Associations

One of the problems we have with the Albuquerque Closed and Un-Ethical Elections Ordinance is that the election financing scheme created by the ordinance also creates an ideological iron curtain that effectively hides the groups supporting a candidate. It's important to know just who influences candidates for office on every level and it's even more critical on down ballot races. After all, it wasn't all that long ago that a certain candidate for President started his political career in the living room of an admitted and unrepentant domestic terrorist.

What we're saying is that a candidate's associations are important. They provide a clear indication of what one's true beliefs and/or positions really are regardless of what they say in TV spots, campaign literature, or in debates.

Martin Heinrich has been trying to sell the voters of the 1st Congressional District the idea that he's a moderate. The truth is that Martin Heinrich is one of the most liberal candidates ever to run for Congress in the 1st Congressional District. Look no further than his voting record and the legislation he sponsored while serving on the city council.

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The City of Albuquerque's website is a great place to do some research. Go to http://cabq.legistar.com/legislation.aspx and search Heinrich to see all of the Legislation that the former councilor sponsored.
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By now, we all know that Heinrich has never held a job of consequence. Sure he served on the Albuquerque City Council. Sure he was an unregistered lobbyist (a violation of New Mexico law) for a number of groups that Heinrich has yet to reveal. Sure he operated a "consulting" business illegally. What we don't know - and what the Heinrich campaign would rather you not consider - is his association with Eli Il Young Lee.

If you'll remember, Lee is the target of a lawsuit alleging voter fraud. The lawsuit - filed by three Democrats - alleges that Lee used 501 c(3)s and 501 c(4)s to illegally influence the outcome of the spring primaries by spending some $180,000 in unreported campaign cash to benefit three candidates - Eric Griego, Tim Keller, and Eleanor Chavez.

Soltari Inc. specializes in strategic consulting and field operations for progressive political candidates, nonprofit organizations and small businesses. Whether you are running for office or advocating for an issue, Soltari Inc. will craft a winning strategy for your campaign. We can also coordinate your field operation, emphasizing the most effective form of voter contact -- live interaction, through doorknocking and phoning. Combining the science of research and data analysis with the art of persuasion and strategy, Soltari Inc. formed in September 2000 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The word Soltari comes from sol, the Spanish word for sun, and tari, Korean for bridge. We have a saying at Soltari - "our work speaks for itself."

-Soltari Website (recently pulled down)

Soltari was Lee's first foray into local politics. They're political business model was to recruit a far left candidate that was generally unknown to the public, raise their money, create their mailers, and run their campaign. Soltari was a one stop shop for ideologically pure leftist candidates. One of Soltari's first fair haired boys was none other than Martin Heinrich.

Lee and his Sotari crew snatched up the camp counselor and made him a city councilor back in 2003. That year they also managed to install Debbie O'Malley and Eric Griego in the council chambers.

Lee is now involved in a network of non-profits whose only objective is to see far left candidates put in office by any means necessary (read it here and here). A few months back Peter St. Cyr interviewed State Senator Shannon Robinson. Robinson makes some serious allegations against Lee's non-profits and their coordinated effort to throw him out of office. Listen to the full interview here.

What it comes down to is that Martin Heinrich is Eli Lee's creature. Lee created him and put him in a position to run for Congress. From this and other associations it's easy to determine what Martin Heinrich's positions really are.

The Iraq War - Withdrawal at any cost even if that cost is failure for our troops and chaos in the Middle East.

Taxes - Don't believe the ads. Heinrich has a history of raising taxes on everyone. There's nothing but campaign rhetoric to indicate otherwise. In fact, taxes reached their highest rates locally while Heinrich presided over the Albuquerque City Council.

The Bailout - Heinrich hasn't take an "official" position on the bailout but his support of government mandates like the city minimum wage and the $240 MILLION trolley lead one to believe that Heinrich is for more government control and using taxpayer money to pay for it. In other words... socialism.

When you're trying to figure out who to vote for, don't look at the ads, the mailers, or even the media. Find out who supports them, what they've done and why. Once you know these things you can make an intelligent choice - a choice based on associations. A choice based on who these candidates really are.

Game On!

Now that we've got those pesky primaries out of the way and we know who's facing who, we can get down to the business of choosing who's going to represent us in all of the various levels of government. Of course there were a couple of surprises like Commissioner Theresa (my son really didn't get an F did he?) Cordova falling to Art De La Cruz (unofficial results here), but by and large there weren't any huge surprises around the Albuquerque area.

So... it's game on for the general election! To kick things off we're going to start with an Eye Poll of the 1st Congressional District. Who do you think will best represent the people of Eyeland, a law and order sheriff or a far left former Albuquerque city councilor? That's this week's Eye Poll - the first of the general election season. Don't forget to vote!

Decision White

There really weren't any big surprises in last week's Eye Poll. Sheriff Darren White ran away in the voting for the GOP nomination to the congressional race by almost 20 points. The only real surprise was that it was inside 20%. The Journal's poll of likely Republican voters put the spread at 59 points (ABQ Journal - Subscription).

In our unscientific Eye Poll of anyone that chose to participate, 31% chose Senator Carraro, 48% Sheriff White, 1% didn't know, and 20% didn't care (read the full results here). We're a little concerned about the high number of participants indicating a lack of interest, but that could be an indication of participating Democrats who just want to beat a Republican no matter who they are.

Our guess is that Tuesday's primary will result in Sheriff White becoming the Republican nominee. The Sheriff is a formidable candidate with considerable fund raising ability and huge name ID. Unlike the Senate race, Democrats do not have a candidate with same favorables and they've been spending their cash fighting each other during the primary race.

If you haven't already done so, don't forget to vote in the primary this coming Tuesday!

Torpedoing a Sinking Ship

State Senator Joe Carraro's campaign has been bailing water since it set sail last year. The vocal Carraro started the race with a sizable hole in his campaign ship when he failed to get the necessary 20% of the votes at the Republican State Convention. Undaunted by the water around his knees Carraro pressed on qualifying for the ballot by submitting additional petition signatures.

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For any of you aspiring candidates, it's not a good sign when less than 20% of party activists vote for you in a two-way race. That coupled with relatively low name ID should have been an indication that it was time to look for a life raft not additional petition signatures. Determination can only carry so far... unless you can write million dollar checks to patch the holes in your campaign hull.
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Today, the Albuquerque Journal fired what could only be called a devastating torpedo at an already sinking ship. The story (ABQ Journal - Subscription) linked Senator Carraro to a company called Real Turf. Apparently, Carraro was hired as a "business consultant" for a business that did work for state governments and relied upon state appropriations.

According to the story, Carraro had the sense to include contract language making it clear that there could never be a "real or perceived conflict of interest."

"There can never be a real or perceived conflict of interest regarding my positions as a state senator and president of Public Perceptions," he said, adding:

"Specifically, it should be noted that recommendations of your product to governmental entities given prior to this contract ... in no way bound you to the employment of Public Perceptions."

-ABQ Journal - Subscription

We really don't know whether or not Senator Carraro used his position as a state senator to benefit Real Turf. In fact, we'd be hesitant to hire Carraro's company Public Perceptions, because Real Turf went bankrupt after using his consulting services. Our problem is that the senator knew that there could be a perceived conflict of interest as evidenced by the inclusion of the language in his company's contract but he went ahead anyway earning some $40,000 over an eight month period until Real Turf stopped paying him.

For a candidate running on a platform of "experience" this major screw-up shows an astonishing lack of understanding of politics and the media.

After twenty years serving as your State Senator, I bring experience and knowledge of issues to represent The People, not the special interests of political parties, government or big business.

-PeopleForJoe.com

Regardless of whether the senator actually did anything wrong or not, the public perception is that he did because he was in a position to do so. By working for Real Turf Carraro managed to create the perception that he works for the very special interests that he claims not to represent and that he's for hire.

Folks, that's a very large political torpedo. For $40,000 he created a public perception that will take a million dollars and weeks of spending it to dispel - neither of which he has. After 20 years in office, Carraro should have known that and never signed a contract that created a perceived or real conflict of interest. Ironically, it was Carraro himself that created the torpedo that will finally sink his congressional ship.

Carraro Push Poll?

As you probably know by now, State Senator Joe Carraro has decided to run for Congress challenging Sheriff Darren White for the Republican nomination. The electrons had hardly dried over at Heath Haussamen's blog announcing the impending announcement when someone hit the phones with a Carraro push poll.

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Is it just us or are you as tired as we are of the announcement to announce the announcement thing that seems to be gaining popularity with New Mexico politicians (Tom Udall you know who you are). Come on! Are you running or just announcing?! Get it over with already!
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According to our Eyes ears, the "poll" talks about how experienced the State Senator is and makes absolutely sure that you know that his rival for the R nomination has never held a "legislative" office while touting his own "legislative" accomplishments. Yeah... we know it's pretty ham-fisted but some people fall for it.

Senator Carraro's emphasis on legislative accomplishment could come back to haunt him. The very thing that the senator likes to tout is the very thing that he won't be able to lay a glove on the Sheriff about. In other words, Carraro has but one punch and he's already taken it; and before he's even announced.

Now we can't prove that Carraro is responsible for the push poll, but unless his mother is investing in her son's political future, there aren't many other independent groups that would be trying to push a Carraro candidacy. One other thing that State Senator Carraro might want to consider; since a seat in Congress is a federal position the race falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Election Commission.

Our Eyes tell us that the push poll making the rounds Tuesday night didn't have the federally mandated disclosure identifying who paid for the announcement. We do know that the caller ID indicated Buffalo New York as originating city for the call. We also know that financial records are almost impossible to get destroy. Perhaps the Carraro folks should brush up on their federal election regulations before jumping in too deep.