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.
Those paying attention closely last Thursday during the final day of the Democratic National Convention likely noticed the two appearances at the Invesco Field podium by the Obama campaign’s Colorado state director, Ray Rivera, an Albuquerque native and field organizing expert.
In his first appearance, Rivera, a veteran of New Mexico union organizing efforts and several local political campaigns in recent years, urged the people in the huge crowd to send the campaign a text message identifying their top issue. Repeating the number several times, he explained that each text message would make their city glow brighter on a map of the country that flashed over the stadium’s oversize video screens.
In his second appearance at the podium, he announced that over 30,000 people had already complied. As a result, the capture of so many new phone numbers allows the campaign to send out other text messages to would-be supporters like the one it sent about three hours before Obama took the podium himself: “Final night of the conventions tonight — don’t miss Barack’s speech!" the message read. “To get involved locally, REPLY: VOL plus your FIRST NAME and TOWN.”
Rivera’s text message message was yet another example that the huge gathering was also a major organizing opportunity for the campaign.
Whether or not that effort, combined with others, can prevail over the McCain campaign’s immediate effort to step on any bounce for the Democrats coming out of the convention with a bold running mate pick on Friday morning, remains to be seen.
