Last night, with platters of sushi and bottles of Saki all over the place, I assumed the opening party for the new ABQ Japanese restaurant Azouma was a safe haven from the political alligators, at least for a couple of hours. But I guess I'm a marked man. Despite all the efforts of owner Frank Su to transport his guests to the Orient, and he does a heckuva job, I was soon surrounded by an alligator squad feeding me the latest political tidbits, and they were not cooked up anywhere near the Orient. Since my efforts to disguise myself as Tokyo Joe were a bust, here are the headlines from mi casa after my visit to Su's casa.

NEW BIZ BOSS FOR ABQ

Alligators feasting appropriately on sashimi, minus the green chili, dropped the news that former State Rep. Fred Mondragon, brother of former Lt. Governor Roberto, is getting back into the government game. Fred, also a veteran hospital administrator and onetime Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for ex-ABQ Mayor Ken Schultz in the 80's, will soon take over as director of the city’s Office of Economic Development. He'll replace banker Mike Albers. Mondragon represented the ABQ Old Town area in the 70's and has been involved in Democratic Party politics forever. The new post will pay a good chunk of change, in exchange for bringing some green stuff into the city. Fred will get the nod from Mayor Marty, reported the alligators, who also reminded me that Fred will be reunited with Clarence “Porky” Lithgow who served with him in the Schultz days and who is a former Santa Fe city councilor. Lithgow now heads the ABQ Solid Waste Department.

KERRY IS COMING

As I digested the Mondragon news, along with my generous serving of Tempura, another piece of news came my way and it was as hot as the wasabi--Prez candidate John Kerry will make a stop in New Mexico, his first since securing the Dem nomination, on May 4. The gator offering up this prized info had no details, but he is tapped in to the inner circle and had only been sipping the saki, not chugging it, so I took him at his word. In the only NM Prez poll so far, Kerry is in a dead heat with W. His May 4 pit stop will no doubt be the first of several.

TOPPINO TOPS IT OFF

Mickey Toppino, veteran NM ad man and party host, topped the evening off by repeatedly confessing that the was "anti-sushi, but pro-Kerry." We wondered what that was all about until we realized he was saying he was “anti-sushi, but pro-Kirin" as in the famous Japanese Kirin beer. Oh well, everything can't be about politics, nor should it be when you are in ABQ's version of the Land of the Rising Sun.

WE HAVE A NEW, SHORT WEB ADDRESS...REALLY!

I surrender. After months of ribbing, I have caved in and secured a new web site address. “New Mexico Politics With Joe Monahan” can now be found at www.joemonahan.com. Really, that's it. No blogspot, no New Mexico, just my little ol' name to make it easy for anyone to find us anywhere on the world wide web. I think what broke me was when they had to shrink Dick Knipfing's head at KRQE-TV to fit my web address on the screen during a guest shot. Or maybe it was when KKOB's Larry Ahren’s demanded that I pay for all the airtime it took when he mentioned it on the airwaves. In any event, joemonahan.com is a done deal (And thanks to Dick and Larry and the many other media heavies for helping to spread the word about our site.)

Make our site one of your 'favorites.' Bookmark it now and send a link to interested friends. Want to advertise to NM's large political community? E-mail me or call 505-243-4059 for details.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2004
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