A political junkie's dream
With two days to go before the June 3rd wrap up of the primary season, the Washington Post political columnists Chris Cillizza and Ben Pershing highlighted New Mexico on Sunday as a "microcosm" of the 2008 national elections and a "central front" in the presidential race. It's interesting to read their brief synopsis for the rest of the nation about what we're experiencing here on the ground in New Mexico.
Cillizza and Pershing characterize the Senate primary between Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce as "expensive and brutal," noting $600,000 worth of ads the group "Club for Growth" has spent in the state to help Pearce. They also described the "ideological and geographic" nature of the race, with Pearce having a record "far more in line with conservative orthodoxy," which he's successfully exploiting in northern New Mexico -- the "battleground" in the contest.
They then run down the three open congressional seats:
District One is described as "one of the swingiest districts in the country," being held successfully by Heather Wilson at the same time both Al Gore and John Kerry carried the district in 2000 and 2004. They say that Republicans sense their vulnerability, suggesting that for this reason the party "quickly lined up behind Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White." The Democratic race is more complicated, they say, calling Martin Heinrich "the liberal champion."
Cillizza and Pershing find both primaries in District Two "interesting" and comment twice about the wealth being thrown around down south. Regarding the Republican race, they call Aubrey Dunn a "wealthy rancher." And they say that Democrat Harry Teague has two things going for him over Bill McCamley: his wealth and his endorsement by Gov. Bill Richardson.
Regarding District Three, these two say the action is found with the Democrats. They describe the race as largely a contest between the party establishment and a millionaire. Ben Ray Lujan, they note, "has been endorsed by Richardson and former U.S. interior secretary Stewart Udall and has strong backing among party establishment types, thanks in large part to his father, state House Speaker Ben Lujan." Then, they tell the nation that his closest competitor, Don Wiviott, has spent $1.3 million of his own money in his attempt to knock out Lujan.
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