Chairman Weh
He was to be a temporary chair, brought in to heal the wounds of a bloody intra-party rift, the impact of which is still being felt in the NM Grand Old Party. But Allen Weh will be around longer than he might have even thought, as tomorrow R's are expected to ratify him for a full term as state GOP chair.

Weh has drawn mixed grades in the year he has led the party since the ouster of Ramsay Gorham at the hands of a faction led by lawyer/lobbyist Mickey Barnett. The R's did deliver the state for Bush, but their performance has been dismal in fielding contenders for governor, senator and mayor of ABQ. Weh promises all of that will change. One can only hope so. New Mexicans deserves a two party state.

A proposal the R's will debate Saturday would give the chairman more power by allowing him to remove county GOP chairs in "extraordinary circumstances such as public support of a Democrat in a contested election." The state chair would have to have the support from other R's to do it, but it would strengthen his hand. But maybe the R's can worry about getting some of their own candidates first, before worrying about people straying to the other side.

BIG BASE DAY

Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis is recommended for closure. The rest of NM's bases are safe.

DEMS: WE'RE HAPPY, REALLY HAPPY

We hit a raw nerve when we blogged Thursday that not everyone at NM Dem Party headquarters was happy with Big Bill's order dispatching paid NM Dem Party staffers to campaign for L.A. mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa. Top D operatives Matt Farrauto and Amanda Cooper, among others, begged to disagree. Amanda said "everyone" was "excited" and asked me who was the source of the heresy. Well, without disclosing the source, suffice it to say they have an accuracy rate of 99%. And I will spare further angst and not even mention the Dem who I am told expressed the upset.

Meanwhile, Matt says I am behind the times; that political parties routinely deploy staffers out of state. They do, but for nonpartisan mayor races? After all, Villaraigosa and his opponent, Mayor Hahn, are both Dems, (although I did call Hahn an R in my initial report.)

In any event what this illustrates is that NM Dem Party politics is in a delicate phase with Big Bill seeking re-election here and simultaneously running for Prez. Questions will be raised about how party resources are used by folks who simply see things differently or, believe it or not, support someone else for Prez.

BILL AND THE BLOGS

Meanwhile, Big Bill and other politicos are showing their unease with bloggers in general as they see the media universe shifting under their feet. Recently, before the nation's top newspaper editors in San Francisco, the Guv compared blogs, with their "low standards" and open opinions, to Fox News. He then threw an amusing bouquet to ABQ Journal publisher Tom Lang, saying Lang would "be the first to know" when he was ready to announce for president. Tom, I think you may want to get another scoop from the Big Guy. That "news" is as tasty as day-old bread.

That's all for now. Gotta run. Fox News is asking for my resume. Back here Monday with a fresh sack of La Politica.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2005
Not for reproduction without permission of the author