New Mexico FBIHOP and the Democracy for New Mexico blog are re-launching the True Blue New Mexico campaign today -- this time with the Democratic candidates for all the federal races.

You can donate at the True Blue New Mexico ActBlue fundraising page, where you'll find the full slate of Democratic candidates New Mexicans can vote for come November.

This year, voters around New Mexico and across the country have voted for change in record numbers, and not just for presidential candidate Barack Obama but for more local races as well. Progressive candidates already shocked incumbents in state Senate and House primaries earlier this month.

(UPDATE: Letter to Brian Colón.) Former Democratic Party of New Mexico Chair John Wertheim and other ranking Party members in the Clinton camp have submitted a letter to the current State Chair, Brian Colón, complaining that he didn't follow the rules in the election of Laurie Weahkee as New Mexico's unpledged add-on delegate. The Clinton camp is saying there should be a run-off election for the slot between Weahkee and Heather Townsend, who received write-in votes from Clinton supporters on the State Central Committee -- despite the fact that she wasn't an official nominee. Townsend is an acknowledged Clinton supporter. According to an article in today's Albuquerque Journal:

In a letter this week to state Democratic Party Chairman Brian Colón, 10 ranking party members— including four Clinton superdelegates— accused Colón of breaking the delegate selection rules. Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, another Clinton superdelegate, told the Journal that she thinks Barack Obama backers put "tremendous" pressure on Colón about the selection plan.

Amazingly, the overwhelmingly toothless U.S. Senate Ethics Committee deigned to administer a mild rebuke to Sen. Pete Domenici for the "appearance of impropriety" in connection with his call to former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias demanding information about the timing of pending corruption indictments. The Ethics Committee has been mostly comatose for a number of years, reportedly due to an informal, mutual agreement between Dems and Repubs to refrain from taking any meaningful action on ethics complaints against Senators of one another's parties. Foxes guarding the henhouse and all that. One hand washes the other.

The Ethics Committee issued a three-page letter yesterday "admonishing" Domenici but claiming there was no "substantial evidence" of purposeful wrongdoing on his part and recommending no punishment for the infraction.

This is the day that quarterly candidate financial reports are due at the FEC, so campaign press releases filled with braggadaccio -- justified or not -- are piling up in many bloggers' and reporters' email boxes. I know I'm supposed to be excited about the fact that many of the candidates I support are doing incredibly well in the area of campaign donations.

I know that as a political blogger I'm expected to rush to the keyboard and try to "scoop" other sites by being among the first to reveal the official numbers. I know I'm supposed to plug in the always boring and totally predictable candidate quotes about how "grateful" they are for all the support and how they will use it to change everything that needs changing in Washington. But I just can't do it today.

Hillary Clinton will be jetting in and out of Albuquerque on Sunday for a big-ticket fundraiser organized by former Ambassador to Spain, Ed Romero, an Albuquerque resident:

At Clinton's fundraiser, invitees will pay $2,300 to be "sponsors," while "friends" pay $1,000 for the catered event of Spanish tapas, wine and sherry. Romero declined to say how much Clinton hopes to raise.

The guest list will include Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez, former state Democratic Party chairman John Wertheim and former Ambassador Joe Wilson and his wife, Valerie Plame ...

Payback for Gov. Bill Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama? I wouldn't be surprised.

During the noon hour today, Democratic Rep. Tom Udall (NM-03) formally announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate in New Mexico at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. Salon Ortega was packed with supporters, local and national media and a slew of New Mexico politicos, as well as Tom's family -- his wife Jill Cooper Udall, his daughter Amanda Cooper and her husband Jim Noel, and his legendary dad Stewart Udall.

Below the fold are eight short video clips of parts of Udall's rousing speech from today's event.

Rep. Udall also reached out to local bloggers with a conference call this morning. He spent about an hour with us talking about his background, his reasons for running and what he wants to bring to the Senate. Then he took questions from us. (In my clip number 1, Udall mentions that he talked so much on the blogger call he got hoarse.)

It's really hard to take in. 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." He's also likening Udall to Republican Senate candidates Rep. Heather Wilson (NM-01) and Steve Pearce (NM-02). In a campaign email (PDF) today, Chavez said:

Enough is enough.  If Tom Udall, Heather Wilson, and Steve Pearce -- our elected Representatives in Congress -- won't fight to save our labs, we will.

We've all heard it over and over again from many sources -- Governor Bill Richardson isn't interested in entering the 2008 U.S. Senate race in New Mexico. He's running for president and that's that. The Albuquerque Journal's front page headline this morning says it again, in case anyone's still unconvinced at this point: "Udall Says Governor Confirms He's No Senate Threat." The story reports on a conversation reporter Jeff Jones had with Rep. Tom Udall (NM-03) yesterday:

Gov. Bill Richardson to his key New Mexico backers: Support anyone you want for the 2008 U.S. Senate race, because I'm not getting in. That was Richardson's message during a face-to-face meeting with those supporters earlier this month, according to Rep. Tom Udall, a fellow Democrat who next week will announce his U.S. Senate bid.

"He basically released them to do what they wanted to do in the Senate race," the 3rd Congressional District representative told the Journal on Tuesday.

Last week, the Marty Chavez for U.S. Senate campaign conducted a live online "town hall" with Mayor Chavez. It was obvious from listening to what Chavez had to say -- and what some of his obvious supporters typed into the comments screen -- that two of his main campaign talking points in the early going will be that "Udall cut funding for Los Alamos National Labs" and that Marty is proud to be a "native son" with longstanding Hispanic roots in New Mexico.

Of course Chavez also hit on this election cycle's mainstream Dem themes during the online event -- bringing the troops home from Iraq, providing universal access to health care, promoting renewable energy and finally getting rid of the incompetence and dishonesty of the Bush administration. Those are givens, where the devil is in the details and the real test comes if and when the candidate gets to Washington to reveal them. After all, anyone can say anything or promise anything during runups to elections, and they do.

But in trying to communicate distinctions between himself and primary rival Rep. Tom Udall (NM-03), Chavez has been focusing on suggesting that Udall won't do a good job of representing the interests of New Mexico.

Former Attorney General Patricia Madrid, who lost to Rep. Heather Wilson in NM-01 by fewer than 900 votes in 2006, has reportedly been toying with running either for U.S. Senate or the House seat in NM-01 ever since Domenici announced his retirement. She hasn't been alone. Unless you've been out of the country or off the planet, you've witnessed the names of dozens of New Mexicans being mentioned or leaked or dropped as possible candidates. Coy quotes are planted. Politicos spin and whisper. Emails and phone calls come in clusters. Even to me.

Emanuel and Pelosi Apply the Pressure
In Madrid's case, it's gotten more definite over the last few days. She told the media she's decided not to run for Senate now that Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez is in the race. New Mexico Dems breathed a sign of relief. But she left the door ajar on another Congressional run in the First District and that got local Dems grumbling. Then, late yesterday, I got word from someone I met at the YearlyKos bloggers convention this summer that a rumor about Madrid springing from knowledgeable sources was circulating in DC. Namely, that Dem House Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel, along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, were pressuring Madrid to enter the NM-01 race.

Turns out Karl Rove was on a stealth mission with The Decider when Bush zoomed into Albuquerque on August 27th to attend a big dollar fundraiser for Sen. Pete Domenici at the home of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Mayor Larry Abraham. According to a report by Jeff Jones in today's Albuquerque Journal (which I can't find online), Abraham told him he rode back to Kirtland Air Foce Base in the presidential limo with both Bush and Rove after the luncheon fundraiser.

There had been no previous mention of Rove's presence in New Mexico with Bush, probably with good reason. Testimony and emails have linked Rove with the U.S. Attorney firing scandal in no uncertain terms. And Domenici and NM GOP operatives were clearly enmeshed with Rove in the unethical political maneuvering that unsuccessfully pressured New Mexico's former U.S. Attorney, David Iglesias, to file bogus "voter fraud" cases and rush indictments in the Albuquerque courthouse case before the November 2006 election. Domenici and other New Mexican Repubs, you may recall, reportedly urged Rove and others to see that Iglesias was fired when he didn't buckle under their pressure.

George Bush will be at a campaign fundraiser in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque today raising lots of money from Republican elites for "Pajama Pete" Domenici's reelection campaign. Last year Bush came to New Mexico and raised $375,000 for Rep. Heather Wilson the same way. Why? Domenici and Wilson have been among Bush's most loyal and obedient supporters, putting the neocon political agenda of Bush-Rove-Gonzales ahead of the real needs of New Mexicans, our troops, our Constitution, our environment, our health care system and our nation. Visits from Bush to raise big bucks for their campaigns are their reward, and a down payment on the continuation of his failed policies for years to come.

Now the New Mexico netroots community wants to counter Bush and his crony candidates by raising lots of small donations at Beat Back Bush New Mexico. They may have the wealthy few, but we have the passionate many.

Democratic Congressional candidate Martin Heinrich, who's running to replace Repub incumbent Heather Wilson in NM-01, announced that his campaign raised about $181,000 in the quarter that ended on June 30th. That's $31,000 more than the goal of $150,000 set by his campaign when he entered the race in late April. Donations came from about 700 individuals in only nine weeks of fundraising. According to the campaign, about 71% of donations came from within New Mexico's first Congressional District, and about 88% from within the state.

Las Cruces, NM blogger Heath Haussamen has the story on Sen. Pete Domenici's partial change of heart on the Iraq occupation, which was revealed in an announcement by the NM Senator in Albuquerque this morning. Domenici has decided to sign on as a cosponsor of Sen. Ken Salazar's (D-CO) and Sen. Lamar Alexander's (R-TN) SB 1545, a bill to implement the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group.

This seems to be the new fall back position for Republicans (and some "centrist" Dems) who are becoming increasingly jittery about their prospects and those of their party in the 2008 election due to the Iraq debacle. In recent days Repub defense heavy hitters Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) changed course and said they could no longer support waiting until September to see if the "surge" is working. Even Sen. John Warner (R-VA) has positive words about Lugar's statement.

Monica Goodling's testimony yesterday raised more issues about Sen. Pete Domenici's involvement in the U.S. Attorney firings and prompted the Chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, Brian Colón, to ask Domenici and his chief of staff, Steve Bell, for some answers about their contacts with the DOJ and Rove.

Senate Joint Resolution 5, the New Mexico Legislature resolution that urges Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings against Bush and Cheney, passed the NM Senate Public Affairs Committee this afternoon by a vote of 3-2!

Once again the hearing room was packed, with many left standing and even more trailing out into the hallway. Not one person spoke against the measure during about an hour and 15 minutes of testimony, with speakers limited to two minutes each. Particularly moving were a passionate speech from a gentleman from rural Carrizozo, who led off the testimony, and an eloquent and heartfelt statement by another gentleman who had been a history professor for more than 30 years.

NM Senate Joint Resolution 5, the state legislation urging impeachment of Bush and Cheney, was passed this morning in the NM Senate Rules Committee with only Democrats present, all of whom voted for the resolution!

The meeting room was packed to the gills, with a huge crowd winding down the hallways outside the hearing. Several hours were spent listening to citizens speak on behalf of the bill, until Committee members were forced to move on to other business. In fact, they allowed more citizens to speak after the committee voted, to allow more people to participate and make sure they met quorum for the vote.

I find it appalling that every Republican member of the Committee refused to attend and listen to what our citizens have to say about what may well be the most important issues of our era -- the Iraq occupation and the refusal of the President and Vice President to obey the law. I guess they couldn't bear to hear ordinary people speaking truth to power. I guess they believe they only represent the Republicans in their districts, not all the citizens.

According to a post yesterday on TPM Cafe:

The Natiional Republican Congressional Committee today sank $320,851.50 into House races in over a dozen states. Much of the cash went to negative phone-banking and mailers -- see a detailed breakdown of the spending here.

There are two references in the FEC report to a company called Feather Larson & Synhorst DCI of Phoenix, AZ, which was paid some $6,000 on October 9, 2006 by the NRCC to conduct phone banks opposing Democrat challenger Patricia Madrid's campaign against Republican incumbent Rep. Heather Wilson. As reported by the Center for Media & Democracy's Sourcewatch (must read), FLS DCI is closely associated with Karl Rove.