The wild goings-on in the NM Republican Party this past week drew its share of reader comment to our mailbag. From a lawyer and Republican politico we get this acerbic satire on the infighting between the forces of former GOP Chair Dendahl and current Chair Ramsay Gorham: "There is a point at which you should realize you're about to go too far. This fight has been all teeth and no brain, kind of like a pirahna biting a blasting cap."
And these comments from a veteran PR man who caught the big picture going on in the GOP: "The party is in the shape it's in because for eight years it was controlled by a "Republican of convenience," Gary Johnson, who was really a Libertarian, and it didn't build out to party regulars. It became a party of "outside insiders" as the grassroots were left unwatered." But our correspondent ended on an upbeat note saying: "I'm not sure it's all bad because without these upheavals you find everything centered on negativity, instead of enthusiasm and an embracing of possibilities."
That's the first insightful positive spin I've seen put on the GOP battle. And that's why we are here--to flesh it all out. So keep the e mails coming. (There's a link at the top of this page) We don't need your name, just your thoughts.
CANDIDATES WANT YOUR AUTOGRAPH
Heavy coats and brilliant colors aren't the only signs that Fall has arrived in our enchanted land; armies of young folk bearing petition forms are also a sign of the season. Steve Cabiedes of ABQ has run a business collecting signatures for political candidates of all parties for better than a decade. He gives us a briefing on what's happening now as we prepare for the coming election year.
"Many New Mexicans believe candidates get on the ballot by magic or automatically by incumbency, but it takes hard work to fufill the requirements to arrive at their pre-primary convention and/or on the primary election ballot.
Signatures for a particular candidate can only be gathered from voters registered in their own party. Since signatures need to be turned in by February 10th the work is done in the cold of late fall and through the winter.
Petition Requirements for 2004:
DEM0CRAT---- REPUBLICAN
Statewide offices 2956 1883
Congress #1 1209 917
Congress #2 1267 1039
Congress #3 1900 768
PRC #1 723 668
PRC #3 1354 369
Metro & Bern. Co
District Judges 1123 926
*Source: 2004 Candidates Guide (Office of the Secretary of State of NM)
Signatures can be challenged. Smart candidates gather more than required to be sure they have enough valid ones. Also, candidates who must go to a pre-primary convention must get 20% of convention delegates to advance to the primary ballot. If a candidate fails to achieve 20% convention votes, a candidate can submit an additional round of signatures. Theoretically, a Democratic candidate could need close to 6,000 signatures to assure a place on the ballot (7,200 to be safe)."
Thanks Steve.. If you are a candidate or a prospective one and want more info you can call Steve at 505-271-0530
Don't be left out of the loop! Bookmark our site--JOEMONAHANSNEWMEXICO.BLOGSPOT.COM-- and check for regular updates. Send a link to our site to interested friends and E mail me from the link on this page.
(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2003
Not for reproduction without permission of the author