EMILY'S List Gets It Wrong... Again-- This Time In Albuquerque, New Mexico

People who watch carefully, lost faith in EMILY'S List, once a trusted component of the progressive coalition, long ago. In their rush to endorse conservatives they wound up going too far in 2008, pushing a virulent anti-Semite from the Harold Ford camp, Nikki Tinker, against one of the most progressive incumbents in the history of Memphis, Steve Cohen. By the end of the race, with EMILY'S List donors threatening to bail on them, they withdrew their endorsement (on the morning of Election Day!) Because of early voting, EMILY'S List supporters cast ballots for this monstrosity and she wound up with almost 20% of the vote. It might have been a good time for EMILY'S List to take a time out and reassess what they've become. Instead they doubled down on recruiting a supporting conservative women to run against progressives. Often they find wealthy donors looking for a hobby to run for office. And more often than not these candidates have nothing whatsoever to recommend them for high office other than their checkbooks and a supposed ability to attract Republicans, like Stacey Lawson in Marin County, California.

But today there's another congressional race being decided-- this one in NM-1 (Albuquerque)-- with EMILY'S List playing the worst possible role. And it pits them against progressive women, like Donna Edwards (D-MD) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME), who have always been EMILY'S List backers. We touched on this briefly a month ago. The progressive movement in America is firmly behind state Senator Eric Griego-- and that includes both Edwards and Pingree, as well as Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairmen Raúl Grijalva and Keith Ellison and virtually all of the progressive organizations from MoveOn,org, DFA, PCCC, Peace Action, PDA, Sierra Club, League of Conservative Voters, (and Blue America) to labor unions like AFSCME, American Federation of Teachers, Communications Workers of America, NEA, National Nurses United, UFCW, the Teamsters and on and on. But once again, EMILY'S List is the skunk at the garden party, backing a corrupt and untrustworthy hack who is more likely to either throw the primary to conservative Marty Chavez or the general election to Janice Arnold-Jones, deranged the Republican, than to actually ever win herself.

Yesterday Griego's campaign launched a series of ads focused on reminding New Mexico voters, in the closing hours of the primary campaign, that Griego is “the one Democrat who will fight back for us” in Congress.

The positive closing ads the Griego campaign is launching today will be targeted broadly and focus specifically on Sen. Griego’s bold progressive record of fighting to create jobs and protect to the environment.

Some of the ads feature prominent local women leaders highlighting Griego’s courage and record as a progressive fighter for women, teachers, and working families, like this one. These ads will directly target the women voters who will play a key role in deciding Tuesday’s primary and who, according to last week’s Albuquerque Journal poll, already favor Griego.

“We need to send more people to Congress with backbone... to stand by our children, our seniors, our veterans, and our working families...and that’s Eric Griego,” noted Christine Trujillo, President of New Mexico’s American Federation of Teachers, who appears in the ads. “Eric Griego is the clear choice for teachers, parents and children.”

“There's no more steadfast supporter of women and women's issue [than Eric Griego]-- particularly on the right to choose,” said State Senator Dede Feldman, who is featured in the ads documenting Griego’s leadership role in protecting choice in New Mexico.

“Senator Griego has... voted and led the committee into resisting bills like parental notification and others issues that really would be damaging to women... His is a real profile in courage. He has stood up to a conservative democratic leadership and... he has given many of us the courage to go on," she added.

LaDonna Harris, a Native American community activist in Albuquerque and president of Americans for Indian Opportunity, also appears in the ad. In a recent email to friends and supporters, Harris urged New Mexicans outraged by recent House Republican efforts to ensure that the Violence Against Women Act doesn’t include protections for Native American women to support Griego on Tuesday.

“I’ve been watching Eric for a long time-- as he stood up against anti-woman forces in the State Senate and passed public financing on the City Council. I have long admired his tenacity and his courage, and I know he will not waiver in his convictions” in Congress, said Harris in the message.

Meanwhile, the EMILY'S List candidate, Michelle Lujan Grisham, used her longstanding positions in state government to move into a situation where she could sell her influence for profit, which brings up some questions about her character. Her firm, Delta Consulting, received a no-bid contract from the Health Department, the agency she ran-- but that doesn't sound any alarms at EMILY'S List at all. It gets Republicans in a hopeful frame of mind though. Through the firm, she has made quite a lot of money from Delta's contract with the New Mexico Insurance Pool. It comes down to is a person whose motivation for public service is questionable. Once out of government, she immediately sought to capitalize on her position by becoming a lobbyist and securing contracts from the sectors where she had worked. Perfect scenario-- if you're looking for more of the same revolving door corruption in DC that EMILY'S List has become an integral part of.


UPDATE: CA-2-- The Writer Behind "Who Is Stacey Lawson"

Another of the most dreadful of the EMILY'S List picks this cycle, as we mentioned above, is carpetbagger, one-percenter and political hobbyist Stacey Lawson. Political activist Paul Andersen outed himself yesterday as the mastermind behind the website that has been the best place to find all the facts on Lawson.

As a long-time politico on the North Coast (some may remember RiggsWatch, which was a website I set up in the mid-90′s to track former Congressman Frank Riggs’ actions in Congress), I follow politics in the region closely.

The 2nd Congressional District is a unique region of the nation and we need to be represented by someone who has a stake and vested interest in our community. Over the decades we have been ably represented by the likes of Don Clausen, Barbara Boxer, Doug Bosco, Lynn Woolsey and Mike Thompson.

This whole endeavor started because I was interested in how someone who’s a complete unknown could raise so much money-- which in today’s day and age makes her an instant contender among a group of candidates that actually have significant governmental experience.

Stacey Lawson has barely lived in this district for three years. She has no public service experience in our community. She doesn’t even own a house, instead renting a mansion in her current location of San Rafael. Who had even heard of Stacey Lawson before last fall?

With a strong political research background I took it upon myself to do some digging. This is actually the type of research journalists used to do, but unfortunately there aren’t any journalists that do this at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat (unless you’re declared an enemy of the editorial board, like Michael Allen).

I deliberately remained anonymous because I knew the website and my efforts would get more publicity that way. And it worked-- the Press Democrat made more of an issue about who was behind the site than what the site actually said. This publicity generated many more hits on the site than I imagine would have happened otherwise, which in turn spread this information further.

As a professional political researcher, I ensured that everything on the staceylawson.info website could be verified through the public record. I utilized Lexis and online research to find out about her failed management at Chelsea Henry, her deleted Huffington Post blog and StaceyTV videos, her deep ties to her guru Dattreya Siva Baba and the mythology of her upbringing and business experience. There are no unsubstantiated facts on the site-- everything is attributed.

As to the issue of whether the website is permissible under federal election law, I can assure you it is. The maximum amount an independent person or organization can spend in advocacy or opposition for a candidate without having to file with the FEC is $250 (incorrectly stated as $1000 in the Press Democrat editorial). Thus far I have spent $200 on Google Adwords and $5 on the domain name. The website hosting is free.

This effort has been a purely voluntary one on my part-- I have not sought nor expect any remuneration. In the interests of full disclosure, I worked on Susan Adams’ Congressional campaign from August 2011 to the beginning os April 2012. I left for a variety of personal and political reasons. I want to state clearly that the Adams campaign had no knowledge of my activities with the “Who Is Stacey Lawson?” website.

As with anything involving politics, the best course is to “follow the money.”

As it turned out, Stacey Lawson has her own personal fortune from her well-timed sale of a failing company during the heyday of Silicon Valley in the late 1990′s when a company losing money was actually considered a winning proposition. This also allowed her to ingratiate herself with wealthy benefactors such as investment bankers and venture capitalists. She also has significant ties to the well-funded new-age community through her guru.

This is all reflected in the fact that fully 80% of her money comes from outside the 2nd Congressional District and nearly half from out of state. 70% of her money comes from people who have contributed the maximum $2,500 to her primary election. Nearly 60 people have actually contributed the maximum of $5,000 for her primary and potential general election campaigns.

Because she is such an unknown, we really don’t know what to expect from her which makes her funding sources so important. We don’t know what she has pledged to the high-tech and investment banking industries that are funding her campaign. The Stacey Lawson campaign is unfortunately a prime example of the power of money in politics, which I think most people would agree is one of the prime reasons we’re in the mess we’re in.

Wealthy newcomers always misjudge the environment in which they are entering, probably due to their ignorance of how politics works and their over-inflated sense of self generated from their success in the private sector.

What they fail to recognize is that the political arena is not a boardroom. The Congressperson for the 2nd Congressional District is the people’s representative in Congress. They should expect to be vetted thoroughly. Every other serious candidate in the race has gone through the same thing.

I'll just leave off with a reminder to all DWT readers in Northern California: Please vote for Norman Solomon today-- and please persuade some of your friends o do likewise. There's no reason why this district shouldn't have the best Member of Congress anywhere... right?

Tomorrow... Our Future

For those of us in Wisconsin, California, Montana and New Mexico, let's keep these words by Elizabeth Warren in our minds when we vote

Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 5, could be an historic day. First and foremost, there's Wisconsin-- a chance to replace a destructive anti-democracy shill of the one percent, Scott Walker, with a decent Democrat whose career in politics has always been in support of working families, Tom Barrett. In 2010, Walker campaigned on creating jobs and economic development, decided to pit neighbor against neighbor in an effort to drum up support for the radical Koch agenda, and ended up losing more jobs than any other state in the country. Tomorrow, of course, all hinges on turnout. It's going to be close. There are plenty of Wisconsinites who get their information from Fox and from Hate Talk Radio. They'll be out in force for Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch. Will ordinary working folks be able to overcome the 30-1 spending advantage the right put into this race?

If you live in Wisconsin, or if you have friends or family in Wisconsin, here's where you can find your polling place. Polls open at 7am and stay open 'til 8pm. In Wisconsin voters do NOT need an ID to vote and can still register at the polls as long as they bring proof of their current address. Democrats are also attempting to replace a gaggle of reactionary state senators. Good idea! Walker hasn't been able to carry out the Koch/ALEC agenda on his own. And among the Democrats most worthy of winning a seat is Lori Compas, who's running against Scott Fitzgerald, Walker's Senate henchman.

Few in Wisconsin are more identified with the grassroots resistance than Lori Compas, a 41-year-old wedding photographer and mother of two. With no assistance from the state Democratic Party, Compas led an unlikely yet successful drive to recall the Senate majority leader, Scott Fitzgerald, Walker’s most essential and visible ally. Compas lives in Fort Atkinson, a small town 30 miles east of Madison, and has never run for office before. She is now Fitzgerald’s improbable opponent.

Would that ever be icing on the cake!



The other big races tomorrow are primaries in Montana, New Mexico and California, where Blue America has outstanding progressives going up against run-of-the-mill, garden variety Democratic hacks in most cases. The exception is in CA-25 (Santa Clarita, Antelope Valley and Simi Valley-- the northeast corner of L.A. County) where Democrats-- along with many independents and even some Republicans-- have completely united around Dr. Lee Rogers in a grassroots effort to oust corrupt corporate shill Buck McKeon. In California's "jungle primary," everyone, regardless of party, runs on the same ballot and the top 2 vote-getters go on to the November general election. There are 3 Republicans plus Lee and the latest poll from the Antelope Valley Press shows Lee leading the pack with 46.25% and McKeon struggling to stay in second place with 25%.

One of the most respected and admired Republicans in the Santa Clarita Valley, Scott Wilk, is running for an open Assembly seat. Wilk was formerly McKeon's district chief and there's no one who knows McKeon and how he operates better than Wilk. One of his opponents in the primary, although she appears to be coming in a distant fourth, is McKeon's batty wife, Patricia. My theory has always been that she's never been a serious candidate for office-- she's 70, unaware of any serious issues facing the state legislature and best known for her reply to a question about California's budgetary problems during a debate by stating the obvious, "I have no idea"-- but that her candidacy was a way to funnel illicit campaign dollars from the Military Industrial Complex into the McKeon household. Anyway, Wilks is running against Patricia but over the weekend he penned an editorial about the single biggest issue that is leading to a collapse in support for Buck-- the CEMEX Mine.

On Thursday, our community reaped what its federally elected leadership sewed.  When the CEMEX truce expired with the City of Santa Clarita, our worst fears became a reality.  With nothing to stop them, CEMEX could begin their mega-mining operation in Soledad Canyon any day.  And our Congressman continues to insist that he cannot help us because of a clause in a rule that he voted for.  Its time to make right on his mistake.
 
CEMEX’s projected mine in Soledad is not merely another issue facing our community. It is THE issue facing us. The scale of the mining project is nearly 20 times larger than what is currently mined in Soledad Canyon today, and it will last for 20 years. The daily operation of the mine will result in 18-wheelers and gravel trucks entering and departing from the mine every 2 minutes, which will add an additional 1200 trucks traveling each day on our local freeways and roads. The dust created by the project will greatly harm the air quality of our city and will exceed acceptably safe levels by nearly 200 percent.
 
The City of Santa Clarita has done its part.  They have spent millions on advocacy, on legal wrangling, and frankly begging Congressman McKeon to do what is right and stop this mine.  This issue transcends partisanship and is simply about protecting our community’s quality of life.  
 
Unfortunately, the current federal leadership has failed to prevent today from happening.  Our community is one step closer to an ecological disaster because of this failure.  According to Mayor Bob Keller, Senator Boxer has pledged to do all that she can to help us.  Its time for Congressman McKeon to do more than lip service on the topic.  Its time for him to introduce the companion bill and stop this disaster from happening. 
 
Congressman McKeon likes to tout that he stopped Elsmere Canyon from becoming a landfill, well why is it that this is so much harder than that?  It took him three years to make that legislation reality, in ten years, the Congressman failed to even achieve a hearing on this issue in Washington.

...It is time for leadership on this issue.  It is time for action.  In our community’s time of need, I ask Congressman McKeon to put community ahead of partisanship and quality of life ahead of politics.  For if the mine is to become a reality, our community will face an ecological disaster unrealized to date.  It is time to make right with this community.

Last week we saw Jason Schaff executive editor of the district's biggest newspaper, the Santa Clarita Valley Signal explain why they had decided against endorsing McKeon, for the first time in his entire two decade-long congressional career. He said CEMEX is the most important issue to many voters in the district, but so is anger against incumbents. “I think it goes back to the mood locally, and throughout the country about incumbents. And is 20 years too long to be in Congress?” Washington Dems don't "get" this race. I suspect they will after tomorrow.

Northern California has a completely different dynamic to deal with in the primary to replace the retiring progressive champion Lynn Woolsey in the 2nd CD. This primary will result in two Democrats facing off against each other in November. There are 8 Democrats, 2 Republicans and 2 independents in the primary. The latest polling shows Assemblyman Jared Huffman, author and progressive activist Norman Solomon, Marin County Supervisor Susan Adams, and wealthy hobbyist Stacey Lawsen as the top contenders, in that order. Lawsen is widely viewed as a junior Meg Whitman type candidate. She's got a lot of money she lucked into and has never been involved with politics but needs something to do with herself and got the idea of moving up to the district to run for Woolsey's seat. Huffman has sown himself to be a captive of the corporate interests who have financed his career. Adams is a respectable Democrat who would make a reasonable alternative if CA-2 didn't already have one of the single most outstanding candidates running for Congress anywhere in America, Norman Solomon (the Blue America endorsee). Thursday Jackson Browne played a concert to help Norman raise funds to counter the last minute influx of money from Lawsens' bank account in her desperate and rather pathetic attempt o buy the seat. And yesterday Dennis Kucinich barnstormed with him up and down Marin and Sonoma counties. Kucinich:

"Norman will be an instant leader in Congress-- on war, on bloated military spending, on Wall Street, on threats to Social Security and Medicare (from either party). Norman Solomon was an advocate for the 99%-- challenging the 1%-- before there was an Occupy Wall Street movement. Every supporter of mine should be a natural supporter of Norman. Help him carry on the legacy of strong peace and justice advocacy in the U.S. Congress.”

Virtually every important progressive leader in America has endorsed Solomon, including Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, John Conyers (D-MI), Alan Grayson (D-FL), Dolores Huerta, Glenn Greenwald, and countless others looking for innovative, independent-minded leaders to implement a peaceful and prosperous agenda for this country.


The link above for Glenn Greenwald, also references Rep. Franke Wilmer's race in Montana. It's an at-large district-- so, it's for the whole state, like a Senate race-- and it's an open seat. Like Norman Solomon, Lee Rogers and Eric Griego, Franke is the Blue America-backed candidate. I'll let Greenwald explain:

This Montana candidate’s biography is almost as impressive as her views on key issues. In the 1980s, Wilmer was a single mother raising her daughter, working as a waitress and a carpenter while putting herself through college. Typically working two jobs at the same time, it took her 16 years to finish. Now she’s a full professor at Montana State University, a third-term state legislator, and an author who specializes in solving international problems without resort to war. She spent substantial time in the former Yugoslavia as it was falling apart.

...She’s running in a Democratic primary against two corporatist, Blue-Dog-type candidates of the kind that has helped make so much of the Democratic Party worthless or worse. She wrote an essay for Klein about the basis of her worldview and why she’s running that’s as provocative and smart as it is inspiring. As soon as I read it, there was no question for me that she’s an extraordinary candidate and person; as but one example, she explains that her work in the middle of the horrific war in Yugoslavia led her to devote herself to an examination of “the question of dehumanization (and psychoanalytic explanations for it) as a political dynamic that rationalizes political violence,” both domestically and internationally.

Wilmer told us that she’s ”very concerned and deeply troubled by the notion that the policy that led to the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki essentially defends the practice of extrajudicial execution,” and added that the “suspension of habeas corpus for American citizens [in the NDAA] is equally troubling.” She cited to us a remarkable op-ed she wrote in the Great Falls Tribune on September 12, 2001-- less than 24 hours after the attack, when most people were in full-on panic and vengeance mode-- that calmly warned of the dangers of excessive reactions. The whole op-ed is amazing: it describes her experience with war in Yugoslavia to warn how brutal and savage it is, and ends this way: “Only by the rule of law, only through a just response which punishes the individuals responsible, can we preserve what cannot be destroyed through violence, our commitment to democracy.” There are all too few people demonstrating that perspective even now, more than a decade later; she was urging this on the day after the 9/11 attack.

Wilmer compares current threats to militarily attack Iran with the attack on Iraq, arguing that both are examples of invalid “preventive war” dogma; “instead,” she argues, “what we need is to invest time and resources in the development of an effective and enforceable international non-proliferation regime based on the Non-Proliferation Treaty.” She questions the legality of unmanned CIA drones (“Under international law weapons must be able to discriminate between civilian and military targets and drones do not do that“), and argues that drones are “military weapons” and thus “should only be used in military operations, and military operations, in turn,necessitate a declaration of war by Congress.“ She decries the lack of Wall Street prosecutions: “I don’t believe the investigations have been rigorously pursued, nor have those responsible been held accountable.” And as former Chair of the Montana Human Rights Commission, she has worked extensively, in a not-very-friendly environment, to secure equal rights for LGBT citizens and same-sex couples.

Truly, she’s not just an extraordinary Congressional candidate but an extraordinary person. She combines impressive academic research and theory with all kinds of practical, brave real-world activism. But she’s also been an accomplished legislator, which means, as she explains in that Klein essay, that she’s quite strategic about enacting legislation. There would literally be nobody like her in Congress.

And that brings us to Albuquerque, where progressive champion, state Senator Eric Griego is up against a couple of corrupt careerists, Marty Chavez (corrupt and conservative) and Michelle Lujan Grisham, whose disgraceful and self-serving record of Director of Aging and state Secretary of Health should disqualify her from any elective office anywhere. She's perfect for EMILY'S List, the least trustworthy component of the corrupt DC Democratic Establishment. Griego has been endorsed by women in Congress who are actually trying to work for the protection and safety of American women, like Donna Edwards (D-MD) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME), as well as by Dennis Kucinich, Alan Grayson and Raúl Grijalva. In end of the campaign rallies in New Mexico this weekend Griego sharpened the distinctions between himself and his two mediocre (at best) opponents:

We have to “send people to Congress… who are willing to stand for what we say we believe in, even when it’s tough… we’ve got to stand for something as Democrats, that’s what people are yearning for,” Griego said to the packed crowd. “We need someone who’s like us, has our values. Who wants to fight for Social Security, fight for the environment, take on the special interests and Wall Street.”
 
“One race is not going to do it, but if we add my voice to Elizabeth Warren’s… and we send 15 or 20 vertebrates up there, then the conversation has to change,” he continued, emphasizing his commitment to fight for New Mexico’s working families.

Kucinich is showing himself once again as an important national leader. Last week he came out swinging for Eric. "Let me introduce you," he wrote to his own supporters, "to a champion for Wall Street reform, Eric Griego. Eric is running for Congress in New Mexico's first district, and he is the first candidate in the nation to run a television ad saying, 'Wall Street bankers who broke the law belong in jail.' That's a bold stand for a congressional candidate. Since Eric is shaking up the status quo, he's come under attack by his more conservative opponents. With just four days left before his primary, he needs our help.
 
"Eric has a record of standing up for what we believe as Democrats. He passed public financing on the City Council and a green jobs bill in the State Senate-- he's one of the few candidates in the nation who can say that. In Congress, he wants to put Americans back to work by passing a real jobs bill-- rebuilding crumbling schools, wiring the country with high-speed internet, and investing in 21st century energy and transportation projects."

Eric Griego, Franke Wilmer, Norman Solomon, Lee Rogers... 4 champions of ordinary working families we hope to be fighting for all the way through November. But first, they have to win their primaries tomorrow. Do you pray? In case you missed it Saturday night, here's some inspiration from Wisconsin musicians Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons:

In Albuquerque There Is Just One Progressive Democrat We Can Count On To Fight For The 99%

In the race for Congress in New Mexico’s open blue First CD, only one candidate stands out as a true progressive fighter for the 99%: Eric Griego. That's why he was one of the first candidates anywhere endorsed by Blue America this cycle.

If we call ourselves progressives, we believe in the common good and lifting up all boats. That is why Eric Griego fought to increase the minimum wage in Albuquerque. In contrast, his corrupt ConservaDem opponent, Marty Chavez, sided with the Republican city councilors to oppose it. Griego is well known in New Mexico politics for having taken on conservatives in the legislature who wanted to balance the budget on the backs of working families by cutting Medicaid and the retirement savings of public workers.

If we call ourselves progressives, we believe that the best way to restore our economy is by generating aggregate demand-- by putting Americans back to work, not cutting jobs and services helping families. Conservatives argue that cutting the deficit they created with two wars, tax cuts for the rich, and the Great Recession caused by their deregulation of Wall Street should take higher priority than creating jobs. That kind of Austerity thinking is what lost Sarkozy his reelection bid in France over the weekend and what has failed conservative politicians being voted out of office all over Europe.

Eric Griego is calling for massive public works projects to rebuild and modernize our country's transportation and coast-to-coast broadband infrastructure, and to lead the world in the clean energy economy. In contrast, his self-styled “progressive” opponent Michelle Lujan Grisham parroted Republican talking points by telling the Albuquerque Journal that job creation should be “maybe tied, or right underneath” the deficit and the budget.

Progressives believe in speaking truth to power. Eric Griego made national headlines last October working with several other progressive Democratic candidates for Congress to deliver over 35,000 petitions to the Speaker of the House, demanding that Boehner and the Republicans “stand with the 99%” and pass President Obama’s jobs plan. He also organized local seniors to deliver over 5,000 petitions to his Republican opponent, Janice Arnold-Jones, to get her on the record as supporting the Ryan budget plan to end Medicare and cut Social Security. Griego proudly joined other progressive legislators around the country to call on Democrats to drop their membership in ALEC. In contrast, Marty Chavez had attacked progressive U.S. Senator Tom Udall as “far to the left” and as “endangering national security."

If we call ourselves progressives, we believe in collective responsibility; that the cost of public education, healthcare, transportation, and national security that benefit all of us should be borne fairly by all. That's why Griego had sponsored legislation to close corporate tax loopholes and to increase taxes on the rich. And he not only wants to end the Bush tax cut for millionaires, but also pass the “Buffett Rule” and restore the Clinton era tax rates to restore fairness, and institute a quarter-to-half-cent tax on Wall Street speculation. While many Democrats talk about fairness and justice for the middle class, there is only one Democrat in this race for Congress who has spelled it out with such force of conviction.

If we call ourselves progressives, we believe that the elderly who have worked a lifetime and paid into Social Security and Medicare should be able to retire with dignity through these guaranteed programs. That is why Eric Griego says he will never let the Tea Party Republicans cut Social Security and Medicare, and opposes raising the retirement age or privatizing those programs. He's still the only candidate in the race who has publicly said on the record supporting removing the income cap on Social Security tax to keep the program solvent for generations. Marty Chavez, on the other hand, told the Albuquerque Journal that cuts to Social Security and Medicare “should be reviewed by Congress” and the Washington Post reported that “he’s open to entitlement cuts.”

Progressives believe in getting the right things done for the 99%. When Michelle Lujan Grisham claimed in the Albuquerque Journal on April 12th that she “has a knack for finding creative ways to get things done,” she should explain if that meant she would find creative ways to give up progressive principles to the Blue Dogs and the Republicans in the name of getting something--anything-- done. Progressives are sick of poll-driven Democrats who say they want to get things done-- but don’t (or won’t) fight to get the right things done. We’ve seen plenty of Democrats get things done-- without the public option or even a whimper for Medicare for All, without strong labor and environmental standards in trade deals, without real teeth to enforce Wall Street regulations. It’s time we send more real movement progressives like Eric Griego to Congress who will fight to get the right things done.

If we call ourselves progressives, we believe in science and that protecting the environment and creating jobs are not mutually exclusive. Eric Griego is one of only three current state legislators with a lifetime 100% rating from Conservation Voters New Mexico, and is endorsed by CVNM, League of Conservation Voters, and the Sierra Club. In the State Senate, Griego sponsored and passed a green jobs training legislation and dedicated state investments in clean renewable industries. He also led a fierce effort to successfully defeat rollbacks of state-only carbon cap and participation in the Western Climate Initiative. On the Albuquerque City Council, Griego spearheaded the city’s Water Conservation Task Force and led the passage of the Renewable Incentive Program, which attracted green jobs to the city.

Griego has the boldest pro-environment platform in the race. He has made it a top priority to fight for legislation to put a down-payment of at least $150 billion towards building a clean energy economy. He is modeling his proposal after the 2009 House-passed American Clean Energy and Security Act, but stronger. And while many Democrats prefer to talk in abstract about the need to move forward beyond fossil fuels to invest in clean renewable energy, Griego has been unafraid to go on the record to offer concrete positions. He would fight for a moratorium on building new coal power plants and phase out existing ones. When most Democrats were nervously looking to see which way the political wind would blow on extracting oil from tar sands, Griego opposed the Keystone XL pipeline early-- in September 2011.

Chavez also touts his green credentials and his support for investing in clean renewable energy. But according to the Albuquerque Journal, Chavez said that he would “work as an advocate" in Congress for the state’s natural gas industry while pushing to repeal tax incentives for Big Oil companies. He did not address the fact that three of the five of the five targeted Big Oil companies-- ConocoPhillips, BP and Exxon-- are New Mexico’s three largest natural gas producers by volume.” Instead of voicing his commitment to be an advocate for the state’s solar, wind, geothermal or biomass industries, it is revealing that Chavez chose to advocate for fossil fuels instead. The Albuquerque Journal also wrote on January 13, 2008 that Chavez’s claims of reducing carbon pollution as mayor was “full of hot air” and criticized him for “greenwashing” his record.

Michelle Lujan Grisham lacks a record on protecting the environment and clean energy. More worrisome is her apparent lack of interest or knowledge on the issue. She doesn't even bother to address it at all on her website’s issues page.

Progressives need an explanation from the Blue Dogs’ favorite candidate. Chavez is obviously not a progressive. Michelle Lujan Grisham should explain her credibility as a self-styled progressive when she had served in the same cabinet with Republicans Heather Wilson (who is now running against Democrat Martin Heinrich for the U.S. Senate in New Mexico) and Darren White (who ran against Heinrich for Congress in 2008) to implement libertarian Republican Governor Gary Johnson’s slash-and-privatize agenda. She must also explain why she was able to earn the endorsements of the state’s leading corporate Blue Dogs, such as John Arthur Smith, Tim Jennings, and Mary Kay Papen. These right-wing “Democrats” are in a coalition with the Republicans and ALEC to cut public education, cut Medicaid, and cut public pensions while extending tax cuts for the rich and tax loopholes for big corporations. You don't find these kinds of political hacks endorsing Griego. Chavez and Grisham split them all between themselves.

Progressives believe in government of the people, by the people, and for the people-- and that corporations are not people. Eric Griego fought to pass public financing of elections to get corporate money out of politics in Albuquerque elections, and supports public financing for all elections. Griego was also in the vanguard of a national progressive effort to make New Mexico’s legislature only the second in the nation to call on Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution to overturn Citizens United. After trying desperately but failing to win the support of labor unions (such as AFSCME, AFT, CWA, NEA, the Teamsters and UFCW), environmental groups (such as the Sierra Club and LCV), and progressives (such as Blue America, Daily Kos, DFA, MoveOn, PCCC and PDA), Chavez has taken to attacking the Democratic base as “corrupt third party” groups for supporting the progressive Griego.

Progressives believe that public servants should be held to high ethical standards. That's why Eric Griego fought to create the inspector general’s office in the city of Albuquerque to investigate rampant fraud and abuse in City Hall under Chavez when he was mayor. He also sponsored bills to close the revolving door between lobbyists and politicians in the state legislature and to create an independent ethics commission to keep the politicians honest. Unfortunately, his efforts were rebuffed by conservative Blue Dog Democrats-- the same ones supporting Grisham in the current race-- who did not want to give up their access to corporate cash.

Chavez has a long and sordid history of using his office to enrich himself and his friends at taxpayers’ expense. As he was ending his last term as mayor, he gave himself thirty-seven thousand dollars in worker’s comp and put his political appointees in lower-level positions at higher salaries. He was even officially reprimanded by the city’s ethics board for creating an illegal political committee, the ABQPAC, and taking tens of thousands of dollars from city employees and contractors to pay for his family’s personal travel and unpaid loans he had made to his 1993 mayoral campaign.

Michelle Lujan Grisham also has glaring ethical flaws. She claims to have “aggressively addressed poor quality care in nursing homes” as the Director of Aging. In fact, she “censored, squelched and threatened” her agency’s independent watchdog. When her agency’s ombudsman brought concerns about a nursing home operating without a license, Lujan Grisham complained saying “don’t create a paper trail to show they are not doing their job” and that she “could lose her job over his behavior.” Lujan Grisham also restricted the watchdog’s access to state officials to retaliate for exposing her conflict of interest, because she “received a substantial portion of her household income from the long-term care industry,” including income from one of the state’s largest nursing home operators. She even eased enforcement of nursing home regulations because her Republican boss, Governor Gary Johnson, received $55,000 in campaign contributions from Sun Healthcare, the largest nursing home operator in the state.

If we call ourselves progressives, we believe that we need to increase our number in the Congressional Progressive Caucus to fight for the 99% and get the best deal possible in any legislative negotiation. Eric Griego is the one Democrat in this race for Congress whose record and passion we can count on to fight for the 99%. And he has proudly committed himself to join the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and has the support of both of the co-chairs of the caucus Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN).

On June 5th, we can send a real movement progressive to Congress. Please consider contributing what you can to Eric's race, here on the Blue America page.

Among Banner Races For Congress, There's A Major One In Albuquerque

I never got very excited over the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania pitting über-reactionary Blue Dog Jason Altmire against corrupt anti-Choice, anti-gay ConservaDem Mark Critz. Critz won and he'll now face right-wing Republican freak Keith Rothfus. So another conservative vs conservative battle for the poor voters in the new 12th CD outside Pittsburgh. A case could be made that we need to support Critz because his 36.56% progressive voting score this year will be better than Rothfus' 0.00% score. An equally persuasive case can be made that that's a price to high and we're better off with Critz' corruption and his constant push towards the right inside the Democratic caucus and in the committees and subcommittees where laws get written. Critz is one of the "Democrats" Boehner and Cantor have come to depend on when they want to label one of their psychotic extremist bills "bipartisan." Mark Critz is almost always there for them. There are dozens of races like that-- pitting hideously reactionary Republicans against worthless Democrats. Blue America ignores those races.

The races Blue America gets excited about are the ones that pit progressives against conservatives-- both in the primaries and in November. I don't care about furthering the career aspirations of corrupt Democrats like Steny Hoyer, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Steve Israel and Joseph Crowley and capturing the House for them isn't what we work on. We work on electing progressives. Tomorrow, for example, we'll be endorsing Wayne Powell, the progressive running against Eric Cantor. The DCCC has no interest in that race-- a race with similar dynamics to Rob Zerban's race against Paul Ryan, another one the DCCC likes to make believe is being fought in every district in America except Wisconsin's first CD.

And there are certain races this year that are shaping up to be the banner contests pitting progressives against conservatives. In the Senate, of course, we have Elizabeth Warren facing off against Wall Street shill Scott Brown. There will be a similar dynamic once Wisconsin Republicans decide which extremist monstrosity to run against Tammy Baldwin. And in November Alan Grayson's race in Orlando will probably be one of the most important anywhere, as will David Gill's in Illinois, Carol Shea-Porter's and Ann Kuster's in the two New Hampshire congressional districts, and Lee Rogers' efforts to dislodge Buck McKeon in the Santa Clarita/Antelope Valley area of L.A. County. If Patsy Keever wins her primary against some conservative party hack tomorrow, her November contest against Patrick McHenry will be huge.

But in terms of the big primaries after tomorrow's where progressives face off against conservatives, Blue America is counting on Norman Solomon (who faces off against a bevy of garden variety Democratic hacks), Franke Wilmer in Montana, Darcy Burner in Washington state, Trevor Thomas in Michigan (who's up against a virulently anti-Choice conservative, Steve Pestka, who could never beat anti-Choice Republican Justin Amash), Chris Donovan in Connecticut and, last but far from least, one of Blue America's first endorsements this cycle, state Senator Eric Griego in Albuquerque.

Eric's up against a thoroughly corrupt insider, Marty Chavez, who is tends to go in whichever direction the cash in being waved, although his record indicates he's more comfortable with conservative positions than with progressive positions. But this isn't just a race between Eric and Chavez. If it was, Eric would be packing for his new career in Congress now. EMIILY's List, which has been playing an insidious role in helping elect conservative Democrats in the last few years, has a candidate they're backing who has no chance to win but who can throw the election to Chavez, Michelle Lujan Grisham. EMILY's List is spending a boatload of money on her, money that can only result in helping nominate the conservative Chavez, who brags that he's "open" to cutting Social Security and Medicare. Is that what EMILY's List donors want their money going to? Eric Griego has a 100% record on women's issues and he's been an effective leader on this issues. Grisham is not trustworthy. When she was head of the health system in New Mexico, a federal investigation found that people died from neglect on her watch. She is both irresponsible and has this huge scandal hovering above her for Republicans to use... and EMILY's List is embracing this? What is wrong with them? It's like ever since they got behind anti-Semite Nikki Tinker they have been unable to regain their political balance or act strategically. Why don't they go spend their money helping progressive women like Darcy Burner, Franke Wilmer, Patsy Keever or Aryanna Strader?

Meanwhile in the last few weeks, Chavez, now desperate, has resorted to full-time negative campaigning, exactly the same kind of sleazy campaigning that corrupt Blue Dog Tim Holden tried against Matt Cartwright in Pennsylvania last month-- and both have DCCC paw prints all over it. They've spent the past few days spamming news outlets with six different negative press releases, made robo-calls, and set up a fake blog-- all targeting only Eric. Because neither Chavez nor Grisham can compete with Eric's clear momentum, they're resorting to desperate attacks on his progressive supporters, like the Sierra Club, the American Federation of Teachers, MoveOn... the Democratic base.

The New Mexico primary is June 5th... still plenty of time to help elect a movement progressive in a banner race.

Right-Wing Democrat Marty Chavez Takes The Re-Invention Route... As Albuquerque Democrats Laugh

I was very excited to take a job as general manager of Sire Records, mostly because of my love for bands like the Ramones, Depeche Mode, Smiths, Ministry and Talking Heads. These were the bands that were reintroducing a new honesty and candor back into pop music after a cruel decade of pretentious, overblown corporate rock. But when I took over at Reprise, the label's biggest artist, by far, was Madonna, who I didn't understand at all. My boss, the label's founder, Seymour Stein, took her right off my hands. "I'll handle Madonna and the Cult. You handle everyone else. No, you handle everyone else and the Cult," he told me on my first day on the job. The was fine with me and I soon realized that "handling" Madonna didn't take up much time, basically because she handled herself-- including her much-hyped penchant for reinvention. I came to admire her and the way she reinvented herself, like a slickly handled brand. It's on thing for a pop star; it's something entirely different for a politician.

Early in May we expressed our concern that the DCCC would back one of New Mexico's least trustworthy right-wing Democrats, Marty Chavez, in a race for Martin Heinrich's open House seat in Albuquerque. Chavez was mayor of Albuquerque and his name recognition is as high as it could possibly be. But many Democrats who recognize his name, don't recognize it with fondness. So he's trying a Madonna-like reinvention. I doubt it will work as easily on New Mexico voters as it worked on the incompetent lunkheads at the DCCC. I doubt it and I fear it-- fear it because America doesn't need another right-wing hack in Congress making believe he's a Democrat. And in this case, the man Chavez is running against, state Senator Eric Griego, is one of the most promising progressive leaders running for Congress anywhere in America. Yesterday I got this statement from Eric's campaign:

"I stand with seniors, the disabled, and the working and middle class families of New Mexico in calling on President Obama and Congress to keep their hands off Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as they negotiate a solution to the federal debt default crisis. While I support President Obama in his effort avert the catastrophic collapse of our recovering economy, any deal with Republicans that cuts Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid for New Mexico seniors and working families while failing to ensure that our nation's wealthiest are paying their fair share is entirely unacceptable."

That's where Eric Griego is coming from-- and he has a record to back it up. It's why Blue America endorsed him and it's why we feel good asking donors to contribute to his campaign. It's who he really is. Don't be surprised to see a similar kind of statement from Chavez as he tap-dances around his reinvention process-- even though it is decidedly not who he is. Who he is, as political observers in Albuquerque are well aware, is a triangulating, self-serving hack who fought against increasing minimum wage and fought against environmental protections and, in fact, fought against reformers and Democrats throughout his disgraceful career.

The first time I really became aware of what a destructive tool Chavez is, wasn't even that long ago. New Mexico's progressive congressman, Tom Udall, then a Blue America fave, was running for the open Senate seat being abandoned by Pete Domenici. Chavez wanted the Senate seat as well and went on an insane, well-financed and distorted jihad against Udall. He was confident, he bragged, that he could defeat Udall in a primary.

“Philosophically, he’s so far to the left,” Chavez said. “I’d rather not have him in the race, but that’s a challenge I’d not shy away from.”

But he did shy away from the challenge. Polling showed him consistently losing to any Republican in the general-- and to Udall in the primary. So he quit the race... and then told the Albuquerque Journal running for a mere House seat-- the one he's running for now-- was beneath him.

Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez on Tuesday tossed a bucket of ice water on any speculation that he might be considering a run for the 1st Congressional District seat.

Chavez, in a telephone interview, blasted the U.S. House of Representatives and said that jumping into the race for the open, Albuquerque-based seat is "not an option."

The House is "not a place where I want to be," said Chavez, who late last week unexpectedly abandoned his short-lived bid for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

He said Tuesday that while the Senate remains a place where "individuals of substance gather," the House-- whose members face re-election every two years, compared with six-year terms for senators-- is "not a place for ladies and gentlemen any longer. ... They play a type of politics (that) I think is destructive."

Odd he would shy away from destructive politics. That, after all, is his hallmark. His short-lived race against Tom Udall didn't endear him to New Mexico Democrats.

Continuing his recent mean-spirited barrage against his high-polling Dem primary opponent for U.S. Senate, Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez is now accusing Rep. Tom Udall (NM-03) of "endangering our national security."

...It's one thing to criticize your primary opponent's positions, but I think this kind of over-the-top rhetoric coming directly from Chavez can only serve to turn more Dem voters against him. Chavez already has a reputation for publicly and privately trashing fellow Dems on the Albuquerque City Council, supporting Repubs and their causes and vowing to vote for Repub Sen. Pete Domenici if he ran for reelection.

Do Chavez and his campaign team really believe that using inflammatory language like this to attack one of the most highly respected and popular Dems in the state will help him in his quest for Dem primary voters? Astonishing. Not only is it wrong, it's bad politics.

Now Chavez, a pro-growth, Chamber of Commerce type hack, is trying to reinvent himself as what he calls a "green mayor." It's a joke and completely manufactured by him and demonstrably false--he's actually terrible on the environment, and spent most of his tenure as Mayor defending himself against lawsuits from environmental organizations and fighting all of the City Council's pro-environment initiatives. Union members know how awful he is and he's not going to hoodwink them, so he's trying to persuade voters of his "progressive" cred using environmentalism.

Eric Griego makes no bones about joining the Congressional progressive Caucus and working on an agenda focused on American families, rather than on multinational corporations. Everything in Chavez's record points to another slimy pro-corporate Blue Dog if he gets into Congress, which is probably what makes Steve Israel so excited about him. This guy's got to be stopped. Please do what you can to help Eric Griego win the primary.

Blue America Welcomes Eric Griego (D-NM)

This week the DCCC spent a quarter million dollars on media in the Buffalo suburbs to advance the candidacy of conservative Democrat Kathy Hochul. Hochul is certainly "better" than her opponent, GOP hack Jane Corwin but does Hochul deserve that kind of expenditure? Her first TV ad starts with her throwing the immigrant community right under the bus. Still, she is a Democrat and that's the DCCC's job: elect Democrats-- the good, the bad and the ugly. Blue America has a different mandate: we leave the bad and the ugly to the DCCC and try to lend a hand with the Good. Let's see if anyone can find anyone better anywhere than our newest candidate, New Mexico state Senator Eric Griego.

Kathy Hochul brags that she "led the fight" to prevent illegal immigrants from getting drivers licenses. Eric took a very different approach to the problem in his career. When New Mexico's new Republican governor signed an executive order attempting to mimick the Arizona "Let me see your papers" law, Eric became the champion in the fight to oppose her, It was the most controversial and political-risky issue he had tackled.

"She signed an Executive Order requiring state law enforcement to ask for immigration status for all 'criminal suspects.' I introduced legislation barring state and local law enforcement from ever asking about immigration status. I also led the fight against the repeal of drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants. The policy had been effect for several years and became an effective wedge issue for the new conservative Republican Governor and her cronies. In a rare showing of Democratic unity, the state senate thwarted the repeal of the drivers licenses."

A very different kind of Democrat than Kathy Hochul. And a very different kind of Democrat than the kind of conservative, Big Business shill the DCCC is rumored to be recruiting to run against Eric for the Albuquerque seat opening up due to the departure of our old friend Martin Heinrich for the open U.S. Senate seat. Right now Eric's only declared opponent is an extremist religious-fanatic, Republican pastor Dan Lewis, who is hell-bent on wrecking government regulations.

The Albuquerque chapter of DFA first alerted us to Eric's decision to run for the seat, describing him as "a hard-nosed progressive fighter for families, children and workers who's ready, willing and able to take on the right wing attacks on education, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid." That's the picture his record in public service paints. The first thing I ever heard him say was "The last thing we need to send to Washington is a Democrat who's a kinder, gentler version of the Republicans, frankly."

Blue America has spent weeks talking with him since then. He's exactly the kind of unapologetic progressive leader we need in Congress, an antidote to the dozens of Blue Dogs and conservatives always scurrying across the aisle to vote with the Republicans against the interests of working families and for their corporate donors. In contrast, Eric led efforts at the state level to do what our kind of Democrats are trying to do at the national level-- "Before cutting core spending on kids, seniors and working families," he told me passionately, "we should ask big oil and other corporate tax evaders to pay their fair share. We should also repeal the Bush tax cuts for those earning more than $250,000 a year. For the Republicans to defend subsidies for big oil is indefensible given their outrageous profits. To say taxes on the richest CEOs and multinational corporations are 'off the table' is outrageous when at the same time the Republican leadership is willing to ration Medicare, Medicaid and limit Social Security."

In the state legislature he sponsored several tax reform bills that would have raised personal income taxes on the wealthiest two percent of New Mexicans and to limit subsidies to large out of state corporations. The bills were killed by state Senate leaders. "In my first year in the Senate, I passed a green jobs bill that provides state-funded training for solar, wind and other renewable energy workers. That year [2008] and in 2011 I sponsored comprehensive ethics and campaign finance reform legislation including public financing for all state elections, contribution limits, and a state ethics commission. The ethics and campaign finance bills never got heard due to opposition from Senate leadership." In 2005 Eric was behind the successful Albuquerque initiative to provide voluntary public financing for local elections. "We are now one of the few cities in the nation with public financing of local elections."

Kicking off his campaign a couple weeks ago, Eric told his supporters in Albuquerque why he's the right man for the job. Those reasons resonate perfectly with Blue America:

“We need a Democratic Congressional candidate who will unapologetically stand up for Democratic values. The current Republican leadership in Congress wants to dismantle the protections that it has taken generations to build, like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. We need a strong courageous advocate for working families and who has a record of taking on those who put the interests of the richest two percent of Americans and the largest corporate interests ahead of our children, our environment and our local businesses.”

If that kind of message appeals to you-- and, by the way, I should mention that Eric is also the Executive Director of New Mexico Voices for Children, a non-profit research, policy and advocacy organization that fights for the state’s vulnerable children and working families-- please consider making a donation to our newest endorsed candidate, Eric Griego. And please join us for a live chat with Eric over at Crooks and Liars today at 11am (PT),

Will The DCCC Try To Dig Up ConservaDem Marty Chavez To Run For Heinrich's Seat?

Over the years Blue America has interacted with scores of Democratic congressional candidates. After our jarring experience with dishonest Chris Carney (PA), a stealth Blue Dog and bigot, we never ask anyone to make any pledges. A politician who makes a pledge when he needs campaign help is a politician who can break a campaign pledge when he's neatly tucked in with lobbyists and powerful Inside-the-Beltway corporate shill like Steny Hoyer and Steve Israel. Instead, our first priority is to look for committed movement progressives like Donna Edwards, Raúl Grijalva, Ilya Sheyman, Norman Solomon and Nick Ruiz. These are people who don't have to be persuaded to vote well on core progressive issues; these are people who are leading the way-- the tip of the spear on issues most Democrats would rather avoid or even join with the Republicans on. So, it was with great pleasure that we came across the first-- and so far only-- Democrat running for the open New Mexico House seat based in Albuquerque, state Senator Eric Griego.

A week ago today Eric announced he was officially in the race. He's been a big fave of the local DFA chapter, which points to his video (above) as establishing "him as a family man who's heavily involved in his community, as well as a hard-nosed progressive fighter for families, children and workers who's ready, willing and able to take on the right wing attacks on education, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. As he says in the video, 'The last thing we need to send to Washington is a Democrat who's a kinder, gentler version of the Republicans, frankly. Unfortunately, in Washington right now, there's an assault on the basic idea that we are a community.' His campaign is associated with the words passion, principles and purpose."

In the next few weeks we'll invite Eric over to Crooks and Liars for a Blue America chat-- he's already endorsed on the DownWithTyranny Act Blue page-- but in the meantime we're trying to hold our enthusiasm in check while we do all our due diligence. We're hearing rumors from friends in New Mexico that the DCCC is already sniffing around for "their kind of candidate," someone closer to corrupt donors than to working families. And our fear is that they're encouraging New Mexico's most corrupt Democratic politician, former Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez. We first ran across him in 2007 when he tried defeating Tom Udall for the Senate seat vacated by Pete Domenici. At the time Alex Flores did a guest post warning about Chavez. Chavez is as well known for being a conservative who throws his weight behind Republicans as he is for being on the take. Flores dubbed him "DINO Marty."

In New Mexico, DINO Marty has come out in full attack mode against progressive Congressman Tom Udall (even during our Draft when Udall wasn't in the race) using national security and other right-wing frames to gain media attention.

If it seems like DINO Marty and the NRCC are reading from the same playbook, you're right. From the national security narrative to outright racism, DINO Marty thinks that his politics of hate will resonate with New Mexicans who already favor Udall by 62%-32%.

In a campaign email on Monday, November 26, DINO Marty beefed-up his GOP credentials and accused Udall of "Endangering our national security" by voting to cut funding for National Laboratories in New Mexico in a huge budget bill.

In the 2005 Mayor's race Chavez opposed raising the minimum wage; he's the Republicans' favorite kind of Democrat-- which explains the interest from the DCCC. He's also a career political hack and perennial candidate, running for any office he thinks he can win. He first ran for governor in 1997 and lost to Libertarian Gary Johnson and his loss-- in which Johnson successful portrayed him as a "tax and spend liberal"-- has haunted him ever since. He always goes out of his way to show he doesn't believe in the role of government to better the lives of people-- so he's anti-taxing, anti-spending and anti-liberal. As mayor of Albuquerque the second time around-- after he had lost to Johnson-- he managed to piss off unions, environmentalists and social progressives as he cobbled together a coalition of conservatives across party lines. He's remembered for having endorsed several Republicans in local races and for his endorsement of Pete Domenici in a Senate reelection bid.

Sometimes I wonder if the DCCC doesn't go into a district, find the absolute worst possible candidate and then do all they can to destroy the opposition. I've seen in dozens of times, especially when Emanuel was head of the committee. It should be interesting to see what they do about NM-1.

Democrats, Conflicted As Always, Sending Mixed Signals On Trade Policies

First the good news: House Democrats unveiled a series of proposals Wednesday that are meant to for the basis of a Make It In America agenda. Their proposals would aggressively boost manufacturing output and employment, something the GOP-controlled Congress has studiously ignored since taken control in January. I have to admit, though, that I was more than a little skeptical when I saw who was introducing the package: arch corporate shill Steny Hoyer, the Democrats' worst pig-at-the-trough when it comes to corporate handouts to sleazy Members of Congress. Hoyer was key, for example, in pushing through the catastrophic George H.W. Bush-Bill Clinton NAFTA bill that did more harm to the American middle class than any other legislation Congress has passed since the Robber Barons set the legislative agenda for Congress in the 1920's.

Because so many Democrats sold out and joined the anti-work Republican initiatives like NAFTA and CAFTA, the nation has seen a rush to the bottom in terms of employment opportunities. It's what Republicans are all about but it isn't what Democrats are supposed to do. So seeing a sleazy, corrupt character like Hoyer behind this made me wonder what it was really worth. I don't know if AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka sees through Hoyer or not but his statement emphasized that “This nation can no longer live on legacy. We need to invest trillions in the coming decades to build a 21st century infrastructure and we must ensure that we actually make the technology and materials for the things we are building and installing. The Make it in America agenda is a big step in the right direction to resolve our manufacturing crisis."

Yeah, that's the good news. The bad news is that Obama, another corporate Democrat out looking for campaign contributions from Big Business, is ready to sell out working families again, this time with George W. Bush's awful trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. They should all hit Congress today or tomorrow to the applause of Republicans and Blue Dogs and the dread of real Democrats. I'm guessing Hoyer's Make It In America push is a smokescreen to placate easily placatable Beltway "liberal" organizations.

The White House completed work on the Korean deal in December and wrapped up final details with Panama last month. The administration has pushed for Congress to act quickly on the Korean accord, but Republicans threatened to stop all trade-related nominations unless the Colombia and Panama deals were also sent for approval.

The Colombia deal is more controversial with Democrats and organized labor because of charges that that country’s government has not done enough to convict those responsible for violence against union organizers.

Trade officials announced the deal with Colombia last month but made the agreement contingent on Colombia's fulfillment of several more requirements regarding the nation's labor laws.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk sent a letter to leaders of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees Wednesday indicating that Colombia has taken the necessary steps consistent with the action plan set out by the two countries. [Anyone who follows trade policy knows Kirk is full of shit and more likely to shoot a union organizer himself than get a real agreement out of union-hating Colombian fascists.]

“Today’s announcement is a critical victory in our efforts to pass the Colombia Free Trade Agreement and for U.S. ranchers, farmers and manufacturers,” Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said in a statement. “This trade agreement means new jobs for American workers and a $2.5 billion economic boost for the U.S. economy.”

Leading House Democrats on trade matters expressed concerns over the agreement. 

"The question raised by the U.S.-Colombia [free trade agreement] is will workers be able to exercise their basic internationally-recognized rights and be free from the threat of violence?" said House Ways and Means ranking member Sander Levin (D-Mich.) and Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), ranking member for the Subcommittee on Trade, in a statement. "That question has not been answered yet and we intend to continue aggressively focusing on strengthening and implementing the action plan.” 

McDermott and Levin said U.S. workers should not have to "compete with workers whose rights are suppressed, or who are killed in the exercise of those rights.

...An official at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said there could be a “grand bargain” on trade.

“In the weeks ahead, the United States has a chance to move forward in a bipartisan fashion to secure approval of the pending trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama,” John Murphy, vice president for international policy at the Chamber, said in a blog post.

"Bipartisan" means all the shills in both parties who take bribes from Big Business will back it. It's why Blue America puts a premium on BETTER rather than just MORE Democrats. New Mexico state Senator Eric Griego definitely fits into the BETTER category and he's running for the Albuquerque-based House seat Martin Heinrich is giving up to run for the open U.S. Senate seat. DownWithTyranny is endorsing him today and we asked him for his views on this trade stuff, an area he has spent his whole political life working on. He worked on the so called "side agreements" to the NAFTA on labor and environmental standards during his career in Washington in the 1990's and he cautioned that "We should not accept agreements that do not require enforceable labor and environmental standards that are subject to the same sanctions as unfair trade practices for goods and services. If we are willing to force trading partners to protect patents and market access for our goods and services, we should be willing to make them protect workers and the environment from a race to the bottom."

You can probably tell from just those few lines why we're so excited about his campaign. You can read more about Eric at his website and at the Albuquerque DFA website. Please take a look at an announcement video: