Time to Rally around Democratic Congressional Candidates

I have never made any bones about my devotion to the Democratic Party. Therefor it should come as no surprise that I am supporting the Democratic Candidates for Congress. The nice thing is that we actually have some great candidates for our federal offices and even if you put aside the party affiliation we still have the most qualified and best persons for the job.

I started out my support for the general election by helping Tom Udall who is running for the Senate by appearing in a commercial titled "whats right". While filming took a few hours the portion I appear in is only a few seconds as we walk and talk together at a crime scene. Tom Udall has been effective, attentive to his constituents and has proven himself to be man who votes what he believes and not what the lobbyists want or voting the way the wind blows on any given day. He would come to the senate with experience and knowledge to hit the ground running and we could ask no more from our representative.



I am fully supporting Ben Ray Lujan in his quest to fill the 3rd Congressional District seat in Northern New Mexico. He won a landslide race in a hard fought primary and now will face his Republican Challenger in the November Primary. I have known the Lujan family for years and thier devotion and dedication to New Mexico goes without saying. Look to Ben Ray to carry on his fathers legacy to new heights in congress.

The race which I really did not have a hard decision but was slightly torn up about is the 1st Congressional District Race with Democrat Martin Heinrich facing off against Sheriff Darren White of Bernalillo County. My first thought was that it would be great to have a member of Law Enforcement at the federal level. He should understand the needs of Law Enforcement and should be able to effectively argue from experience what the Bush cuts to Law Enforcement programs have done to decimate community policing and drug enforcement across this nation. Unfortunately Sheriff Darren White has shown to be a Bush foot soldier. He has chaired his New Mexico fundraising and failed to stand up to massive cuts in the COPS programs, the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grants often called (Byrne-JAG funding). Funding has gone from the billions to millions under the Bush Administration. All the While Darren White has carried President Bushes flag high.

Sheriff White has supported the failed Bush war efforts and has shown no inkling that he will not continue in the path of his mentor President George Bush. I am disappointed, I would have loved to see a Law Enforcement officer bring his or her unique experiences into congress. Perhaps another day we will have a Law Enforcement Officer whom I can support run for congress.

On the other hand I believe we have a great candidate in with Democrat Martin Heinrich he has worked to combat crime and graffiti in Albuquerque as a city councilor and worked to pass a local ordinance in Albuquerque on an issue I fully supported which was increasing the minimum wage. On the war in Iraq he wants to undertake creative and genuine diplomatic initiatives with all countries in the region so we can bring our troops home as soon as possible. And, he states we must make sure our returning soldiers receive the quality health care and benefits they deserve.

In the 2nd Congressional District general election race I also support and ask you to support Democrat Harry Teague . This district although predominantly democrat is the district which elected Steve Pierce a republican. We can send another strong message to Washington by electing Harry Teague in this district.

I hope you will all join me in supporting these candidates. We must send a strong message to the Republican Party and the Bush administration that we do not accept failure, not the failures of the war, the failure of the American Economy, and the failure to prevent the gas crisis we are facing. In my next post I will discuss the Presidential Race.