I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Michelle Obama, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, spoke of the importance of women and of registering people to vote in a speech before nearly 1,000 people at the Student Union Building at the University of New Mexico on Thursday.
The crowd waited for nearly an hour to hear her speak and audibly showed its disappointment as speaker after speaker, from DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen to former Attorney Attorney General Patricia Madrid to Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, took the stage. It was clear people were waiting for one person: Michelle Obama.
The rally that Obama headlined kicked off the "30/30" push of the Obama campaign in New Mexico to register 30,000 people in just 30 days.
Obama, unsurprisingly, spoke about how Barack Obama was the right candidate for Democrats. "Barack Obama is going to change Washington, D.C.," Michelle Obama declared.
"There are only sixty one days until the election," Obama said to the crowd on the University of New Mexico to cheers.
When Obama was speaking of places and the ease of registering to vote, she began to give the website where New Mexicans can register to vote (NM.BarackObama.com), a member of the crowd yelled, "And donate too!" Obama said, "You’re hired. Come travel with me and remind me of things I’m supposed to say."
Michelle Obama also warned against taking John McCain too lightly. "We’re up against a tough opponent with a lot of resources," she said.
But, Obama said, "People are hungry for change."
Obama spoke ten days after her speech in Denver at the Democratic National Convention and just a week after Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination.
The job of attacking Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin fell to former Attorney General Patricia Madrid. Madrid said, "While I approved of [McCain] putting a woman on the ticket, it’s just not enough."
Madrid got applause and laughs for calling Palin "the brunette Ann Coulter" after Palin’s hard-edged speech at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night.
Earlier in the day, Obama held a roundtable with New Mexico military families in Santa Fe.
According to a press release, Obama "unveiled Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s ‘Plan to Support New Mexico Military Families,’ outlining policies Obama and Biden would implement in the White House and the available resources dedicated to assisting military families in New Mexico."
The plan is available for the public to read at the Barack Obama campaign website (pdf).
At UNM, Obama was introduced by Juanita Woodward, a 21-year old senior education major at the University of New Mexico. Woodward told the Independent she was told just yesterday she would be introducing the potential First Lady.
"I think they just wanted to talk to normal people," said the visibly nervous Woodward before her short introduction.
"We need to work hard between now and the election in November. And you know who’s gonna get it done?" Obama asked before answering her own question, "Women."
