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.
“Darren White and Erik Paulsen were prized Republican recruits, House candidates poised to be the new face of the GOP on Capitol Hill. … [But] the money national Republicans earmarked for White in New Mexico and for Paulsen in Minnesota will likely go instead to protect GOP incumbents who once looked like locks for reelection.”
This morning, The Politico’s Patrick O’Connor and Josh Kraushaar examine the congressional Republicans’ shifting strategy as they struggle with plummeting poll numbers. Caught in the middle is Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, the Republican battling former Albuquerque City Council President Martin Heinrich for outgoing Rep. Heather Wilson’s seat in Congress.
The cash-flush Democrats, who had $54 million in the bank in August, are throwing money at races once thought lost; meanwhile, the vastly underfunded Republicans (who had $14.3 million in August) are now forced to focus on races they felt sure were safe. According to Politico, the Dems are betting money on 34 GOP-held seats, but the National Republican Congressional Committee is only defending 10.
O’Connor and Kraushaar speculate that third-party groups, such as Freedom’s Watch, may yet bail out some struggling Republicans with last-minute ad buys.
But also on The Politico today, Jonathan Martin reports that the GOP is considering taking out a loan in order to save some vulnerable incumbent senators and preserve a stronghold in the Senate in case McCain goes under.
With party strategists fearing a bloodbath at the polls, GOP officials are shifting to triage mode, determining who can be saved and where to best spend their money. And with the House and Senate Republican campaign committees being drastically outspent by their Democratic counterparts, and outside groups such as Freedom’s Watch offering far less help than was once anticipated, Republicans are turning to the national party committee as a lender of last resort.
Martin quotes one unnamed GOP strategist who says that the party should siphon money from McCain’s bucket and use it to plug holes in the Senate’s boat.
None of this bodes well for Sheriff Darren White.
