With the 2008 election cycle entering its last week, today’s headlines reflect a bit of a slowdown in political activity. On a long-distance phone call, Sen. Hillary Clinton tells The Gallup Independent that Democrat Barack Obama would better serve the Navajo Nation, while The Las Cruces Sun-News finds Doña Ana County preparing for long lines at the polls next week, and blogger Joe Monahan says he has settled once and for all the burning question of whether Saturday’s Obama rally in Albuquerque was the largest crowd ever assembled in the state. The Albuquerque Journal looks into the Bernalillo County district attorney race and notes that armed robbery is up in Albuquerque. And no, those are two stories.

Clinton encourages Navajos to vote Dem

Sen. Hillary Clinton was in southern New Mexico stumping for Sen. Barack Obama on Saturday, Oct. 25, but managed to squeeze in a phone call to The Gallup Independent, wherein she encouraged readers on the Navajo Nation to vote for the Democratic presidential candidate on Election Day. She noted that more than 100 American Indian tribal leaders and organizations have endorsed Obama — despite his Republican opponent’s Western background and 20 years on the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs. “That says a lot,” Clinton told the paper.

Clinton also said Obama has promised to create a White House position to handle Indian affairs and to hold annual summit meetings with Indian leaders. “It’s no wonder that Indian leaders feel more comfortable supporting Obama than McCain,” she told the paper.

Cruces bracing for long day at the polls

Throughout New Mexico the turnout on Tuesday is expected to be big. Doña Ana County is no exception, but county officials told The Las Cruces Sun-News that they expect all will go smoothly. Mario Jimenez, the county’s acting elections supervisor, said, “The one problem — and I wouldn’t even call it a problem — but what I am anticipating is long lines at the polls. So voters should be patient.”

The county will post five poll workers at each of its 115 precincts, he said, and they’re prepared to answer questions, provide provisional ballots and otherwise help voters. There were complaints two years ago that poll workers weren’t trained, but Jimenez said that shouldn’t be a problem on Nov. 4.

Doña Ana County Republican Party Chairman Mark Van Dyke is hopeful, but told the paper he had his doubts. “Without being glib, if it ran smoothly, it would be the first time,” he said. “I always go into these elections assuming everything is going to be perfectly fine, but I’m prepared for just in case it’s not.”

Rally record goes to … UNM!

And for those of you keeping score, blogger Joe Monahan says the Obama rally Saturday at the University of New Mexico (UNM) was the largest ever in the state. The turnout has been estimated at up to 45,000, but there were conflicting claims about whether it was the record. Seems there was another biggie at New Mexico State University (NMSU) in 1996 for then-President Clinton.

Monahan, however, says UNM wins. His fact-checker was Brian Colon, chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico and an alumnus of both universities. Colon tells Monahan that he spoke with the NMSU regent who coordinated the 1996 event, and he was told the high-end estimate of the Clinton rally was 30,000. So take that, Aggies.

Bernalillo DA fundraising race on

A little farther down the ballot, meanwhile, the race for Bernalillo County district attorney has the Albuquerque Journal’s attention. The paper reports today that Republican candidate Lisa Torraco has raised more in campaign contributions than incumbent Kari Brandenburg, but that Brandenburg has infused her own campaign with a $50,000 loan another $20,000 in cash gifts.

Overall, Brandenburg leads the money race with just over $122,000, the Journal notes, while Torraco has raised $82,500 and change. Torraco said that because her cash comes from individuals: “This shows I have significantly more community support.” Brandenburg notes that some of those contributions — $1,600 — are from bail bondsmen. “That is a clear conflict of interest,” Brandenburg says. A substantial portion of her donations are from the legal community.

Inside the paper, the Journal editorial board says its time to turn Brandenburg out of office, giving its endorsement to Torraco.

Armed robberies on the rise in Albuquerque

Albuquerque police say this is the time of year when robberies start to rise, and this year could be particularly bad. The Journal notes this morning that armed robberies are well ahead of last year’s pace and that the city could see more than 140 this month — nearly five a day. And that’s on top of a 29 percent increase in armed robbery during 2007 over the previous year.

Police Chief Ray Schultz attributes the rise to a combination of the weakened economy, more hours of darkness and the pending holidays. “As the economy gets tight, people get desperate,” he told the paper. “And we always see an increase in armed robberies around the holidays.”

The trends suggest robbers are targeting individuals more than businesses, but no one is immune, Schultz said. “Traditionally, we always see the convenience store and the gas stations. But, now, we are seeing nontraditional places like lawyers’ offices, beauty shops and insurance companies. They are looking for businesses that don’t have the same level of security as a gas station. It’s all about the opportunity.”