That warm hug Steve and Michelle shared Tuesday at a joint ABQ appearance turned into an icy stare only hours later when a PAC funded by the Democratic Governors Association launched the first negative TV ad of the '16 gubernatorial race, accusing Republican Pearce of being one of the most corrupt members of Congress.

Never mind that the ad was a rehash of charges against Pearce that voters vetted in his 2010 congressional race, the spot was clearly a preemptive strike against Pearce and the R's. They are preparing to go negative on MLG for her role in Delta Consulting, a health care firm. Responding to the $275,000 TV buy, the state GOP slammed back with Delta:

New Mexicans deserve better than recycled smear tactics and outright lies by shady front groups. This ad is a laughable attempt by Lujan Grisham's allies to distract from the fact that her entire political career has been about lining her pocket off of sick people through her corrupt Delta Consulting scam and then lying to Congress about the extent of it.

Delta first popped up on the political radar late in the June primary. MLG's Dem foes--to no avail--tried to use allegations that the state contracts Delta received were the result of political wire jobs that benefited her and ABQ Dem Rep. Deborah Armstrong, another owner of Delta who is also MLG's campaign treasurer.

With all that in mind the national Dems came with this script:

Congressman Steve Pearce: in the pocket of Big Oil. He was twice named one of the ‘Most Corrupt Members of Congress' by an independent watchdog group. He made millions selling his company's assets for twice its stated value to an oil company that testified before his task force.  And Pearce took millions in campaign contributions from oil and gas and weakened laws protecting us from pollution. Named one of the most corrupt in Congress, we just can't trust Steve Pearce.

As we said, a lot of that is a rehash but many voters won't realize it and it is sure to put a check on Pearce when he comes with the Delta hits on MLG. From the nonpartisan FactCheck.org in 2010:

The "corrupt" accusation, while technically accurate, is nevertheless misleading. Based on two unsubstantiated allegations, a left-learning watchdog group branded Pearce "corrupt." Pearce was officially cleared of one of those allegations by the House ethics committee. Furthermore, the watchdog group acknowledged it made a mistake in failing to report the committee’s decision when it repeated its "corrupt" rating most recently in a 2008 report. . . While Pearce did sell the assets of Lea Fishing Tools to Key Energy for more than twice the value that he had reported on his personal financial disclosure forms, the newspaper reported that it “found no evidence that Pearce has taken any legislative action to specifically benefit Key Energy Services.”

The Dem attack came only hours after an Emerson College poll showed MLG leading Pearce by only two points--42-40. This ad was not a reaction to those numbers. Not an Alligator worth his red meat believes the race is that close. But the Dems want to make sure it doesn't get in that range so they decided to hit before she got hit.

MIMI'S SWITCH

Say it isn't so, Mimi! Those were the cries heard in the wake of what seemed to be a policy reversal from longtime liberal ABQ lawmaker Mimi Stewart.

The former state Rep turned state Senator got into a Twitter discussion with ABQ Dem State Rep. Javier Martinez over the proposed constitutional amendment that would ask voters to tap a small portion of the state's nearly $18 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund and devote it to early childhood education. Martinez, one of the sponsors of the amendment, tweeted this about a photo of his two children:

Happy kids. Healthy kids. I want every kid to be cared for the way these two are. We can do this, NM. Join us.

Then came the surprise rejoinder from Stewart, the senate majority whip who just this past February voted in committee to approve the constitutional amendment which had passed the House but ultimately died in the Senate:

Just don't limit the way we pay for educating our young children. A constitutional amendment not always the best choice. Consider other options.

And as often happens in these cases, an Alligator strike was immediately set off by Stewart's back-off:

Why is a “progressive champion” like Mimi Stewart backtracking on the most transformational investment we can make in public education? At a time when progressive Democrats have all but taken over the NM House and increasingly the NM Senate, and when MLG is supporting the measure, it seems foolish to be wavering on this proposal after a long and hard fought seven years. This proposal stands to benefit children of color, primarily. 80% of NM’s children are children of color. Yet the opportunity gap for these kids continues to grow. It’s time for Dems to put their money where their mouth is. 

Maybe Stewart, a retired public school teacher in ABQ, is listening to some of the disgruntled in the public education ranks--particularly in unions--who are upset that little if any of the money from the constitutional amendment is earmarked for public education?

RICH POLL

The polls continue to flow. This one comes from GOP US Senate nominee Mick Rich who received a measly 11 percent in the Emerson College survey released this week, compared to 39 percent for Dem Senator Martin Heinrich and 21 percent for Libertarian Gary Johnson.

Rich's camp sees it differently. reporting that its survey of 500 likely voters taken July 31-August 2 had it Heinrich--41--Rich--34--Johnson--19--undecided--5. The poll was conducted by the Tarrance Group, a longtime and expensive polling firm. If Mick has money for them, can he scare up enough for a decent TV buy? He only had about $200 grand in the bank at last report.

On our Tuesday blog we said that so far there have been only two public polls on the NM Governor's race. Actually, there are three. Carroll Strategies, an ABQ PR firm, did one for KOB-TV in June that we reported on but forgot. It showed Lujan Grisham at 51 and Pearce at 43. However, Real Clear Politics, which was our source for the number of polls taken, does not include Carroll Strategies which polls only occasionally and relies exclusively on land line calls. Maybe they will in the future.

TIM AND DONALD

Perhaps ABQ Mayor Tim Keller should send a little something to the White House now that the Feds have taken him off the hook and agreed to come up with that long awaited  $75 million to pay for the controversial ART project on Central Avenue. It was feared that the bad blood the state has had with the Prez could mean we would be denied the funds. Of course, who gets that money? Mostly Republican contractors with a friend on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Now, the city needs buses that work with ART and we're here to help. Take a look at this, Tim. It's a "lost ART bus" courtesy of one of the Alligators. We don't know the exact location of the "lost bus" but maybe you can have Lawrence Rael and Alan Armijo go look for it on their lunch hour. They know the town pretty well. Happy hunting, fellas. . .

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2018