CNN Stats

CNN reported tonight that the Congressional candidates in the country spent $160 million on negative ads and $17 million on positive ads. Now wonder my friend Lee Otteni from Farmington said the people up in San Juan County are turning off their TVs. They have been subjected to negative ads from Albuquerque TV in the Congressional race since Heather Wilson started them last July. They cant even vote in the race. The LA times says $11 million has been spent in this congressional race by the candidates and independant campaigns on 11,500 TV commercials. That is a lot of negative vibes going through the ether!

My opponent has really helped in that too. He is at it again saying the I caused the Land Office to lose a hundred million dollars when I was Commissioner. Of course he fails to mention that 98% of all revenues are brought in by oil and gas and that plummeting oil prices in the 80's and 90's caused that. If he wants to blame me for that then you should blame him for $3 dollar a gallon gasoline for most of the year. Oh, thats right, it dropped to $2 a gallon for a few weeks until the election is past.

Must Buy More Candy

I must remember to find time to buy more candy. Bobbi and Noelle bought some but I know it wont be enough after experiencing the last two years. When I wake up I hope I remember. I would give the kids a bumper sticker, but the tricksters would burn the house. Cant blame them. The above pumpkins were carved by my son Justin and his girl Karly in Syracuse.

Life Outside

I know there is a life outside the current political campaigns. All of the candidates know that and frankly, they are looking forward to the year long gauntlet to end. I see young guys like Democratic State Auditor Candidate Hector Balderas of Wagon Mound yearning to be with his young family. He had been on the road for us with days and got to see his wife and kids in Las Vegas this weekend. He visibly brightened with them there at his side.

These campaigns in New Mexico take a whole year to conduct and are akin to 'running the guantlet'. You must start collecting signature petitions in October of the year before the general election. Those are filed in Marchof the next year. Then you have to endure the questionable effectiveness of the Pre Primary Nominating Convention which has a mediocre record of picking the eventual Primary winner. Then the Primary campaign starts. That is the most lonely part of the whole campaign because your party members are automatically split and many are unwilling to commit for fear of losing friends. Then the Primary in June and it starts all over for the General Election. The General Election is more fun because then you run as a team and the candidates attempt to help each other out. Even so, you can see the strain in the last three weeks on every ones faces. Everyone is sort of at the point of saying, "Be over."

Well, we are one week away of this being over and then we an our families can get back to our lives outside the modern day equivalent of 'running the gauntlet.'

Win or lose next week Bobbi and I will travel for a week to Puerto Vallarte for a rest.

It Starts-The Swift Boating

Pat Lyons has just started his negative TV Commercials against me. Everyone says they are truly awful. I haven't seen them since I have been campaigning in the north with all the candidates. Bad pictures of me, lies about me, and generally offensive TV. So, what do I do? Sink to his level? Send a comment and advice.

In the meantime we had two strong editorial endorsements today. One in a column by V.B. Price in the Albuquerque Tribune and a very good endorsement in the Santa Fe New Mexican.

These articles paint a much different picture than Pat Lyons lies do.

We did our tour of the north today with the start in the Plaza in Las Vegas.

Our next stop was Mora and the VFW Post.

Then it was on to Taos.

Then we stopped in Espanola where I mugged with Governor Benavidez of Santa Clara Pueblo.

And finished in Santa Fe with an introduction by Mayor Coss.

Friday Late-Then the Bus

We went to all those places I described in the last post. This beautiful autumn picture was taken between Zuni Pueblo and El Morro on the way back from a long day of campaigning. Scenes like this one make it all worth it.

We all made this tour including the big guy, (now getting slimmer) and Senator Bingaman.

Here is my faithful chase car driver and campaign Treasurer Rodger Beimer listening to our speeches for the third time in three hours.

Tomorrow we take the bus to Las Vegas, Mora, Taos, Espanola and Santa Fe.

Thursday Late-Then the Bus

Two breakfast meetings with two speeches. Home to check on Bobbi. Drove to Las Vegas for a two hour debate with my opponent. Drove to Santa Fe to meet some donors. Drove to Cerrillos to attend a fundraiser. Drove home the back way to Albuquerque. 13.5 hours and home to some yummy potato soup made by Noelle. She came home to care for Bobbi while I am on the road.


Tomorrow we do Rio Rancho, Laguna Acoma Pueblos, Gallup and Zuni on a bus tour with the Governor. Saturday we do the bus tour to Las Vegas, Mora, Taos, Espanola, and Santa Fe.

While I was on the road today this story appeared in the Tribune. I find it strange that a land office employee is answering campaign related questions. She also set up the bogus TV commercial with the public school in question, while an employee of the land office I assume. Other candidates have been lynched by the media for this so I think this story may be around for a while.

Home

I brought Bobbi home this morning. She is moving slow but feels good. She will be convalescing for a couple of weeks. She will really miss being out on the campaign trail. I will be staying with her most of today and working the campaign from home.

I was really happy to see the Albuquerque Journal story on my opponents scandalous mailing accusing me of getting ready to ban hunting from state lands. It is a lie and the story pretty much lays out the issue. Here is my original news release from last June on my hunting access policy.

Now, I am off to fill prescriptions at Walgreen's for Bobbi.

Our Taxes

If you didn't see it please read this from the New York Time's Nicolas Kristoff. It might send you into orbit, like it did to me this morning while sitting by Bobbi's bed at the Womens Hospital. $6300 a second is a lot of money to be cramming into Iraq. bush and rumsfeld's war was supposed to cost $50 billion, but now it looks like $2 trillion. Get your head around that number!

As Kristoff said, "Just to put that $2 trillion in perspective, it is four times the additional cost needed to provide health insurance for all uninsured Americans for the next decade. It is 1,600 times Mr. Bush’s financing for his vaunted hydrogen energy project."

Bobbi is still doing well at the hospital.

Bobbi is Fine

My lovely wife Bobbi is out of surgery and doing fine. The first thing she asked about this morning after waking up, somewhat drugged, was how the Journal story on the poll was. She really did. I thought it was good, but you know yesterday the head line was, "Madrid Gains, Wilson Slips" as they were separated by 3%. In my case it says "Baca-Lyons Locked in Dead Heat" while we are separated by 2%. It all depends on the headline writer on duty I guess.

I am pretty happy with these results. It may turn out that Lyon's incredibly negative campaign ads are not catching voters for him. He has spent a lot of money in the last two weeks and has seen little change. Now, back to the hospital room with Bobbi.

Home Again

Yesterday was fun and tiring. We started at 7am in Ruidoso and went to Alamogordo for a really great rally. Then on to Las Cruces for the Aggie Homecoming Parade. Then on to Deming for a really nice downtown rally. Then on to Silver City for another nicely attended downtown rally. And finally, to Socorro for another rally at 9pm. We got home about 10:30.....

This is the gang that went on the bus tour with some of the local candidates in Hobbs on Friday morning.

This is State Auditor candidate Hector Balderas catching some sleep on the bus.

This is Jean Ossorio with Rodger Beimer and I in Las Cruces. Jean is very active in my campaign down there along with her husband Peter. They work very hard on wolf recovery programs.

I will be out of pocket tomorrow as my lovely wife Bobbi will be undergoing major surgery at the Women's Hospital. You all pray for her.

Long Day

6:15 am to Double Eagle Airport for flight to Hobbs
6:45 am I discover I am at the wrong airport
7:00 am The planes flies from the ABQ Airport and picks me up
8:15 am We arrive at Hobbs for a rally
9:15 am We board a bus for Carlsbad
10:15 am We have a rally
11:30 am We board the bus to Roswell
12:45 pm We have a rally
2:45 pm We board the bus for Ruidoso
4:15 pm We arrive Ruidoso

Two more rallies in Ruidoso tonight.

TV

Here is our first TV Commercial which started airing yesterday.

Please send money here to help keep it on the air.

At last check today the oil and gas industry has put into my opponents T.V. account three times what we have for T.V.

The ugly October surpises are upon us. This comes on the heels of highly negative attacks against several of us Democrats in recent weeks. These negative attacks work despite what everyone says about hating them.

This kind of campaigning didn't exist the last time I ran for office. It really has been honed into an art by the republicans who will stop at nothing to control the country. I don't know what the negative mail campaign that is being waged against us will ultimately do to our races, but I don't think they are helping.

Oil and Gas

This link will show you what the bush administration has planned for American Western Public Lands during its last two years in office. While I have always said oil and gas development is appropriate on most public land, I also feel it is inappropriate on some lands and that is where I get in trouble with the oil and gas guys. They just want it all and that is why they are supporting my opponent.

I had a friend call me and enlighten me about my opponents campaign. His websites and literature fail to mention he is a Republican. Anywhere! I am sure I have put out some pieces that might not identify me as a Democrat, but I am certainly proud to be one and not afraid to let folks know. My opponent knows he can't win without Democratic votes so he feels it necessary to do this.

Be sure and look at the video in the last post. It is still very telling and funny.

Video of Lyons on Environment

Here is a video that shows my opponents true colors on taking care of the land. This is part of a televised debate in Roswell that we participated in last week. It was taped and replayed several times and originated from the First Baptist Church in Roswell.

And Then

And after reading the nice endorsement in the Tribune I switch over to the New York Times and see that 10 American kids and dozens of Iraqis died today in Iraq. 69 U.S. soldiers have died this month so far.

I am enveloped in the campaign and pay some attention to others, but sometimes I don't think hard enough about the things that are really important to this nation. Those 69 lives and the innocents who have died should be our main concerns. We simply must change the Congress this year if we don't do anything else.

An Endorsement

We got a very nice endorsement from the Albuquerque Tribune today. Click here to see it along with some of their other picks.

Land Commissioner

Jim Baca, Democrat

The land commissioner's race this year is really a contest about who can look out better for the long-term best interests of New Mexicans and the state's public-trust lands, whose revenues go to schools across New Mexico. Both candidates can lay claim to good backgrounds for the office. But Baca has the foresight and inventiveness to serve New Mexico the longest and the best.

Though Baca is the challenger this time around, he has considerable relevant experience. He was New Mexico's land commissioner twice, from 1983-86 and 1991-93. From 1993-94, he headed the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. He was mayor of Albuquerque from 1997-2001 and a state Natural Resources Trustee from 2003-06.

Generally, he has proved to be an innovator. The Tribune is particularly impressed with his bold and surprisingly successful efforts to turn the Land Commissioner's Office from its traditional emphasis on exploiting trust lands to get revenues from oil, gas and other extractive industries and from grazing leases. Instead, Baca began attending more diligently to conserving and protecting trust lands for recreational uses.

It's not that Baca abandoned money-making ventures. On the contrary, he pressed oil and gas companies and ranchers for higher revenues and initiated planning for the development of Mesa del Sol in south Albuquerque. But he recognized that oil and gas supplies are running out in New Mexico, and the ranching business has been declining under various pressures. In the long run, recreational uses are taking more prominent revenue-producing roles, and Baca is about encouraging this. This time around, Baca is promoting an interesting new round of innovations.

The current land commissioner is making money from trust lands, but for how long? We think the future, in the long run, lies with Baca's approach.

Hate Mail Continues

Pat Lyons and the bush Republicans continue to send out hate mail paid for by the oil and gas industry. First it was a racial slur against Treasurer candidate James Lewis, then it was another one against Patsy Madrid. Now they actually have a large piece out that says I will ban firearms on state lands and put all lands off limits to sportsmen. In truth, I have been a sportsman and hunter all my life and have a large collection of hunting and sporting firearms. I recieved my first rifle, a .22 caliber single shot Marlin on Christmas morning in 1953. This hate mail is really incredible and scary because this kind of trash can affect a close election. Pat Lyons and the bush republicans are liars. In addition, all of the mail, which has Lyon's home address in Cuervo, NM on it, has no state required disclaimer on it. This mail is in violation of state election law and can not be legally mailed.

Don't believe the lies you see in bush republican hate mail. Remember the lies about "mission accomplished?" Please contact the Secretary of State's office to complain about this illegally mailed materiel.

My position on sportsmen access was made clear in this news release last June.

More Radio Debate

Tune in for a good radio one on one tonight between Pat Lyons and me. It will be at 6PM on KANW 89.1 FM. Listen for an evening of truth or dare.

Proof

The 300 millionth American was born today. That is a real milestone. I was born in 1945 and the country's population was 132 million. We have more than doubled. Will we double again in the next sixty years? Probably not, hopefully not.

I cant think of a better reason for protecting places like Valle Vidal and Otero Mesa than these statistics. We really must think sixty to one hundred years ahead on everything we do. The chances of protecting these places with New Mexico's population growth during that time get slimmer and slimmer. New Mexico will probably grow faster than much of the country due to in migration from other parts of America and South America.

Radio Showdown

My opponent and I will be on KKOB 770 on the Jim Villanucci show at 3pm today. It should be a fun couple of hours and it may surprise a few folks.