Weh
State GOP Chair Allen Weh is pushing Rory Ogle but he may have to shove the ABQ NE Heights State Rep in order to get rid of him. In an e-mail to top NM Republicans, Weh reveals that he has asked Ogle to resign in the wake of wife-beating charges leveled against the freshman lawmaker.

"I will ask Representative Rory Ogle to resign from his legislative office and withdraw from the ballot. While this is a very tragic situation, and I regret his circumstances, as Chairman of our Party I am compelled to act in the best interests of all Republicans and all our candidates." Weh wrote.

Ogle received the resignation request but has yet to comply and friends say he is mulling it over. "I expect him to quit, but Rory is still thinking about finishing out his term," one of those friends told me.

DEMS OGLING OGLE

Weh needs Ogle gone because of the explosive nature of the charges against him. He allegedly used a bed headboard to beat his wife and police say he was drunk when they came to his house to investigate.

State Dem Party Chair Wertheim e-mailed from Boston saying he expects the criminal justice system to take its course in the Ogle affair and held off shooting the big guns. But Weh is warning the R's that the Dems will be unloading on them soon if Ogle does not go.

"I believe this situation reflects on all of us, especially his fellow legislators. Rory must step down to allow the Party to move forward and concentrate on winning some seats in this very tough election year." Weh warned.

Ogle's stubbornness could be a problem if it is not resolved. Women's rights groups and other have a nice big target in the Ogle case.

CHENEY'S AMATEUR HOUR

Many NM Republicans hit the ceiling when they learned of the loyalty pledge being required from those wanting to attend the weekend visit of Vice-president Dick Cheney at Rio Rancho. "Idiocy" declared one GOP veteran. "Shooting themselves in the foot," weighed in another.

The political misstep overshadowed Cheney's visit and no doubt left a sour taste with many swing voters. Even John Sanchez of the NM Bush-Cheney committee ran away from the controversy saying the visit was not sponsored by his outfit. Requiring an attendee to pledge support to a public official to attend a public rally is obviously ridiculous. But remember, this is a president who lost the popular vote in 2000. His vaunted political machine is capable of the big mistake as they showed us this weekend.

FOLEY'S FOLLY

And what was Roswell GOP State Rep. Dan Foley doing all over the media defending the GOP crowd-censoring methods? Foley is a friend of GOP consultant Jay McCleskey who is a regional coordinator for the Bush "Victory" committee which was the official sponsor of the visit. McCleskey is the consultant who ran the negative campaign against ABQ city council candidates last year and lost.

Foley is seeking to replace Joe Thompson as State House Minority Whip, after Thompson announced he is quitting after being busted for DWI. GOP insiders tell me Foley was out front because McCleskey, outgoing GOP National Committeeman Mickey Barnett and others are boosting him for the House post which will be decided by his fellow GOP legislators.

Foley is an ally of Roswell State Sen. "Lightning" Rod Adair who serves on the Veterans for Bush Committee in NM and who, like Foley, had his share of presidential ticket controversy this year when he publicly accused the two major ABQ newspapers of racism.

All this is music to the ears of the NM Dems who have a fat lead in the Prez race here and know they will keep it if the GOP antics keep coming.

NADER INVASION

The Naderites have arrived. Sources in Las Cruces tell me the first wave of Nader supporters from out-of-state have begun gathering petition signatures to get the consumer advocate on the NM Prez ballot. They need over 14,000 signatures of registered voters by early September. Nader could have a couple of hundred volunteers working here by the end of August, according to Nader supporter Carol Miller. Some Dems say their party should put out literature telling Dems not to sign the petitions because Nader would hurt Kerry in November. The Dems are poised to mount legal challenges to the signatures, but have not yet sent any lit out condemning Ralph.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2004
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