Right-Wing Fanatic Stevan Pearce Will Give Up His House Seat To Run For New Mexico Governor

New Mexico has 3 congressional districts, a very Democratic one in the north (PVI is D+8), a very Democratic one in the center around Albuquerque (D+7) and a pretty Republican one in the south (R+5). Weak moderate Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham represents the Albuquerque district and she's running for governor. Ethically-challenged DCCC head Ben Ray Lujan represents the northern one and he's not going anywhere. But yesterday oil industry multimillionaire Steve Pearce, who represents the southern district, announced he's also running for governor, putting NM-02 into play for 2018. It's not an unwindable district. McCain beat Obama 50-48%, Romney beat Obama 52-45% and Trump beat Clinton 50.1% to 39.9%.

Pearce is an ambitious fellow with outsized expectations and a sense of entitlement commensurate with his bank account. He ran for U.S. Senate twice and was badly defeated both times-- as he is likely to be next year when he runs for governor, even against as worthless a candidate as Lujan Grisham. Last year, even Hillary was able to beat Trumpanzee statewide-- 385,234 (48.2%) to 319,667 (40.0%). Last time Pearce, who was accustomed to winning reelection with around 60% of the vote, gave up his House seat to run statewide, in 2008, the DCCC ran a worthless Blue Dog garbage candidate, Harry Teague. It was an anti-Republican wave election and Teague won 56-44%. But he then proceeded to vote with the Republicans again and again and again and guess what happened in 2010? Pearce ran for his old seat again and Democrats just refused to go to the polls to support the Blue Dog pile of crap, giving Pearce the seat back, 55.4% to 44.6%. In the 3 elections since then, Pearce has been reelected with 59%, 64% and, last year, 63%.

Pearce’s announcement makes him the first Republican to jump into the 2018 New Mexico governor’s race. Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry and Lt. Gov. John Sanchez have also been mentioned as possible GOP candidates for governor, but neither has thrown his hat in the ring.

...Pearce said his experience as a member of Congress, a New Mexico state representative and an executive in the state’s oil industry has prepared him for the governor’s job. But he also said he didn’t make the decision to run easily.

“It’s one of the most difficult decisions I’ve made in elected office,” Pearce said in a Journal interview. “We could have pretty well cruised in the 2nd District, but at the end of the day, if New Mexico fails while we are getting some successes in D.C. then that’s a problem.”

...Brian Sanderoff, a longtime New Mexico political analyst who conducts scientific surveys for the Journal, said if Pearce wins the GOP primary election in June 2018 he’ll face a big challenge.

“New Mexico is a blue-leaning state, so Democrats, with all things equal, tend to have an advantage; however many Republicans have enjoyed statewide electoral success over the years,” Sanderoff said.

The pollster also noted that Republicans who have won statewide office in New Mexico have shown moderate political leanings. Sanderoff cited current Gov. Martinez, former GOP Govs. Garrey Carruthers and Gary Johnson, and former Sen. Pete Domenici as Republicans who won elections as moderates.

“Moderate Republicans running with a moderate message have had more success than conservatives in statewide races in New Mexico,” Sanderoff said.

Pearce-- a member of the staunchly conservative Freedom Caucus in the U.S. House-- is frequently mentioned among the most conservative members of Congress.

Pearce downplayed the notion that his reputation as a hard-right conservative would harm his chances to win the New Mexico governorship. He noted that Democrats outnumber Republicans in the 2nd District, yet he’s won the congressional seat seven times.

...Sanderoff said the political outlook might also be challenging for Pearce in 2018.

“He’ll be running in a mid-term of a Donald Trump presidency-- a man who lost New Mexico by eight percentage points,” Sanderoff said. “The party that is not in the White House at mid-term elections tends to have a great political and electoral advantage.”

“The question is what will the mood be in 2018?” Sanderoff added.

...While Pearce is the first Republican to announce a campaign for governor, four candidates have already entered the Democrat primary race. In addition to Lujan Grisham, they are former media executive Jeff Apodaca from Albuquerque, Sen. Joseph Cervantes from Las Cruces and Peter DeBenedittis, an anti-alcohol activist from Santa Fe.

The DCCC has said they were targetting NM-02 but they weren't reallyy. Now they will. There are 5 local activists running for the nomination-- David Baake, an evironmentalist and attorney; Las Cruces activist Ronald Fitzherbert; Madeleine "Mad" Hildebrandt, a Coast Guard veteran, NRA-nut and college teacher from Socorro; and Tony Martinez, a veteran and leader of the Las Cruces Indivisible group-- but now that it's an open seat the DCCC will take the district seriously. They are likely to parachute some rich conservative into the race and try to clear the field, pulling another another Teague situation where a generic "Democrat" wins in a tsunami but, after voting to try to win over Republicans, loses in the first midterm. Same old/same old. The DCCC will never change its stripes while Pelosi and Hoyer are calling the shots.

Crackpot Utopia: The Year in Republican Crazy, Part 12

• Arizona Republican protests busload of YMCA Campers
• Crazyspeak of the Year nominees No. 15: the Impeachment Variations (group nomination)
• Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 16: NM Rep. Steve Pearce


In Part 12 we pay tribute to Arizona GOP congressional hopeful Adam Kwasman, the genius who decided it would help his primary bid to vent media outrage over a busful of supposedly terrified illegral-immigrant kiddie laborers -- who turned out to be, literally, YMCA happy campers.

Crackpot Utopia: A dream world as envisioned by republicans; a manifestation or expression of the deranged, warped alternate universe inhabited by republicans, at least in their minds. See also: Bachmannism, Boehneresque.

by Noah

1. Arizona Republican protests busload of YMCA campers

You might want to read that heading again, to really take it in. We all know that the Republican Party isn't exactly what any normal person would call "child-friendly." Their views on things like education, the environment, climate, and health care are good examples.

It seems that one Adam Kwasman, a repug Arizona state legislator who was attempting to move on up to the U.S. House of Representatives, went and got hisself all whipped up in a wingnut frenzy -- inspired, no doubt, by the Murrieta, California, incident where groups of gun-toting FOX "News"-hound republicans screamed and bellowed like a medieval mob at a bus of immigrant children, intimidating the children to tears for all the world to see. (Alas, Adam lost the 1st CD GOP nomination to state House Speaker Andy Tobin, who failed to unseat incumbent Dem Ann Kirkpatrick.)

Kwasman knew a camera op when he saw one. Hearing through the local teabag grapevine that a whole big bus o' secret Muslim, disease-carrying furriner Central American kids was on its way, Kwasman rushed to join the cameras -- er, a protest. He tweeted:

Bus coming in. This is not compassion. This is the abrogation of the rule of law.

 And once he was on camera for the local news, it was:

I was able to actually see some of the children on the buses, and the fear on their faces. This is not compassion.

  Wow! "Ab-ro-ga-tion." This assclown better watch it -- the demographic that would ordinarily vote for him just ain't gonna vote for some guy that uses four-syllable words! Where are this man's handlers? They need to tell him that merely acting dumb and doing dumb stuff isn't enough. No, you must talk dumb, too! Keep it simple, bub.

As it turned out, the bus wasn't full of little frightened immigrant kids. The kids were YMCA campers going to a local youth academy. They were, in fact, happy, not sad. They were smiling and even taking pictures of the freaks outside who had gathered with their "Impeach Obama" signs.

Dare I say it again? They were YMCA campers on their way to a local youth academy! Now, I'm fully aware that if you say a phrase like "local youth academy" to a republican, he or she hears "FEMA camp," but these kids really were on the way to a "local youth academy."

When told that the bus was just a busload of YMCA kids, all that The Great Kwasman could muster was: "They were sad too!"

So, you see, to republicans the important thing is to make children, any children, sad. Pictures of smiling, happy YMCA campers be damned! I know what I saw! I brought the sadness, and if you elect me, I can bring the sadness to Arizona kids everyday!

Being that it was nut-state Arizona, I suppose we should just be happy that no one shot up the bus while screaming things like "Revolution!" or "Second Amendment solutions!" Sadly, it's only a matter of time.


2. Crazyspeak of the Year nominee(s) No. 15: the Impeachment Variations (group nomination)



This one is a group effort, from a group of republicans that belong in a group home. Alas, funding for group homes has steadily dried up since the Reagan years, so all that a lot of our most insane citizens can do is babble incoherently or run for Congress. Here's a nice little list of drooling Crackpots sputtering on about the I-word:

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX): "President Obama is begging to be impeached."

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN): "[T]he president has committed impeachable offenses."

Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R-MI): Impeachment of President Obama is "a dream come true."

Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX): "[I]f the House had an impeachment vote, it would probably impeach the president."

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX): Impeaching the president "needs to happen."

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins: "If Republicans capture the Senate, there's no more excuses about impeachment."

 It's not surprising that there's a lot of this dementia going around in republican circles. Some of the dementia victims even provide "reasons":

• Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) said that the president should be impeached over "the whole birth-certificate issue."

• Glenn Beck, the republican party's favorite oracle of conspiracy, repeatedly called for impeachment -- for "the IRS Scandal," for a plot to give weapons to Al Qaeda in Syria, and, most famously, for an imaginary cover-up of a Saudi national's role in the Boston Marathon attack.

• FOX's Mike Huckabee said the president was "worthy of impeachment" for being "Caesar acting like God."

Representative Stockman has circulated to fellow congresscritters copies of the book Impeachable Offenses: The Case for Removing Barack Obama from Office by World Net Daily conspiracist Aaron Klein and co-author Brenda J. Elliott, who are known for writing books for what I call the Library of the Alternate Reality. Stockman hopes to launch a special impeachment investigation in the new Congress.

Master conspiracist Aaron Klein, co-author with Brenda J. Elliott of The Case for Removing Barack Obama from Office. has produced -- with and without his co-author -- a shelful of crackpot page-turners that are musts for any republikook's library, including Fool Me Twice: Obama's Shocking Plans for the Next Four Years Exposed, The Mancurian President: Barack Obama's Ties to Communists, Socialists and Other Anti-American Extremists, and The Real Benghazi Story: What the White House and Hillary Don't Want You to Know. (You remember we talked about the crackpot Benghazi obsession in Part 9.)

But these people don’t just get these "ideas" from each other and from conspiracy professionals like Aaron and Brenda. Here is Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) proudly quoting an unnamed constituent as saying:

He's not president as far as I'm concerned. . . . Should be executed. He's an enemy combatant.

Clearly republicans are feeding on the insanity of other republicans. They reinforce each other. This is how Crackpot Utopia spreads. This is how they create and live in their own reality. It's viral. Stay tuned. There's no telling what Boehner's minions will get up to. Crackpot does as crackpot is.


3. Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 16: Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM)

In his fab new book Just Fly the Plane, Stupid, Pearce sez:

The wife is to voluntarily submit, just as the husband is to lovingly lead and sacrifice. The husband's part is to show up during the times of deep stress, take the leadership role and be accountable for the outcome, blaming no one else.

 As usually happens with these things, the perp's spokesliars made laughable claims -- their bossman was misunderstood, his words were misrepresented, blah, blah, blah, etc., etc. Their explanation even included the idea that the word "submission" is "misunderstood in society." Yeah, well, some people mistake green for red, but there's a medical reason for that. What excuse Pearce and his staff have is anyone's guess. It must be nice to live in an alternate universe where words only mean what you want them to any given time.

It gets better. Pearce's folks now say that their guy wasn't referring to others, just to himself and his submissive wifey. He was just discussing how he and the wife are trying to "grapple with the words" in the Book of Ephesians. Interesting that the Pearces spend so much time on this sliver of the Bible and not so much on so much of the rest.


TOMORROW IN PART 13, the lucky final installment of "Crackpot Utopia": TV for Dummies: Sarah Palin launches her own channel; Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 17: Arizona schools superintendent John Huppenthal (rhymes with Neanderthal); and the final Crazyspeak of the Year nominee -- and also the winner!

NOAH'S 2014 IN REVIEW --
Crackpot Utopia: The Year in Republican Crazy

Part 1: Princess Liz Cheney tries for the Smoothie of the Year Award; "Miss Beck regrets" -- Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 1: Glenn Beck; and the Crackpot Party reacts to President Obama’s State of the Union speech [12/19/2014]
Part 2: Republicans wonder why normal people call them racists; Sean Hannity wants to self-deport; and the First Annual Mr. Burns Award, to ABC "shark" Kevin O'Leary [12/20/2014]
Part 3: Using fear, loathing, and paranoia to sell stuff; Arizona legalizes crack!; and Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 3: Bill O’Reilly [12/21/2014]
Part 4: A celebration of Michele Bachmann: Pray away the crazy?; What "War on Women"?; and the "Obama angle" on Malaysian Flight 370 [12/22/2014]
Part 5: The GOP and the kiss heard 'round the world; Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 5: Joe the Plumber [12/23/2014]
Part 6: A word about South Carolina; Pat Robertson and his magic asteroid; and I'll have a pack of Twizzlers and an IUD to go, please [12/24/2014]
Part 7: And so it begins: The running of the buffoons; Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 7, George Will has no idea what rape is; and Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 8, Rick Wiles calls for a coup [12/29/2014]
Part 8: Things to come: Forward into the past! (11 Presidential Dream Tickets); Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 9: Former republican VP nominee Paul "Crazy Eyes" Ryan; Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 10: Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association [12/30/2014]
Part 9: Pompous Blowhard of the Year Award: Bill O’Reilly; FOX "News" announces new spinoff: the "FOX Benghazi™" Shopping Channel!; Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 11: DiGiorno Pizza [12/31/2014]
Part 10: Newsmax -- Beyond Drudgery; and Crazyspeak of the Year nominees Nos. 12 and 13: Michele Bachmann, Kimberly Guilfoyle [1/1/2015]
Part 11: GOP and FOX whip up the hate over a POW exchange; and Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 14: Iowa asylum escapee Rep. Steve King [1/3/2015]
Part 12: Arizona Republican protests busload of YMCA campers; Crazyspeak of the Year nominee(s) No. 15: the Impeachment Variations (group nomination); Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 16: NM Rep. Steve Pearce [1/4/2015]
Part 13 (and last): TV for Dummies: Sarah Palin launches her own channel; Crazyspeak of the Year nominee No. 17: Arizona schools superintendent John Huppenthal (rhymes with Neanderthal); and the final Crazyspeak of the Year nominee -- and also the winner! [1/5/2015]

NOAH'S 2013 IN REVIEW --
A Prayer to the Janitor of Lunacy

For listings and links, see Part 1 of this year's series.

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Ugly, Anti-Christian Republican Hatred Of Poor People-- From Wisconsin To Arizona

Ending the chapter of my life called "College," brought two major changes: I moved abroad and, soon after-- following an incredible months-long binge in Afghanistan-- I stopped using drugs… forever. I lived overseas close to 7 years, much of it in Amsterdam, where I had a wonderful life working in a government-funded meditation center, the Kosmos. When I moved back to America in the late '70s I had to start all over again. Along with my friend, Chris, I started an independent record label from scratch. We had no money, none at all but we built a company that CBS bought and that led me to Warner Bros and, eventually, to paying millions of dollars in income taxes. I didn't celebrate writing those mammoth checks but I never begrudged paying them-- not once-- because I always knew that without this great country I was paying taxes to, I would never have earned the income that resulted in those big tax bills.

But at one time, those taxes might have gone to Holland and not America. At a time long before I was paying any taxes, I was struggling trying to keep my company afloat. Every week at least one or two days I would have to chose between eating and putting gas in my car. Someone turned me on to the idea of food stamps, which helped get me over the hump in a big way. It was a fantastic investment for the government. Without those few thousand dollars in food stamps for a couple of years I would probably have had to move back to Holland's easier life. The jobs generated by my company and the taxes paid by it and by me, would have been Dutch jobs and Dutch taxes. I'm so glad it worked out the way it did.

Today Republicans are-- as always-- negative and condemnatory about fellow-Americans who need a hand. In his gubernatorial reelection platform, Koch-backed right-winger Rick Scott, promises to discourage and severely limit, arbitrarily, assistance to people in need. In his crabbed little world people who need a hand are "the other," not "us," not potential resources but a burden. He's telling Wisconsin voters that he will "require a drug test for those requesting unemployment and able-bodied, working age adults requesting Food Stamps from the state." If Wisconsin voters are smart, they'll unemployed Scott Walker.

But Republican contempt for the less fortunate isn't just a Wisconsin story. It's a pillar of the conservative world view and the disease is everyone. Do you remember the Mormon neo-nazi sympathizer state Senator in Arizona Russell Pearce? Long the ugly face of the Arizona Know Nothing movement, he was elected by right wing extremists president of the state Senate in January of 2011 and then recalled by the voters-- the first Arizona state legislator in history to ever be recalled 10 months later. He lost the recall election, 54-46%, and several of his top campaign staffers were charged with felonies for vote fraud during the election. A horrible, corrupt and ignorant man, he ran again in 2012 and was rebuffed by the voters with an even greater margin, 56-44%. At that point, the ultra-racist Arizona Republican Party hired him as First Vice Chairman.

Pearce was forced to resign on Sunday, not because of the racism and xenophobia, his trademark issues but because of his hatred of poor people and, especially, poor women. Republican Party candidates didn't want to be associated with him after he made some typically right-wing remarks on a Hate Talk Radio show on KKNT-AM. Like Scott Walker, he doesn't want to lend a helping hand-- he wants to sever outstretched hands asking for assistance. "You put me in charge of Medicaid," he boasted, "the first thing I'd do is get Norplant, birth-control implants, or tubal ligations… Then we'll test recipients for drugs and alcohol, and if you want to [reproduce] or use drugs or alcohol, then get a job."

Mark Brnovich, the Republican running for Attorney General was only one of many GOP candidates worried that Pearce's extremism would harm is own chances at the polls in November. "The notion that government would force sterilization upon anyone is counter to everything I believe about individual liberty and contrary to the founding principles of a free nation. Comments that demean the plight of the poor, including women in the dual role of mother and economic provider, are not conservative; they're cruel. And I reject them."

The Republican Party's top hope for winning a Democratic-held seat, Martha McSally, who has been making progressive against Blue Dog Ron Barber, also feared Pearce's comments could hurt her in the extreme southeastern part of the state, especially in Tucson and the Pima County suburbs where Barber beat her in 2012 52-48% and providing his margin of victory in one of the country's tightest races. She took to her Twitter account as fast as she could:

Maybe McSally should have thought more carefully about which party she joined and what they really do stand for at their core. Pearce, after all, has long been at the heart of the Arizona GOP and his comments are consistent with his career-- and with what the party espouses across the entire country.

Conservatives Have Always Had A Problem With Women

Boehner was so proud yesterday that he picked a girl to give one of the god-knows-how-many "official" Republican responses to the State of the Union message. He seems delusional enough to think that women voters will flock to the GOP because he named some obscure woman congressmember from rural northeast Washington who votes with the Republican patriarchs on everything. I guess he had no choice after Huckabee's idiotic statements betraying the fear conservative men have and have always had about the depravity of runaway lady libidos. Meanwhile, this morning President Obama was doing what he could without congressional cooperation to move the ball forward to end sexual assault on college campuses. So while Cathy McMorris Rodgers tries to figure out how to explain this ghastly voting record against women's equality if any reporters question her about it, Obama used his weekly address to explain how his latest step to protect women at college is to establish the White House Task Force on Protecting Students from Sexual Assault. Here, in part, is what he said:

This week, I called members of my Cabinet to the White House to deal with a challenge that affects so many families and communities-- the crime, the outrage, of sexual violence.

Sexual assault is an affront to our basic decency and humanity. And it’s about all of us-- the safety of those we love most: our moms, our wives, our daughters and our sons.

Because when a child starts to question their self-worth after being abused, and maybe starts withdrawing… or a young woman drops out of school after being attacked… or a mother struggles to hold down a job and support her kids after an assault… it’s not just these individuals and their families who suffer. Our communities-- our whole country-- is held back.

Over the past five years, we’ve stepped up our efforts stop these crimes. And this week, we took another important step to protect young women at college. An estimated 1 in 5 women is sexually assaulted at college-- and that’s totally unacceptable. So I’ve created the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. We’re going to help schools do a better job of preventing and responding to sexual assault on their campuses. Because college should be a place where our young people feel secure and confident, so they can go as far as their talents will take them.

And we’re going to keep working to stop sexual assaults wherever they occur. We’ll keep strengthening our criminal justice system, so police and prosecutors have the tools and training to prevent these crimes and bring perpetrators to justice. We’ll keep reaching out to survivors, to make sure they’re getting all the support they need to heal. We’re going to keep combating sexual assault in our armed forces, because when a member of our military is attacked by the very people he or she trusts and serves with, that’s an injustice that no one who volunteers to protect our nation should ever endure.

Some of this is a job for government. But really, it’s up to all of us. We’ve got to teach young people-- men and women-- to be brave enough to stand up and help put an end to these crimes. We’ve especially got to teach young men to show women the respect they deserve. I want every young man in America to know that real men don’t hurt women. And those of us who are fathers have a special obligation to make sure every young man out there understands that being a man means recognizing sexual violence and being outraged by it, and doing their part to stop it.

Perhaps most important, we need to keep saying to anyone out there who has ever been assaulted: you are not alone. We have your back. I’ve got your back.

I’m going to keep pushing for others to step up-- across my administration, in Congress, in state capitals, college campuses and military bases all across our country. This is a priority for me, not only as President and Commander-in-Chief, but as a husband and a father of two extraordinary girls. And I hope it’s a priority for you. Because here in the United States of America, every man and woman, every girl and boy, has the right to be safe and protected and to pursue their own piece of the American dream.

What a contrast to what we heard from the GOP this week between Huckabee's problem with women's libidos and Steve Pearce (R-NM) writing in his book that "the wife is to voluntarily submit" to her husband. Where to they come up with these ancient notions of male dominance? I'm finishing up a book I never expected to write about at DWT, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, a 2002 Pulitzer-Prize winner that has sold around 4 million copies. This one paragraph isn't what the book is about, but it stuck with me. The paragraph is ostensibly about an actual event that took place-- a week of riots in Detroit-- in the summer of 1967. I was struck by it for a reason I doubt Eugenides had in mind-- how our society treated women.

[A]s the police arrive, there are girls lined along the street, girls in miniskirts, thigh-highs, and halter tops. (The sea wrack Milton hoses from the sidewalk every morning includes the dead jellyfish of prophylactics and the occasional hermit crab of a lost high heel.) The girls stand at the curbs as cars cruise by. Key-lime Cadillacs, fire-red Toronados, wide- mouthed, trolling Lincolns, all in perfect shape. Chrome glints. Hubcaps shine. Not a single rust spot anywhere. (Which is something that always amazes Milton about black people, the contradiction between the perfection of their automobiles and the disrepair of their houses.) . . . But now the gleaming cars are slowing. Windows are rolling down and girls are bending to chat with the drivers. There are calls back and forth, the lifting of already minuscule skirts, and sometimes a flash of breast or an obscene gesture, the girls working it, laughing, high enough by 5 a.m. to be numb to the rawness between their legs and the residues of men no amount of perfume can get rid of. It isn’t easy to keep yourself clean on the street, and by this hour each of those young women smells in the places that count like a very ripe, soft French cheese . . . They’re numb, too, to thoughts of babies left at home, six- month-olds with bad colds lying in used cribs, sucking on pacifiers, and having a hard time breathing . . . numb to the lingering taste of semen in their mouths along with peppermint gum, most of these girls no more than eighteen, this curb on Twelfth Street their first real place of employment, the most the country has to offer in the way of a vocation. Where are they going to go from here? They’re numb to that, too, except for a couple who have dreams of singing backup or opening up a hair shop . . . But this is all part of what happened that night, what’s about to happen (the police are getting out of their cars now, they are breaking in the door of the blind pig) . . . as a window opens and someone yells, “It’s the fuzz! Out the back way!” At the curb the girls recognize the cops because they have to do them for free. But something is different tonight, something is happening . . . the girls don’t disappear as usual when the cops show up. They stand and watch as the clients of the blind pig are led out in handcuffs, and a few girls even begin to grumble . . . and now other doors are opening and cars are stopping and suddenly everyone is out on the street . . . people stream out of other blind pigs and from houses and from street corners and you can feel it in the air, the way the air has somehow been keeping score, and how at this moment in July of 1967 the tally of abuses has reached a point so that the imperative flies out from Watts and Newark to Twelfth Street in Detroit, as one girl shouts, “Get yo’ hands offa them, motherfucking pigs!” . . . and then there are other shouts, and pushing, and a bottle just misses a policeman and shatters a squad car window behind . . . and back on Seminole my father is sleeping on a gun that has just been recom-missioned, because the riots have begun . . .

Yes, where are they going to go from here?

LGBT Equality In The Enchantment State-- New Mexico Democrats Are Jubilant While DCCC Hack Is Mum

“Denying same-gender couples the right to marry and thus depriving them and their families of the rights, protections, and responsibilities of civil marriage violates the equality demanded by the Equal Protection Clause of the New Mexico Constitution,” Justice Edward Chavez wrote for the five-member court, which ruled unanimously Thursday, making New Mexico the 17th state jun the Union to back marriage equality for LGBT citizens.

New Mexico is a pretty live-and-let-live kind of state. Bigots and haters tend, like everywhere, to gravitate towards the Republican Party, which now has just one member in the state's 5 member federal delegation, deranged homophobe Stevan Pearce. Pearce has one of the worst voting records on LGBT equality of any Member of Congress, even worse than your average, garden variety Republican congressman. After the ruling, Pearce sent out a spokesman to make sure New Mexico voters know here he still stands. Eric Layer: "Congressman Pearce thinks this is a profoundly unwise decision. Changing the definition of marriage should only come from the people through legislation debated and passed by elected representatives.”

All the other members of the state's DC contingent had a distinctly different opinion than Peace. Ben Ray Luján: “Now everyone will be treated equally under the law… Today’s decision by the New Mexico Supreme Court ensures that every couple can make the personal choice of marriage. Marriage equality is a matter of civil rights and treating all people who are in loving and committed relationships fairly. Gay and lesbian couples make the same contributions and sacrifices that we all do, including paying taxes, owning business and caring for their families.” Michelle Lujan Grisham, a freshman who represents the Albuquerque area called the ruling “an incredible victory for New Mexico… This ruling confirms what we already know and believe-- that in New Mexico, freedom means freedom for everyone. I’m thrilled that all New Mexicans now have the opportunity to marry the person they love, and I’m proud that our state is on the right side of history.”


Both the state's U.S. Senators, Tom Udall and Marin Henirich are big equality supporters. "Today's court ruling is a resounding victory for New Mexicans in all four corners who love one another and deserve to be treated equally under the law-- just as our Constitution intended," said Udall. "Our country has come a long way in advancing marriage equality for all, and I am proud New Mexico is joining in that forward progress. I'm also glad the court has finally provided the legal clarity for the countless New Mexicans who have been in limbo for too long, and I congratulate all our families in New Mexico who will finally be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve."

Heinrich was equally effusive: "Today is a proud day for New Mexico and a significant step forward to creating a fairer, more just society. I am thrilled that the New Mexico Supreme Court found that our constitution requires marriage equality for all our citizens. This ruling stands to strengthen New Mexico families and affirms that loving same sex couples who accept the responsibility of marriage are respected and recognized in our state. We must continue our march toward full equality for all Americans."

And of the two Democrats running against Pearce, one's just a DCCC hack who has been told not to make any controversial statements that could offend anyone. A search of Rocky Lara's Facebook page, her Twitter account, her DCCC-sanctioned campaign page, and numerous Google searches, show no reaction to the ruling one way or the other-- the non-leader approach the DCCC insists on. The grassroots candidate against Pearce, Leslie Endean-Singh, doesn't care about bad advice from Washington. She's running to represent her New Mexico neighbors, not the Beltway Establishment and their corrupt consultants. "I strongly support the New Mexico Supreme Court's ruling which made New Mexico the seventeenth state to recognize gay marriage," she posted on her Facebook page for all to see. "This is a great day for equality here in the Enchantment State and I am glad that my home state will recognize the unity and love shared between two loving individuals."

DCCC's Forked Tongue In New Mexico

New Mexico's second congressional district-- which is bigger than some states-- is not going to be easy for any Democrat to win next year. There's a relatively popular Republican incumbent, a very, very rich one, and Democratic and independent voters will need a reason to turn him out of office. A Republican-lite candidate of the DCCC brain trust variety is not going to be able to do it. And, of course, the heavy-footed and bumblingly incompetent Steve Israel has come down against the progressive in the primary, Leslie Endean-Singh, and on the side of the more conservative Democrat, Roxanne Lara. If Democratic voters in NM-02 want a pro-fracking fanatic they already have one in Steve Pearce. That's not a message the DCCC should be encouraging. Oh, they're not… they sent out this fundraising memo to the rubes who still contribute to them:

Subject: White House Veto threat:
Date: 11/20/13 01:46:12 PM
From: "DCCC Rapid Response"

Friend --

House Republicans will vote TODAY to completely undermine President Obama’s efforts to establish environmental protections against fracking.

Once again, Republicans are putting the interests of Big Oil and Gas above public health. President Obama has pledged to VETO this Republican bill. Stand with the President before today’s vote:

Sign here to join the White House and tell House Republicans to stop choosing Big Oil and Gas profits over public health and the environment >>

Thanks,

DCCC Rapid Response

What they don't tell the people on their list is that any money they donate is going, at least in part, to Roxanne Lara, who is 100% pro-fracking. Here's a short post New Mexico's Capitol Report did about fracking as an issue in the upcoming NM-02 congressional election:

Endean-Singh, when asked last week if she would support a bill banning hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, said, “Absolutely, I’d have to weigh it … Fracking kills the environment, and just because it’s a tiny bit less damaging than coal, that doesn’t justify it.”

When asked the same question, Lara said, “It depends on what the bill said. We’ve been fracking safely in Eddy County for over 60 years. What I support is a good balance between state environmental concerns and with the industry doing what it needs to do to keep us running.”

Pearce, who once founded an oil services company, has been a strong proponent of oil and gas and in his most recent election in 2012 won with 59 percent of the vote.

Republican Cowards' Appeasement Policy: Hope Yes/Vote No

Mica & Lankford: 2 ugly right-wing faces of GOP nihilism & cowardice

While unreconstructed Confederate nihilists like Louisiana's John Fleming were boasting this morning that they're ready to force another government shutdown in January and another default crisis in February, many Republicans from normal parts of America were breathing a sigh of relief after last night's Pelosi-led 285-144 vote to reopen the government and step back from the brink of default. Charlie Dent (R-PA) explained the cowardly strategy of most Republicans in this nifty aphorism floating around Capitol Hill: "Hope Yes/Vote No."

Most people recognize that for what it is: grotesque political appeasement to the Tea Party Confederates-- and it will come back to hurt Republicans who voted NO while representing districts where independent voters are needed for reelection. In the House, 16 who may have wrecked their chances for reelection by going along with the Hope Yes/Vote No strategy:

• Justin Amash (MI)
• Kerry Bentivolio (MI)
• Jeff Denham (CA)
• Sean Duffy (WI)
• Scott Garrett (NJ)
• Steve King (IA)
• John Mica (FL)
• Stevan Pearce (NM)
• Joe Pitts (PA)
• Tom Reed (NY)
• Dana Rohrabacher (CA)
• Ed Royce (CA)
• Paul Ryan (WI)
• Steve Southerland (FL)
• Mike Turner (OH)
• Tim Walberg (MI)

Problem here, of course, is that the DCCC hasn't bothered finding candidates to run in many of these races or isn't backing the grassroots local candidate who is running or is putting up some less-of-two evils hack who many voters won't bother going to the polls to support.

Let's take John Mica. His central Florida district, FL-07, stretches from the suburbs just north of Orlando, like Winter Park and Altamonte Springs and then up through Longwood, Geneva, Deltona and Orange City. The district has a PVI of R+4 but Obama nearly beat McCain in 2008 (50-49%) and held Romney to 52% last year. There's a growing Hispanic community-- 20% now-- and voters are getting tired of Mica's sleazy dishonesty and cowardice. Wednesday night he voted with the minority of Congress to send the country into default and keep the government shut down. That isn't what central Florida residents wanted to see. The DCCC isn't supporting Mica's progressive and independent-minded Democratic opponent, Nick Ruiz. Blue America is. This morning, Nick wasn't feeling all that charitable towards Mica and said flat out that he "has no business being in representative government. He doesn't want government, clearly evinced by his repeated votes to shut it down. Rep. Mica doesn't want to cooperate and represent the district and the nation. What Mr. Mica wants is total control of the lives and circumstances of the district and the nation. There's a word for this, but it isn't 'representation.' It's megalomania."

Another Blue America-endorsed candidate, Tom Guild, is in a much tougher district. Oklahoma has been a conservative Republican bastion for decades. And Tom is a progressive Democrat, not a Blue Dog or New Dem type. The DCCC is ignoring his race but Oklahoma City may not be as set against change as many Inside the Beltway assume it is. After the vote last night, Tom drew a clear distinction between where he stands and how his Tea Party-oriented opponent, Jim Lankford, voted:

The good news is that the our long national nightmare is temporarily over. The government will reopen, and the country won't default, at least until February. However, radical Rep. James Lankford recklessly voted against reopening the government, and irresponsibly voted against the bill that kept the country from defaulting on our obligations. Once again, he proved that he is totally disconnected from reality. He had already cost us 900,000 jobs, and $24 billion in economic activity by his penchant for repeating failed policies and approaches. He proves Sen. Manchin's view that the biggest threat to the American economy is the American Congress, particularly the radical and completely out of touch GOP House.

If we wait for action from the DCCC, we'll never get rid of barnacles like Lankford or Mica. If you'd like to help Nick Ruiz and Tom Guild bring their cases to the voters, you can do so at this link.


UPDATE: Not Waiting For The DCCC

Grassroots progressive, Leslie Endean-Singh, the Democrat running against GOP right-wing extremist Stevan Pearce, told us this morning that last night her opponent "affirmed his reckless and selfish policies that continue to hurt Southern New Mexico families. He voted to continue a government shutdown that was costing the US economy over $1.5 billion per day and voted to let the United States default on its national debt, all the while keeping our national parks closed and postponing crucial border guard training here in New Mexico. It's time for new leadership in Southern New Mexico! While Steve Pearce is focused on shutting down the federal government, I am focused on shutting down Steve Pearce."

And on the other side of the country, Shaughnessy Naughton, the grassroots candidate opposing Mike Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania's Bucks County, exposed the strategy of Republicans like Fitzpatrick who helped cause and prolong the shutdown but then voted against continuing it last night.

“Mike Fitzpatrick stood around doing nothing effective or proactive for sixteen days. During that time, the U.S. economy lost 100,000 jobs and, according to Standard and Poor’s, we cut about 0.6 percent off of our gross domestic product. That’s equivalent to $24 billion in lost productivity.

“I’m sure Congressman Fitzpatrick would like to be welcomed home a hero, but I refuse to applaud someone for putting out a fire he started.

“The shutdown was a malicious, self-destructive act designed to undermine a law that was passed by Congress, signed by the president, and approved by the Supreme Court. And Congressman Fitzpatrick was complicit in its execution. He ought to be ashamed of himself. He owes the entire Eighth Congressional District an apology.

“Not once did he hold a town hall meeting or explain himself to his constituents. Not once did he take a principled stand on behalf of the people he represents. He timidly stood on the sidelines, doing what Tea Party leaders in the house told him to do, never once thinking about the impact he was having back home.

“If ever there was a reason to evict Congressman Fitzpatrick, this was it. People have had it with his brand of do-nothing politics. Leadership is needed and it’s time for him to go.”

When will Mike get to unpack his costume?

Although Fitzpatrick didn't attend his own planned fundraiser last night-- and will have to save his Stevie Nicks drag costume for a future event-- his campaign was raising money in New Hope by portraying him as a non-teabagger, even if he did vote with them every time he could while this mess unfolded. The ridiculous $250/head fundraiser featured entertainers dressed up as Cher and Lady Gaga. Joshua Morrow, Naughton’s campaign manager, said, “Everything that went on last night was fake. Entertainers in New Hope pretended to be real celebrities, and Fitzpatrick was pretending to be a real leader. It was the night of the living impersonators.”

Can An Actual PROGRESSIVE Democrat, Rather Than A Republican-Lite Conservative-- Win New Mexico's Only Red District?

Last month we looked at how an unabashedly right-wing, anti-immigration Republican can win in a swing district with a pretty heavy Hispanic population. We're talking about New Mexico's gigantic 2nd district and multimillionaire extremist Stevan Pearce. The last Democrat who Pearce defeated, a one-term incumbent, was nearly as conservative as Pearce. There weren't many reasons for casual Democratic voters or leaning-Dem independents to bother coming out to vote for him-- and they didn't. He was a crap congressman who voted with the GOP on too many crucial issues. So he lost his seat. This time the Democrats seem prepared to run an actual progressive against Pearce, Leslie Endean-Singh who isn't shy about calling herself progressive and whose platform is chock full of progressive values and a progressive vision for her state and her neighbors. "When elected," she told me, "I plan on being a progressive member of the Democratic caucus who will fight to defend and strengthen the Affordable Care Act, protect our environment & natural resources and most importantly, work to create policies that will stimulate job creation in all corners of America."

Her expertise is in the health care industry and we asked her to tell us how she explains the Affordable Care Act to the voters in NM-02. She agreed to tell us why she supports President Obama and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This is her guest post:

The day the President signed the ACA into law felt like a brand new day for me. As the wife of a rural New Mexico family physician, I have seen too many patients struggle to get the care they need to live healthy and productive lives. I have spent the past 15 years managing his practice and have witnessed up close how scarce quality medical care can be for far too many Americans.

All too often, I have been frustrated by searching for a way to provide treatment for uninsured patients. I will never forget a female patient who qualified for worker’s compensation due to a back injury while working at a hardware store. While this injury left her greatly debilitated, her medical coverage would only cover the injury she sustained at work. Our medical practice did our best to treat her for other ailments such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.

Each time we would submit a claim for to her insurance company, the claim would come back DENIED! I completely understand how much of her medical ailments could have been treated through early preventative measures. Now I know she can get insurance for these pre-existing conditions, and even better, she will be have access to medical advice to prevent any future health issues. I have empathy for her and sleep a bit better at night. I can also sleep better knowing I don’t have to bicker as much with her insurance company.

Of course, the problem won’t end there. We still have massive insurance companies that small family practices like mine have to work with. I believe that limiting the insurance companies to only retaining 20% of their premium payments is a massive and necessary change. I am glad that the President had the courage to send a message to the insurance executives; they can’t take million dollar compensations while denying life-saving tests and labs for patients.

I am not the only progressive who will say that I would have preferred a single payer system, but there is no doubt that the ACA will create better and longer lives for so many Americans who, for too long, were forced to live without any medical insurance coverage.

I will never forget my dear friend Fran, a pharmacist who worked with our practice. Fran was so full of life, and she always had this huge smile on her face. One day, a co-worker noticed Fran was unusually quiet and was having a hard time forming simple sentences and communicating. Fran dreaded going to see a doctor (even my husband), because she was uninsured. Dr. Singh would examine her and talk with her free of charge, but she did not have cash to pay for any expensive tests. To everyone’s shock, Fran had what we thought at first was a massive stroke, and was paralyzed on half of her body. By the time my husband got to examine her, it was far too late. Fran really had a massive tumor growing in her brain. Three months later, to our shock, she passed away. Fran lives on in our memory, but I wonder how many Americans like her have died from a lack of health care coverage.

The list of casualties from a lack of quality health care is too high. I salute the President and Democratic leaders in Congress for passing the ACA. I am so proud that under the ACA, seniors already pay less for prescription drugs and young people can stay on their parents’ insurance policies until they are 26. While the ACA won’t cure every health issue our country faces, it will save countless lives and create better, healthy lives for future generations.

I can promise you this-- when elected to Congress, I will fight with every ounce of my energy to prevent the pointless attacks being waged by Tea Party Republicans. My opponent, Rep. Steve Pearce, has voted to repeal the ACA every time it is brought to a vote. I am tired of Pearce wasting time on pointless political posturing when he could be focusing on working hard to support doctors and medical care, and create jobs for Southern New Mexico’s working families.

Pearce, one of the wealthiest Members of Congress, serves Big Oil first and foremost. And they serve him. Big Oil has contributed $1,521,201 to his political career (second only to "Oily Joe" Barton of Texas). Leslie can use some help-- but she's not going to get any from Big Oil or any Big Business. If you'd like to step up and help, this is her ActBlue page.

By the way, Leslie is standing with her state's U.S. senator, Tom Udall, who was one of the two courageous Democrats to vote NO Wednesday in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Her statement:

"I stand with U.S. Senator Tom Udall in his opposition to military intervention as it stands in the current bill that recently passed in the Foreign Relations Committee. While there is no denying that human rights are being violated, the proposed military action is not the way to go. I am eager to see if any changes will be made as the bill heads to a full Senate vote.

"The United States should not intervene unless it further pursues coordinated action with other nations. We want to protect the helpless and innocent, but we must not make their situation much worse. Intervention may seem to be the moral thing to do, but it is not the practical thing to do. We must look at the long game-- which seems to be a civil war in Syria, which will not be ended quickly. Polls show that two thirds of the American people do not favor intervention in Syria. I agree with them, and do not believe it would assist the civilian population of Syria."

Republicans Hope To Learn How An Anti-Hispanic Reactionary Wins In A Majority-Hispanic New Mexico House District

After giving up his House seat to run a losing battle for an open Republican Senate seat in New Mexico, Stevan Pearce was reelected to his former House seat two years later (2010) by defeating, 55-44%, a very weak Blue Dog Democrat Harry Teague, who had depressed Democratic turnout by voting with the GOP on too many critical issues. Last year Pearce beat another weak Democrat 59-41%, winning 14 of the 19 counties in the district, although losing the big prize, Dona Ana, by far the biggest county in NM-02. This year the DCCC is seriously taking a look at defeating Pearce. He's an anti-immigrant, wealthy, conservative Republican in a district that is now majority Hispanic. Businesswoman Leslie Endean-Singh and former state Rep Joe Campos are both looking seriously at running.

Pearce caused a stir the other day when he bragged-- very loudly so that everyone back home would hear it-- that the most popular vote he took was when he voted against Boehner for Speaker. He was one of the dozen who did. I imagine that pleases Democrats, some independents and all the teabaggers. And Boehner , no doubt, could care less. Billy House covered the Pearce phenomenon for the National Journal this week since more than a few Republicans are eager to find out how an extreme right Republican wins-- and by decent margins-- in a Hispanic-majority district with a Democratic registration edge. While he was racking up his 59% in the huge district-- bigger that the state of Florida-- last year, Romney was scraping by with 52%, an improvement over McCain's 50%. But he's already "warned his own party leaders he will be difficult to emulate or clone, saying he's told them, 'When I'm gone, you're going to have a tough time winning this district.'"

On this day he's driven to Portales for the town hall. There, seniors, veterans, dairy and peanut farmers, and ranchers press Pearce about the stalled farm bill, as well as the Affordable Care Act, a possible government shutdown, and concern over the future of a nearby Air Force Base.

But it's a contingent from the Somos Un Pueblo Unido immigrant group that makes up half of those in attendance. And so, the questions keep coming back to immigration reform and why Pearce, in some views, is not more of a national leader for his party on the issue.

Pearce maintains a mostly likable, even humorous tone, including his repeated insistence on declaring that he is more of a policy wonk than politician.

But some of the reasoning for his firm position against including a path to citizenship in immigration reform is not well received. "I have been to other countries, just recently early this year I was in Africa," he said. "People living on one dollar a day. Now, my heart goes out to those African kids. But shouldn't they become citizens? Shouldn't those African kids with one dollar a day become citizens? Well, maybe they should. But I have to say, probably, we can't feed the whole world. We can't feed 8 billion people."

He adds, "I'm simply saying that a pathway to citizenship makes me very nervous for 11 million people [already here]. I do not understand how we tell the other 8 billion 'no.'"

Pearce explains that he proposes instead to strengthen the border, and that undocumented immigrants who want to become U.S. citizens must first go back home and get in line. But if any of them want to stay and work, under his plan, they can obtain a green card without fines or other penalties, start paying taxes, get protection from government agencies, and not "live in the shadows" or fear exploitation.

The rub is that that green card could never become a red card; there would be no path to citizenship, as the Senate has proposed.

As for securing the border, Pearce tells his audience that more fencing won't work. Rather, he says strengthening security through more sophisticated technology should be the plan.

Pearce gets a bit testy when Marina Piña, 24, of Portales, suggests that Pearce regards undocumented immigrants as a burden to New Mexico and the country. "Don't put words in my mouth," Pearce says, interrupting her in mid-sentence.

Piña responds nervously, yet cattily, "That's true congressman Pearce. You haven't said much. And that's the problem. … What we need is your real leadership on this issue." Other Hispanics in the audience, including some who've worked for years at local farms and for other businesses, also ask Pearce, politely, "Why do you not want us to become citizens?" and "Do you not care about Latino voters?"

At the close of the town hall, listeners leave divided on what they heard from Pearce.

"In our area, this is exactly the message we are looking for," said Keith Thomas, a self-described liberal Republican on the Portales City Council and the president-elect of the Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce. "The east side of New Mexico typically is a very conservative group of folks-- a lot of retirees, a lot of agriculture. And I think we're just wanting straight answers from people representing us, and not acting like politicians. I think we get straight answers from Steve Pearce."

But Marcela Diaz, the Santa Fe-based director of Somos Un Pueblo Unido, who was on hand for the town hall, had a different spin. "There's movement in a sense that he recognizes that we need these workers here, in his district, in New Mexico," she said. But she added, "What we think is you clearly recognize us, congressman. You clearly want us here. But you want us to be second-class citizens. You don't want us to have the ability to vote, or to have the permanence or the security of citizenship."

Back in Washington, some GOP leaders, including Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, have pointed to Pearce as someone who is helping the party tap into Hispanic voter support. "When a conservative like Steve Pearce in New Mexico wins in a predominantly Latino district, we need to glean the lessons of his approach," Priebus said in March.

But closer scrutiny of Pearce's formula raises questions about whether many Republicans could-- or would-- really want to duplicate his approach. For instance, Pearce rarely talks openly about being a Republican. "Because I represent a 34 percent Republican district, I always must be talking to Democrats, so I don't use 'Democrat' or 'Republican' too much out in the open," he said.

He also jokes on the stump about not being able to speak much Spanish, even though he acknowledges to audiences that his mother was a Spanish teacher. Pearce says that even Hispanics tend to laugh at the tale of his determination growing up that he wasn't going to learn anything from his parents-- including Spanish-- and that when they laugh, they also "forgive" him. The laughs keep coming, he says, when he throws out that his mother keeps asking, "How's that English working for you in that district, son?"

But watching him at a town hall, it becomes clear that Pearce actually knows more Spanish than he lets on.

Pearce is also constantly reminding audiences that he was among 12 Republicans who did not vote in January to reelect John Boehner as House speaker. "Probably the most popular vote I've made, in this district," he says. When he tells audiences he cast that vote, Pearce says he gets, "Always applause, sometimes standing applause."

But there is a clear aim to his leadership bashing. Pearce is working to inoculate himself from anything those party leaders might do that won't play well in his district. In short, he is emphasizing that he is not part of Boehner's inner circle, and has little control over what Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and others might do.

"I don't know what pushes the leadership because I'm not in that group," he told the town hall. "I don't care to be in that group because I'm think I'm an independent voice. I'd rather be independent than be in the leadership clique."

In an interview, Pearce goes on to complain that House GOP leaders "have some timid belief that if they pass immigration reform they're suddenly going to get Hispanic votes. And I'm telling them that's just about as crazy as anything I've ever heard of."

Still, as Pearce pitches himself as a savvy independent voice, state and national Democrats say demographics in his district cannot be ignored forever.

"The clock is ticking," says Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., the cochairman of the Congressional Border Caucus, a group of lawmakers from districts along the U.S.-Mexico border, with whom Pearce does not actively participate.

Grijalva is among those who believe that even if Pearce is able to hold onto his seat in the 2014 congressional elections, he won't be able to do so for long thereafter.

Democrats in the district now hold an enrollment advantage that could be as high as 43 percent, and the latest U.S. Census Bureau statistics from 2011 show the district is roughly 52 percent Hispanic. Though not all Hispanic residents are eligible voters, the Pew Research Center last fall reported that some 39 percent of all of New Mexico's eligible voters are Hispanic, the largest share in any state.

Some Democrats say Pearce has benefited from weak, underfunded opponents. But this cycle, there is already one Democrat candidate declared to run against him-- Leslie Endean-Singh, a Democratic lawyer from Alamogordo-- and state Democrats are trying to woo other candidates, including Roxanne Lara, the Carlsbad attorney and former Eddy County commissioner who unsuccessfully sought the state party chairmanship earlier this year.

Whatever special formula the national GOP believes Pearce may have, Democrats note that it did not work when he left his seat to run for Senate in 2008.

"He's very likable, very personable-- and he does work hard to get out to see constituents," said state Democratic Party Chairman Sam Bregman. "But if Republicans think Steve Pearce is a model, then they're going to be losing a lot of elections."

TOM UDALL JUMPS INTO NEW MEXICO SENATE RACE-- LOOKS LIKE A PICK UP FOR THE DEMOCRATS

With the political demise of New Mexico Republican Senator Pete "Sneaky Pete" Domenici-- caught up the Department of Justice firings scandal-- and his subsequent decision to retire, New Mexico's U.S. Senate seat was suddenly in play. The two Republican House members, Domenici protege Heather Wilson-- involved in the exact same Department of Justice scandal (in fact, the cause of it)-- and extreme right-wing loon Steve Pearce, immediately jumped into the race. A long cast of lackluster Democrats also started eyeing the race. Grassroots Democrats began a persistent effort to draft Tom Udall, by far New Mexico's best known-- a former two-term state attorney general and the son of beloved former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall-- and most popular congressman. He declined. Democrats persisted. Yesterday he agreed to run.

He will face Albuquerque's unpopular Mayor Martin Chavez in a June primary unless Chavez withdraws before then. Polling shows Udall will win the primary handily and go on to beat either tarnished Republican in November.

Tom Udall - 50%
Martin Chávez - 30%
Don Wiviott - 2%
Undecided - 17%

In match-ups against both Wilson and Pearce, Udall comes out on top. No other Democrat does.
Wilson (R) 45
Chavez (D) 42

Wilson (R) 38
Udall (D) 55

Pearce (R) 40
Chavez (D) 39

Pearce (R) 37
Udall (D) 54

DRAFT TOM UDALL

Perhaps you'll recall that a couple of weeks ago Alex Flores wrote a guest post about the grassroots movement to draft Rep. Tom Udall to run for the open New Mexico Senate seat being vacated by disgraced Republican Pete Domenici. There have been some developments since then and I asked Alex to catch us up a bit. His report:

Back around the beginning of October, an idea was hatched to draft Congressman Tom Udall to run for the US Senate from New Mexico. Since then, the netroots have raised over $1,100 for the Congressman by asking for donations of only $5!

Now we're changing strategies to send an even stronger message. Many supporters of the draft emailed in applauding the efforts to collect $5 donations but lamented that they would rather not contribute to the Congressman's account unless he's really committed.

DraftUdall.Com is taking a new approach. The online petition now has a new question: How Much Do You Pledge to Give Tom Udall's Senate Campaign?

Since we started this new plan four days ago, another $1,200 have been committed. We think that can increase a hundred fold! Please help out.

Four other Democrats are running for the seat, one well-known in Mayor Martin Chavez and three lesser-known Dems, Don Wiviott, Jim Hannan and Leland Lehrman.

Heath Haussamen, a New Mexico blogger, wrote a bit recently about Martin Chavez's problems with progressives:

Securing big-name supporters and financial contributions is an important step for Chávez's senatorial campaign, but he has another problem to overcome: Progressive Democrats, at least those in the Albuquerque area, aren't his biggest supporters.

That's an understatement. After candidates and referenda backed by Chávez, or at least his staffers, were defeated in the recent Albuquerque municipal election, the unique coalition of Republicans and progressive Democrats who made it happen literally celebrated together.

It's also apparent that going to position himself in the center for this race. Contrasting himself with the more experienced and more progressive Tom Udall, Haussamen writes:
He also said he is confident he would defeat Udall in a primary.

"Philosophically, he's so far to the left," Chávez said. "I'd rather not have him in the race, but that's a challenge I'd not shy away from."

Angry? Sign the Petition and tell Congressman Udall how much you'll pledge to a real progressive if he runs for the US Senate ($2,300 is the Federal campaign limit).

Tom Udall already said he wouldn't run for the seat, but Chavez is running scared of the draft effort, doubtless aware that Tom Udall is the most popular Democrat in the state who can still run for the Senate.

Remember those SurveyUSA numbers? When Steven Pearce is the Republican nominee, moderate Mayor Chavez loses and progressive Congressman Udall wins; the spread is 39 points! When Heather Wilson is the Republican nominee, moderate Mayor Chavez loses and progressive Congressman Udall wins; the spread between them in this race is 22 points!

Starting with Republican candidate Steven Pearce, Congressman from New Mexico's 2nd District:
* Pearce loses to Congressman Tom Udall by 18 points
* defeats Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez by 21 points
Now to Republican candidate Heather Wilson, Congresswoman from New Mexico's 1st Congressional District:
* Wilson loses to Udall by 18 points (same as Pearce),
* defeats Chavez by 4 points (Wilson runs 17 points weaker than Pearce)

The Draft Udall movement is really picking up steam. If you haven't seen yet, we were on page A2 of yesterday's Washington Post and were recently given coverage in The Hill, a newspaper circulated in Washington, DC to every office in Congress. Help keep up the pressure, sign the petition and pledge money to Tom Udall today!

If you've already signed, please sign again, your old duplicate signature will be deleted.

See the "Draft Udall Around the Web page for more coverage.

-Alex Flores