Twitter

On Governor Bill Richardson’s official blog, someone tried to have a little fun before the final weekend and make a humorous post, declaring the State Capitol Building a “Valentine Disaster” because of “bovine manure.”

After campaigning against the measure on Twitter and Facebook, a Santa Fe think tank claims there are enough votes to stop the reimposition of the food tax from passing out of the New Mexico state Legislature. Think New Mexico announced Monday that opponents of reinstating the gross receipts tax on food had sent over 1,600 e-mails [...]

Breathe easy all you New Mexicans who are traveling during the first part of 2010. The Obama administration will abandon a Dec. 31 deadline for states to tighten security requirements for driver’s licenses under the 2005 Real ID law, the Washington Post reports.

Governor Bill Richardson recently rediscovered his blog, using it as a way to answer criticism from the state legislature—and to take a few swipes at the media—but now individual legislators are also taking to new media to push back at the governor.
State Rep. Brian Egolf cited a blog post by the Santa Fe New Mexican’s Kate [...]

While we at the New Mexico Independent are sending tweets on our Twitter account about the state Legislature, we aren’t the only ones. Legislators, media and even the House GOP are sending out updates on the 2009 special session.

A local libertarian, via Twitter, seemed to be advocate violence against “ACORN/SEIU” if they decide to attend and/or disrupt health care town hall meetings. The user, @ScottEO, accuses ACORN and SEIU members of being provocateurs at the events.

Hey, have you noticed that Gov. Bill Richardson is blogging less and tweeting more?
No? Me either.
But Dan Boyd of the Albuquerque Journal has got the scoop in a story in today’s paper.

Senator Tom Udall, D-Santa Fe, is now on the social media bandwagon, announcing that his office has created social media pages on multiple services to help connect with constituents.
Udall is now officially on Twitter at @SenatorTomUdall, has an official Senate Flickr account in addition to his already-existing Facebook and YouTube pages.

With candidates increasingly getting people connected to their campaigns through the use of social media, it is no surprise to see the mayoral campaign of former New Mexico Senate President Pro Tem Richard Romero turn to an Albuquerque-based social network to solicit ideas to help improve public safety.

Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez is pushing an idea to keep intoxicated people from driving when the bars close — in a nutshell, keep the bars open an extra hour serving food, soft drinks and coffee so that people can sober up before leaving.
While his ability to get his message out there in traditional media is [...]

A meeting of Albuquerque Twitter users (known as a “tweetup” because it rhymes with meet up) drew 275 people to the Balloon Museum. Included were a couple of political figures and a few journalists.
Event organizer Ashley Drake Gephart wrote a blog post about the event.

How many people will, ultimately, be running for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor next year?
According to state Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino and Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano, two candidates who have already announced they are in the 2010 race, it will be a crowded field.

If you think Twitter is just a way for American techno geeks to navel gaze, how mistaken you are.
Watching protesters in Tehran use Twitter and other social networking services to tap out messages and share photos of impromptu demonstrations has put that myth to bed, hopefully forever.

State Auditor Hector Balderas is now on Twitter and sending out his tweets to the public. The State Auditor’s twitter account is at @hectorbalderas.

For many politicians, social media isn’t a top priority — but it is increasingly part of their communications strategies. That’s because it is a relatively easy and completely free way to reach a young, technologically-connected audience that may not watch the evening news or read the Albuquerque Journal.