We may yet see the Democratic presidential campaign unexpectedly land in the Land of Enchantment.

Everything was supposed to be settled by the time our state's June 2 primary rolled around but last night's Super Tuesday results were indecisive enough for the politicos to take a second look at the primary where 40 delegates will be selected to the party's national convention.

29 of those delegates will be decided by the popular vote. 12 are "super delegates" that include party officials and the state's congressional delegation. 40 delegates may not sound like much but with Sanders and Biden looking as if they may take the race down to the wire, every delegate would matter.

Biden would also certainly get the backing of the state's five congressional Dems who they will see as the safer choice.

In the only polling done for the primary--back in January--Sanders and Biden were running neck and neck here, with Sanders getting 28 to Bernie's 27 in an Emerson survey.

A Biden-Sanders face-off will remind Dems here of the Clinton-Sanders '16 primary which sharply divided the party. Clinton won narrowly--51.53% to 48.47%

Just a week ago it appeared Sanders was steamrolling toward the nomination with Biden a has been.. How quickly the worm can turn which reminds all that politics is an art not a science.

BROADBAND BEAT

The maddeningly slow pace of getting high speed internet to the vast majority of rural New Mexican homes--especially those on the Navajo Reservation--hit home again as it was announced that the state and Plateau Communications are partnering with Exxon-Mobil in a $5 million plan that will spread high speed broadband in the oil rich Permian Basin in Eddy and Lea counties where big money is being made.

And get this. They expect the broadened to be up and running in a matter of months not years--in August.

If the state can so easily partner in oil country, can't they find suitable partners to do the same in the rural but much poorer areas? What about Exxon? Amazon? Microsoft? Facebook? Wouldn't these ultra wealthy companies be proud to help extend vital Internet serve to Native Americans and others? And also be pleased with the deserved PR bonanza?

The Governor said of the Exxon partnership:

My administration is always seeking out additional mechanisms to leverage public and private resources for the maximum benefit to New Mexicans.

Great. So how about setting a specific date for wiring 90 percent of the state's rural homes with high speed service which is essential to improving education and living standards? Can Chief of Staff John Bingaman or someone on the Fourth Floor get on the horn to corporate America and get a deal?

Meanwhile the plodding pace goes on and there is some news. NM's Sacred Wind Communications says:

Sacred Wind Communications completed the first-ever broadband fiber-to-the-home project to Navajo homes within a Navajo Housing Authority (NHA) development in the Huerfano Chapter.  Reaching the more sparsely populated areas over a network of fixed wireless towers, Sacred Wind has provided. . . broadband. . .  to Navajo homes wirelessly and has now begun to deploy fiber optic cable to replace copper cable within the housing developments managed by the NHA and HUD. . . “In more rural areas of the country,” said John Badal, CEO of Sacred Wind, “using a mix of technologies is key to delivering broadband to everyone. Fiber-to-the-home only makes economic sense in the more densely populated areas, which, on Navajo Lands, are largely within NHA developments.”

And from DC:

Sen Tom Udall (D-NM), along with Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced the Bridging the Tribal Digital Divide Act of 2020 to accelerate the deployment of broadband services to Native communities. . .The bill would expedite the deployment of affordable broadband on Tribal lands by improving the effectiveness of federal resources. According to the FCC, less than half of households on Tribal lands have access to fixed broadband. This represents a nearly 27-point gap compared to non-Tribal rural areas. This gap only widens when compared to the country-wide average. In 2018, the FCC estimated that 35 percent of Americans living on Tribal lands lacked access to broadband services, compared to eight percent of all Americans.

How about some big ideas with a big budget to get the job fully done and a firm timetable? Isn't 20 years long enough?

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019