What a vacuum there has been in NM politics this past year with hardly any political figures of prominence daring to go public against Big Bill in any noticeable way. It was surely one of the crowning achievements of his first year. But it's a new year, and as we reported earlier (see Jan. 6 below) Attorney General Patsy Madrid is ready to establish herself as critic-in chief of the Guv.

And here she goes. First, she panned Big Bill's prez caucus plan. And now......

Tuesday night she ripped into the Big Guy on statewide TV for what she called a big mistake when he signed poorly written DWI legislation. This week the state Court of Appeals overturned the Richardson DWI measure, and that has Patsy yelling loudly: "I told you so." She says she warned the Guv's office of the problem and was ignored. Richardson, enraged at Madrid's impudence, hits hard in a news release: "I was flabbergasted at the comments of the AG. Not only did she advise me to sign the bill, but my office never received a formal request from her to correct the law in last year's special session." The release claims Big Bill signed the DWI bill on advise from Madrid's own lawyers, and that now, in the face of the court loss, she is, "looking to place blame."

Actually, what she is trying to do is position herself as chief critic of the Guv and not let her archrival and probable future gubernatorial opponent, Light Guv Diane Denish, bask in an always glowing sun. Friends of Patsy say her roundhouse at the Guv was bold and long overdue because he made a mistake due to his hurried style, that the press has more or less rolled over in coverage of the Big Fella, and that some checks and balances on this powerful governor are long overdue. Madrid foes are saying the attack on Bill was politics at its basest and that Patsy is frustrated that the Bill and Diane train is moving smoothly ahead without her on board.

Well, take your pick. But New Mexico politics is returning to "normalcy." Get your thick skins on guys and gals. Year #2 of the Big Bill reign is going to get rough. Patricia Madrid is making sure of that.

SPIKING THE LIQUOR BILL?

Rumors circulating at the top levels of the legislative leadership and GOP circles too is that the Guv may slip a Mickey Finn in the punch bowl when it comes to the state liquor tax. He tried to raise it during the special session, and was turned back by the powerful and effective liquor lobby.

The latest scuttlebutt has it that the Guv could try to have the liquor tax placed in the same package as his widely supported DWI reforms. If you vote against the liquor tax, you have to go home and tell voters why you also voted against DWI reform. Ouch, If you're running for election, as are all 112 members of the legislature. The Guv has to find money somewhere, if he's going to phase-out the food tax. And liquor looks like his chosen vehicle. Will Bill do it? And will lawmakers put up with it? Stay tuned. The 30 day session starts Tuesday.

ZOGBY POLL TO TRACK NM PREZ CONTEST

Everybody join me now in breathing a big sigh of relief. We WILL get a daily tracking poll of the NM Prez race! The Zogby poll, on assignment for MSNBC and Reuters, will track the action here from January 27th until the February 3 caucuses. The first track will be released January 29 with a new one each day. This is great news because the only polling announced so far is from the Journal, which will be doing two polls, but no tracking. The first Journal poll will hit this Sunday. Zogby is an excellent pollster who is known for his rigorous screening of likely voters. So with Zogby and Brian Sanderoff's polls we will have plenty of numbers to keep us deeply engaged in what we hope will be an exciting horse race to come. Of course, you will get all the numbers from those polls right here--plus expert analysis

WANT MORE ON NM POLICY AND POLITICS?

Gene Aldridge of the privately funded NM Independence Research Institute out of Las Cruces has a newsletter that digs deep into New Mexico government from a conservative bent. It's a worthwhile addition to your net surfing. Check Gene out at
Gene Aldridge

Make our site one of your 'favorites.' Bookmark it now and send a link to interested friends.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2004
Not for reproduction without permission of the author