legal documents. They are still valid. They are printed by the state of New Mexico (and many others practice this same segregation of minors and geezers). They highlight in bold red print the date the person turns 18 as well as 21.

The only excuse the Journal offered was that bouncers couldn’t keep up and there was confusion between the dates for “Not 18 Until. . .” and “Not 21 Until. . .” Are the bouncers that are unable to add 21 to 1987 also unable to tell if the person looks like the picture on the ID? How are these same people able to determine a fake ID from a real one? And wouldn’t a daring underage drinker be wise enough to make his or her fake ID in the landscape layout? While this opposition to vertical ID’s was based upon the idea that it would be easier to tell a fake from a real ID, if anything, it will make it easier for fake ID’s to slip through a bouncer’s hands as they hurried to get the masses inside and bellied-up to the bar. After all, this was done because the bouncers and doormen couldn’t keep up.

Aside from the minor inconvenience of spending an afternoon at the DMV to get a replacement ID for the valid ID in your pocket, who pays for the 21-year-old’s new ID? Most birthday boys and girls still have an ID that is valid for a few more years -- should they be forced to buy a new one when their ID is still perfectly legal? During my last visit to the DMV, I witnessed one girl go through this same conversation with a clerk. The lady at the desk happily told her “if you don’t like the law maybe you can get the legislators to change it.”

. . . While we’re up there, we’ll be sure to get all of the clerks raises and longer breaks, too.

And the winner is New Mexico!

The state of New Mexico was able to indirectly brag as many locally filmed features took racked up nominations and awards at the Oscars. A program that began as a mechanism to create great job growth numbers in New Mexico had multiple nominees in most categories with No Country For Old Men leading the way.

Red Lights, Wayfaring Votes, Air Hockey and Debt

2008-02-21T18:15:00.002-07:00

Red Light Rewind

Almost keeping pace with the frequency of the light cycles, Mayor Marty has reneged his defiant statement and decided that, ‘in the interest of public safety’ he will continue to over-charge Red Light Runners and speeders who are apprehended by a snapshot rather than the traditional human law enforcers. Let us examine how our Mayor reached this conclusion beginning with the first camera at San Mateo and Montgomery.

Taxation Without Legislation

In 2004, Mayor Marty initiated the program to supply the city with funds without imposing a new tax. To propose and pass a new tax would have been politically devastating to his future aspirations. As we all saw, his aspirations of being our next Governor were scrapped in exchange for becoming our next Senator. For either campaign, he needed to be able to spend more money on improving the city without increasing taxes or putting the city into debt. Solution: fines in the name of improving public safety. His political team told him that the Red Light Cameras could be spun as beneficial to public safety and that the city needed to charge an additional $31 per citation in order to install and maintain this new program.

New Mexico also knew the significance of the money involved. The state shares the revenues generated by traffic citations in all communities to fund road maintenance. The Red Light Cameras’ citations were exempt from this clause, thus leaving the state wanting. Facing a shortfall in funding, a legislature and governor cooperated like never before to re-claim the lost moneys.

Do You Feel Safer?

Boy, weren’t Marty’s advisors right? Who didn’t buy every last line out of their mouths? Researchers, for one. As soon as the cameras went up, studies came out questioning whether the decrease in red-light-runners was in balance against the increase in rear-end collisions. The Mayor’s internal research came back and wasn’t fit for the public eye. Translation: it couldn’t have shown a significant, if any, increase in safety. Thus sharing it with the public would only hurt the mayor’s program and hurt his standing.

But this was never about safety; this was about money. The first four years of the program magically produced a surplus of millions of dollars. Come 2007, it was time to begin hiking the trail to the fourth floor of the roundhouse and there was no need to carry along the political baggage of a unpopular, big-brother law enforcement program so the Mayor’s office decided to end the program. He had the extra money to fund the politically expedient projects that would engender him to the Democratic primary voters and he was on his way.

And then he cashed in his Gubernatorial Campaign when Sen. Domenici announced that he would vacate his seat. And then every living Democratic Senator called him up and told him that seat was for Udall, not him. After throwing around the constitutionally forbidden idea of seeking a third term as Mayor he put them back up and start collecting the fines again.
But the legislature convened and the 2008 session has ended with a bill on the Governor’s desk ready to re-claim their money. Share? This is politics, not elementary school lunch. With a $7 million surplus and both campaigns already in the history books the Mayor did what any public safety advocate would do: he pulled the plug on it like he was starting an old lawn mower. This wasn’t Bill Richardson’s brainchild. This wasn’t the legislature’s promise to their community. He brought the cameras into this town and he would be the one to take them out. Because Mayor Marty had no political reason to continue the program, he dumped it.

The Absolute Final Irrevocable Solution

. . . until Marty launches another campaign. Not for the money, but in the name of “public safety,” the cameras are back up and snapping. To hell with all of you driving voters!, he says. In the announcement of the resumption, he stated the surplus that magically accrued over the first four years will be used to fund the program for as long as possible. By my calculations, I would expect that fund to run dry and the cameras to make one final descent right around the time our next Mayor takes the reins. Any nominations for who gets to wield that axe next December?

Air Hockey Solves Everything

The candidate he made was the first to break Stephen Colbert’s presidential cherry and appear on the Colbert Report. How this slipped under the radar until the re-run is impossible to comprehend. This old clip's significance should be revealed in the next month. Will the other candidates follow suit? Can the next guest play along with getting burned?

Over a friendly game of air hockey Colbert and former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR) discussed the odds of rejuvenating his campaign and capturing the nomination. Most of the candidates have enjoyed exposure on the father program The Daily Show, but have shied away from Colbert and his witty incisive questions with no decent answer. Why worry? Everyone knows doing coke with prostitutes is a great time.

Richardson’s Campaign Debt

For those politically-minded millionaires with a sympathetic heart, our Governor would like to speak with you. Despite his record-setting take in his 2006 re-election, his Presidential campaign needs to retire the debt incurred on the way to Iowa and New Hampshire. What do you get in exchange? Umm, you probably should have been there today to ask him in person. He held five-minute sparring sessions with the public hearing ideas and solving problems.

Dems Abroad Results

No, you don’t have to wait a full two weeks for more primary results. It would be asinine to expect the public to sit idly for 14 straight days without numbers to suggest who may be our next President. From every corner of the globe -- except the ones that are actually possessed by the United States -- results have finally been compiled from 164 countries. Why there was no outrage for the week it took to tabulate these ballots is appauling. I guess only New Mexico has to hurry it along. With 65% of the vote, Obama is able to tout his 11th consecutive primary victory and remind the nation that Hillary has not won a contest since February 5th.

Marty apologists, please rebut.

Two More Primaries; Records; and a New DPNM E.D.

2008-02-20T13:21:00.009-07:00

Winner of another chicken dinner!

While the pollsters hedged their bets on Wisconsin, they were still proven correct as yesterday’s primaries fell as predicted. Huckabee was sent two more requests that he amend the office he seeks to Vice President and Obama kept building his momentum. While the results were fairly inconsequential, Obama’s campaign will enjoy touting their 9th and 10th consecutive wins and McCain can continue to turn the screws on Huckabee to face the music and allow the GOP to train all of the cannons on the Dems. The decisions do not help Clinton or Huckabee, but both can spin these contests as unimportant in the grand scheme of the election. They have set the stage for the two weeks of ennui as we wait for the historic Super Tuesday on March 4th.

What have you done for me lately?

And during the wait, you can expect the attacks to become as shallow as ever. As Sen. Barack Obama has risen in the polls and eclipsed Sen. Hillary Clinton in the most important measurements of a campaign’s status, the guns have been turned against the new leader and are still firing ruthlessly. For the last year Hillary was the “candidate of inevitability,” unable to be beaten, sure to continue to ride the Clinton political machine to another eight years in the White House. The media figures that feared her nomination launched countless assaults attacking her leadership, her Senate record, her marital woes and anything else that they thought could make people pause and reconsider supporting her.

The pause has passed and now reconsiderations have been made. True or false, ethical or pathetic, the attack has succeeded in knocking her down. Now the archers have turned to the other remaining man that stands in the way of continuing down the road of reckless spending and pre-emptive wars – Barack Obama. As the new leader in national polls, delegates earned and total number of delegates, as well as a dramatic lead in fundraising, Obama is in the dreamed of, but un-enviable position of right between the cross-hairs.

Whether they be thoroughly opposed to electing a Democratic Nominee (Sean Hannity) or only consider themselves to be serving their duty as a journalist (Chris Matthews), Obama is now taking the pies in the face that buried Hillary. The biggest allegation waged against him is that he has done nothing and has no record to run on. Yes, Hannity still spells out Hussein every time he writes Barack and Obama. Yes, people still raise the worn-out questions of whether the nation is ready to elect a black man or a woman. But the record turnouts in every state thus far have proven that if anything, the Democratic Party is very tired of electing white men.

Would you like to keep the money or go for what’s behind door #2?

So what record does Obama run on? He runs on what the majority of voters in the first 34 states and DC have supported – beginning a new path forward in how we run our nation. Voters had plenty of choices with laundry lists of accomplishments and they chose to throw out the old clothing and go buy some new gear. Joe Biden, Chris Dodd and Bill Richardson could show you five examples of how they legislated or executed policies to help any constituency. They all had amazing foreign policy experience and already have on-going dialogues with the nations that pose a threat to our’s. The voters stood in unison and told them “thanks for the good work, we’ll take it from here.” It was a choice of going back to the favorite restaurant that knows your order and always cooks up a great dish versus the new hip place in town that everyone must try out – people are looking to take a chance and expand their horizons.

The record Obama runs on is not the traditional list of footnotes directing you to the bills he carried to alleviate the tax burden on impoverished Americans or create incentives for companies to utilize clean energy. He does not have 30 years of votes that inevitably can be cherry-picked to cast him in a hypocritical, flip-flopping light. It is a record of being free of the traditional ties that bind a leader’s hands and inhibit him or her from addressing the issues that brought thunderous applause when they were mentioned on the campaign trail. Expect him to be attacked for his “inexperience” repeatedly in the next 10 months. Without the traditional record to run on, he will also be attacked with baseless accusations such as a lack of patriotism, an Islamic heritage or less.

Capitalizing

What is most important is if he carries the Political Capital needed to achieve the goals he has laid out. When Bush was re-elected in 2004, he carried Political Capital and all of the talk was about what program he would attempt to achieve. Since he carried such a great amount of Capital after the sweeping win, he tried to pass one of his most controversial and unsupported ideas – privatization of Social Security. Without the sweeping victory, he would not have been able to approach such legislation.

Look at the numbers of new votes that come out to vote in Obama in comparison to the total number of voters in the Republican Primaries. Obama has won more votes in single states than McCain and Huckabee won across the nation in aggregate. Does that suggest a possible sweeping win in November?

Look at the accusations that Obama’s campaign is filled with former Clinton Administration staffers. Do you think they don’t know how the system works? More importantly, he doesn’t have the slick, perfected political prowess that Biden or McCain or Richardson would have brought to the office and, to repeat, this is exactly what voters have asked to have in the White House. Don’t be foolish enough to think that this will slow anything down. If anything, I would expect his administration to be smart enough to keep the public involved and informed about the progress on ending the war, restoring our constitution, reducing carbon dioxide emissions and all of the other issues we demand to be addressed.

So if you are walking down the street this week and some gorgeous intern with a microphone (go to any successful radio station and find me one that doesn’t hire cute girls for their interns) asks you if you’d like to answer some questions from Sean Hannity, grab that mic and tell Sean where to stick it. Barack doesn’t have the laundry list of accomplishments and that is precisely why he must be our next President.

Bring Out Your Dead

To bring it back home to finish, a head has rolled in reaction to the “disastrous” New Mexico Caucus. More accurately, a leg has been chopped off and the head spared. Party Chairman Brian Colon offer up DPNM Executive Director Laura Sanchez in an attempt to save his own job. She was relieved of her duties by politico Josh Geise. Restoring the public’s faith in the dominant party of the state will be no easy task. Voters in the state have high expectations and do not accept excuses of “we tried our best.” But his experience with Richardson’s machine as well as other campaigns across the nation has provided him the leadership and ideas to carry the party forward and restore the state’s faith. As a Cubs fan, Josh knows how to persevere through adversity and fight to the very end and I would expect no less of him in such an historic political year.

See, I told you, you’d hear that term again! Did I screw up, not go far enough? Email or leave your comments.

What are you doing?

2008-02-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

After seeing the more prominently known Bill that is competing for the White House this year, I am shaken and disturbed. The only man with a better resume than our own Governor Bill, graced the University of New Mexico -- the Flagship University of the state -- and bellowed through the indiscernible PA system (still intact from the days before the Pit when the Lobos played in Johnson) his plan to unite America and win back the white house.

With a few references to the accomplishments of his first two terms, Bill highlighted what he would do better in his third and fourth terms. Left un-addressed, was the absence of the magical touch that brought him into office in 1992 and accomplished his agenda; the glow that dropped people's jaws in the same manner as Tiger Woods and John Lennon was gone. There was no jam-packed hall with people crammed into every last corner. There were no throngs of on-lookers sitting in silent respect for the President that created international bridges over impassable waters. A few hundred, maybe a thousand interested persons were scattered across the gym floor and upper deck. A few waved signs to remind the President of his wife's name. Applause was given out of respect, not jubilation.

At the onset of this election cycle (Dem Convention 2004 when we nominated a guaranteed loser) I began saying "If it came down to it, I could stomach voting for his wife if it brought President Clinton back into the White House." While today reaffirmed my belief that they are – politically-speaking – one person in two bodies, I cannot say that it reaffirmed my devote support of the eventual Democratic nominee. He is not the President that is adored in history books and on the History Channel. He is the President of the 90's - a great leader that provided great deeds, but it is now time to honor his past service by doing what he has always advocated to do; we must continue looking to the future, continue moving forward as we learn from our past failures and work to elevate new leaders to guide our nation away from failed policies and toward a new, better future.

The changes of the future came the next morning. At the Albuquerque Convention Center any and everyone that wasn’t chained to a desk lined up to catch a glimpse of the other remaining candidate in the Democratic Primary. While I had walked straight into Johnson Gym the day before, I arrive an hour early to sneak into line about 3000 deep. In the third or fourth extra ballroom, Senator Obama passed through to keep from disappointing the extra 3000 attendees that didn’t stand a chance of sneaking into the Kiva. Another throng of supporters assembled on Civic Plaza to see him after a long speech followed by many questions.

What I witnessed in two days was incomparable. As meaningless as running on the words of “change” and "hope" can be, it has already produced results. Across the nation people who had lost hope, People who have never previously voted or followed an election have taken action and become involved. Changes have already taken place. Records are set each time another state holds their primary or caucus. The opportunities currently presented to the Democrats are only just being recognized. To quash their new-found interest would be to shoot oneself in the foot to even the race for the competition.

As a pragmatist that compromises to win rather than adhering to ideals in defeat, it is imperative that we work to inform and educate our own communities. Thus, as any provider of news, I will bring you announcements of events of the 2008 election. I will sift, sort and edit for you, not to deceive and distort, but to place the focus on the facts that carry real importance.

As New Mexico is a state that goes to the eventual winner every year except for two in its entire history, a focus will be placed upon the state. In addition to being a key state in the Presidential Race, all three current Congressmen are competing for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Pete Domenici for the first time in 36 years. While two of the congressional races will be all but decided in the June primary, the Albuquerque congressional district and Senate race could easily bring out provisional ballots to decide the winners.

It may not be remembered as an historic election, but you will hear of its historic implications many times in the next year (enough to make your ears bleed on dry days, so don’t make a drinking game based on its repetition). I welcome anyone interested in staying informed and up to date to join me often as we watch the election transpire.