New Mexico in Focus; 210; From the Republican National Convention

John McCain is now officially the GOP presidential nominee. But the debate continues to swell over his pick for Vice presidential running mate. I had this week on New Mexico and focus. We go inside the Republican National Convention with part of our state's delegation in St. Paul. Plus the presidential campaigns continue to rack up frequent flyer miles with visits here to New Mexico. A new election scandal erupts in the line panelist's grade P&M's new green energy plans. All this and more on a show that's informed, in-depth, and involved New Mexico and focus. The political spotlight has shifted from Denver to St. Paul.

The Republican National Convention has had its share of twists and turns, including a scaled down first day due to the threat of Hurricane Gustav. I had this week analysis and insights on the RNC with members of New Mexico's Convention delegation. And local political blogger, Heath Housiman. Presidential appearances here in New Mexico continue to be fast and furious. We'll preview John McCain's return trip to Albuquerque and show you highlights of Michelle Obama's voter registration rally held Thursday at the University of New Mexico. And ahead of the line, we're tackling everything from new election scandals here. New plans to change our energy strategy here in New Mexico. Plus bringing poetry and public transportation together and last, but very much not least, Mayor Marty's Panda Bear disappointment and maybe even the burning of Zozobra. But at first, observations and insights on the Republican National Convention with some of our very own New Mexico delegates. Daniel Enrique and Chris Livingston are both alternate delegates. They spent the week in St. Paul and Minneapolis taking in the sights and sounds of the Republican National Convention, and both join me right now by phone to share their experiences

in a few minutes. We'll also hear from local political journalist, Heath Housiman. But first, let's welcome in Daniel and Chris. Thanks, gentlemen, for joining us. Thank you. Thank you. You know, first question, Daniel, of course, you know, both of you, I believe from Albuquerque, but of course this past week, there in the Twin Cities. I'm just curious, what has been the highlight of the convention for each of you, beginning Daniel with you? Well, you know, being able to see all these speakers up close, you know, that the people at the public have seen on television for the better part of the year now, Julianne, Iran named McCain, you know, getting to see all these wonderful Republican leaders up close here what they have to say, really energize the party. And being introduced to Sarah Palin, you know, our great D.P. Dick, just a whole atmosphere of it has been a great experience.

And watching from a far Chris, it seemed like the seats you all had on the floor were very, very good. I saw that in New Mexico sign in many of the camera shots. But same question to you, Chris, what was your highlight of the convention? Well, first of all, the city is great, St. Paul and Minneapolis are both two wonderful cities, the people are great, it's just a fantastic culture and the convention was so brilliantly set up that they really made us feel special. They really, they were like Daniel said, politicians everywhere, new game grates, we got a chance to get pictures with Newt, we had with Hannity and the politicians were all throughout the halls. And it was just a really great opportunity. The buzz was tremendous, the people were friendly, everyone was so excited, it was like we were united as a party and for me that was just a feel that it was like something new was in part of just a whole new fervor going forward. I think both for Daniel and I and for the rest of our delegation just that when we go

back to New Mexico maybe we can take some of that excitement with us. Daniel, you mentioned the speakers, actually both you mentioned the speakers. One thing that stood out to me, I'm curious your thought on this, was that it seemed as though there weren't any, certainly any major Republican speakers, no Steve Pierce, no Darren White, on down the list and that contrasted with the Democratic convention. Of course you had the Governor Bill Richards and you had Tom Udall, you had a couple others, Patricia Madrid I recall. Was that a disappointment that there weren't any, you know, high profile Republican speakers, Senator Dominion, for example, at the convention? Well you know we had the pleasure of having both Senator Dominion and Congresswoman Heather Wilson in our delegation, so you know this whole week we've been with both Senator and the Congresswoman, but to see him on stage you know that would have been nice, a little disappointing, you know every delegate, every alternate delegate from every state would love

to see their Republican leadership up there, but on a whole it was a great experience and I wouldn't change any of this for the world. Let's move on for a second, maybe sticking Daniel with you on you know what appeared to be one of the major themes of this convention which actually didn't seem all that different thematically from the convention with the Democrats in Denver was this notion of change. But one thing though that struck me and I'm curious your thoughts, Daniel, is that it seemed as though that the party that is the party in power in the nation's capital in the White House was seeming to run as if it weren't the party in power. Would you agree with that or do you see it differently? Well no, yeah we are all proud of what President Bush has done for this country. We all recognize it is a very, very tough job and we had his great leadership for eight years and he has done an outstanding job.

But the country faces new problems now and it is a country that is changing, growing and we see different threats, different problems and as a party we have to recognize those and move forward and have solutions for these new problems are going to face it in the next four years. So to say that we ran away or we didn't seem like a party in power, I think what you saw was a party recognizing new challenges and finding new solutions and new problems. Chris, do you have a different take on that same question? Well actually I don't know if you've been watching this morning Barack Obama had a town hall meeting and he was basically responding to much of what we said in our convention and I just you know a lot of people have been saying this that Barack Obama reached back for Biden and it was like going back to the old party politics he grabbed a tenured senator and he did what the DNC might advise him to do whereas John McCain and his Maverick fashion

reaches forward he grabs the first woman VP person in our nation's history and now there's 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, the whole ceiling is about to be obliterated so I think there was very much a tone of confidence in our convention that the Democratic convention didn't have and I feel that we really put them now in a position Barack Obama namely where he has to, where he feels that he has to defend himself, I feel like there's a real, there was a real powerful push forward and I love the confidence that we had in our convention I think that Senator McCain is so secure in his skin I mean he was definitely very presidential just I don't know if you heard Carl Rose break down on the speech but it was just such a well-balanced speech it spoke to Americans where they needed to be addressed and the Nelson's ratings on McCain's speech were higher than Obama so it's just I think that going into this you know I think that of course McCain and it's not he's

not the Republican Party isn't positioning McCain as the next you know in the Bush family you know it's positioning McCain as this whole new Maverick politician and I think they're doing it very confidently and I think they're really tapping something with him. And Chris let me ask just a quick follow-up on President Bush I read earlier today that there was a computer count that showed that the Democrats at their convention in Denver mentioned George W. Bush 12 times as often at their convention as did the Republicans in the Twin Cities and even last night when there was a video shown that dealt with the attacks of September 11th it included pictures of Rudolph Giuliani Donald Rumsfeld but no pictures whatsoever of George Bush do you think that was a concerted effort Chris to downplay you know what what is so to be frank you know fairly unpopular administration at the moment well I don't think that by any means there was a disrespect there are feelings

of disrespect but not disrespect but an effort to downplay an unpopular Republican president is that right well sure sure no I you know I think that I think that the Democrats are very dissatisfied with Bush and that's why they point their finger like they do well according to the public opinion not just the Democrats right well I you know I'm not exactly sure how they decided what pictures they put on the screen but but I I know that there is a general respect within the Republican Party for our leader you know Daniel well one question I wanted to ask about McCain is that are you surprised at all how the party has really coalesced around him and of course this convention dramatically showed that given the fact that over the years as as both of you pointed out he's had this Maverick streak on issues ranging from immigration to tax cuts to campaign finance reform even global warming he has kind of departed from Republican orthodoxy were you surprised at the party coalesced around him like it did this past week

uh surprise no I knew as we thought we could all come together and uh support whoever our nominee was and that's the beauty of the process you know we spend uh each state takes its time to have its primary and uh at the end of it there's a nominee that's chosen and uh and as Republicans we together we all went out there we all voted and at the end of the day John McCain was our nominee from a president of the United States but to say uh that um I'm surprised that people should be surprised uh I guess uh if you think uh that it should be shocking or surprising that we uh came behind our nominee uh I don't think you uh understand uh what being a Republican is about Daniel uh I want to say thanks real quick if if uh if we if we lose you we're going to try to bring on uh Heath Houseman uh political journalist jenny max go on the line but uh but please uh stay on the line with us uh in case that doesn't work out Chris I wanted to ask you uh

in your view what makes McCain Palin a stronger ticket than obama biden well I I mean uh obviously it just it just strikes a chord with the American people there's there's absolutely no doubt about it then when when that Alaskan mother stepped out on stage she's got all her she's got all the children she's um she's a hockey mom her husband is a uh snowmobile world champion I mean this is a real family they're not beltway people they don't look like beltway people or act like beltway people and I think that it's a agenda do you think uh do you think go bama and uh and biden are not real people well no I said what I said was beltway people this is oh Biden has spent the last John McCain certainly a beltway person well yeah but John McCain is uh John McCain is a different kind of leader John McCain is a total maverick he looks at he's offended people on all sides uh so that he can get things done for America that he thinks should be done for America so as far as Biden Biden he's very much a party politician John McCain does things for the party and he crosses

over the line he's a strong uh liberating leader I mean for me he's a breath of fresh air by himself but I feel that Palin was just uh like a you know super power pack for the party I think now it's uh and from this day going forward I think we're really going to gather some a tremendous momentum you know Chris so one uh one line that stuck with me from last night's speech and and and point well taken by the way about John McCain having a long history of being an independent republican uh but one thing I want to ask you about he said last night let me just offer an advance warning to the old big spending do nothing me first country second crowd changes coming what does that mean the the me first country second crowd who's he talking about well you know I think uh you know I'm not sure exactly uh you know I'm not qualified to say who he was talking about but I what I took from that is that he uh he understands where the other side is coming from from our perspective you see from their perspective they have this uh secular progressive mindset

that is from our perspective somewhat uh damaging to the American ethos and I feel that I feel that John McCain nailed the issue I think that he said it just for what it was and he knows what the he knows what real change is Barack Obama and his campaign are pushing change and and hope and he and John McCain is saying he's helping the Americans figure out what change and hope is really all about it's about solutions and strategies it's not about you know it's not about and with no offense to this is with no offense to senator obama it's just not about hype and and the excitement and you have to have answers you have to have experience you have to have strong teams of leaders and I think that's exactly what the republican tickets about this this year what will Chris uh thank you so much for for sharing your perspective on this can you please hold the line uh just for a few moments but uh but thanks so much and save travels back uh thank you as well we're now joined by he's asked are you on the line heath I am great thanks uh heath for for joining us I'm I'm just curious you know you're obviously one of the the states

uh premier political journalists uh you clearly uh follow this stuff very closely do you think the republicans will get a bump uh coming out of this convention I do and I think it's all about Sarah Palin uh she you know the republican party gave out six thousand tickets uh for her visit with john mccain on saturday uh they're saying it's going to be one of his the most well-attended campaign events uh for john mccain I think it's just indicative of the energy uh the basis fired up people are interested in her uh whether he intended to do this or not john mccain is is playing off the exact celebrity uh that he has criticized obama for you know one thing that was interesting heath that uh that chris one of the uh the alternate delegates who we just had an online talk about was uh he thinks americans are looking for experience and uh you know the unspoken thing there of course is that while john mccain by by washington standards clearly has lots of experience like joe biden. Sarah Palin uh doesn't uh less than two years as governor uh before that some stints and local government uh mayor of a small town before that a city council uh do you

think that experience argument is going to continue on uh and maybe hurt uh the republican ticket going forward i i i don't think so and i think the reason is it didn't hurt brocco balman he he has more experience than her in a lot of areas uh but not not too much more experience. I mean governor for two years of land-wise the largest state is significant uh it's a more it's a probably you could argue it's a more complicated job of being a US senator uh and uh you know regardless the american public didn't buy Hillary Clinton's you know experience over change argument so i i don't see why they're going to buy it now when they didn't in the primary it almost it seems as though the this was such a shrewd pick on the part of mccain for a variety of reasons but one reason because uh you know it appeared as that like you were saying that experience argument hadn't been working and uh and now it seems like the democrats are in tough position to make that argument given um the questions that have been raised about the the person at the top of their ticket um just had a curiosity here i know you followed

both these conventions very closely how would you you know you know determine the relative effectiveness of what the democrats did in denver what the republicans were able to accomplish in the twin cities well i think they they all accomplished what they needed to and and because of that you know you come out of the conventions probably where you were before the conventions uh obama gave an excellent speech uh he fired up he fired up democrats Hillary Clinton uh was very intentional about uniting the party so was bill clinton uh all the things they needed to do they did uh and john mccain came out with an unexpected brand new strategy which is let's get the celebrity too let's you know let's let's excite the base i mean payment is such a shrewd pick she she excites the base the the evangelical you know christian base she excites some of the the ron paul supporters who otherwise would not have voted for john mccain the club for growth love sir uh and she you know and she's a woman and then you can argue about whether

not she might uh draw any hillary supporters but uh there's at least a chance to shoot well and so uh you know she certainly out shown mccain at the convention and and i i don't think john mccain is sad about that i think you know he he wasn't getting it done on his own he made a pick that is going to help him uh make this a very interesting race in the next 60 days you know one question i want to ask you he tonight i meant i i raised this with uh our two uh rep republican representatives there in st paul was this theme of change that that ran through the republican convention uh it occurs to me that if you look back historically george bush the first uh tried to get out of ronald ragan shadow back in the late 80s 1988 al gore tried to do the same with bill clinton in 2000 yet just this last month john mccain said quote we're worse off than we were four years ago and of course he embraced this change mantra in his speech last night are you surprised and and and two do you think he'll be able to pull this off as trying to cloak himself as the candidate of

change i'm not surprised i think he had to do it and you know really in a lot of ways mccain has the record that obama talks about or at least until 2000 he had the record i think he changed significantly after he lost the two thousand election uh so uh you know he he's i he's always talked about this you know it sometimes he's focused on it more than others and yeah i thought his his speech was fairly uh actually sort of bipolar last night you know the first half was republican talking points on policy and in the last 20 minutes or so was you know this this really inspiring passionate story uh you personal story uh that i think you know i people i've talked to went from being falling asleep to being totally awake and captivated and and uh what is the american public will buy it is i mean that is the question i it you know maelin brings some some of that to the ticket to at least that's how they're trying to spend it and i think a lot of it will rest on uh because mccain has made her you know such a focus of his campaign now

uh whether in the media vetting that's going to come in the next in the next two months and uh you know there are some questions about yeah she cut some things to state government but she also took a lot of pork as as a mayor and and you know how that shakes out with her is she a reformer or not and that'll probably help determine whether the american public buys it from the mccain campaign he thought time is running very short but briefly uh two real quick questions one uh there was a very provocative column in the new mexico independent by Tracy dangman who was there in St. pong she said that one of her main observations was was that the republican faithful there at the convention were remarkably undiverse do you think that's a fair criticism we all saw the wide shots uh real quickly was that a fair criticism you think i do think it was and i think if uh the republican party is going to survive uh or at least uh regain power in the next five to ten years it's going to diversify uh perhaps picking sir palin was a good start we'll see uh very last question heath any predictions very close i think palin just makes it even more

interesting even more highly contested and uh we'll just have to wait and see how it shakes out all right well new mexico is often very close uh you can read uh heath is uh journalism his reporting at uh nm politics dot net and also new mexico independent mexico independent dot com thanks much uh heath for joining us our attention now our attention now turns to the first debate between the two presidential candidates that'll happen later this month on september 26 and you can see it all here live on kennamy starting at seven p.m right now it's time to let the line panels weigh in on the republican national convention jane there's definitely lots to talk about thank you david this is definitely shaping up to be an election year that none of us are soon forget but before we get into the discussion of that let's introduce our panel for this week starting with our regulars margamontoya who holds appointments at both the schools of law and medicine at u and m jim scaren tino calmness with the weekly alibi and the blog new mexico politics dot net we welcome back our friend marco gonzalez attorney with the module spirling law firm

and former candidate for congress and we're very pleased to have joining us for the first time steven spitz a public affairs producer over at ku and m steven welcome get to see it the republican national convention is top of the list of topics for this week of course we've just talked with some of the eyewitnesses who were there on the floor to the very end but gim what i want to do to get into this is back up a little bit and talk about some of the other activities very much obviously his vice presidential picks error palen uh she'll be here tomorrow with uh senator mccain a lot of excitement at the it was just one of those things you watch on television you think wow this is extraordinary can you take on her and then we'll get into all of us what it means for the race and for mystery what was real life tv drama i mean it's it was a surprise announcement uh to many people and then she started getting beat up all of a sudden okay she was definitely an outsider in the press corps was you know sort of caricature in her and then she disappeared for two days and boom all sudden here comes sarah palen that uh everybody in alaskan knows uh that the mccain team know because they've been watching speeches of her for a long

time and uh she blew the roof off that convention center it really was an amazing performance for somebody who has never before been in a national spotlight like that she was completely at ease she has timing she has natural gifts i mean those that's not something you can train and uh she is energized that party in such a way we haven't seen since mccain became the presumptive presumptive nominee we're gonna be asking this obviously there's still some questions hanging out there about amongst other things her readiness in case the worst happens her qualifications all this did you have a different sense of her after watching her wednesday night than you had before and if so how and why i agree with Jim that it was um a very good performance i thought that she gave a very good speech um i did think that um uh parts of it had not been prepared for her that i i had the feeling that there were policy pieces not so much the energy because i do think that she has some uh facility with energy um but really with some of the other

policy pieces seemed to me to have been um put together by a speech writer and it didn't come to her naturally um i think that we uh those of us that have been reading the blogs and reading newspapers are beginning to get uh a picture although a fuzzy picture of sarah palen but i think that um well well let me say this i think it's very difficult for me to be at this table and talk about sarah palen because i think that there is an expectation that we're going to engage in tit for tat that it is easy i think to be critical of her and there is a big part of me that wants to be critical of her i just think that the issues that are facing us as a nation are so profound they are going to require such talent such seriousness that i don't think it behooves us

at this table or really at our dinner tables or all of the other media tables that we have been um listening to and to engage in the kind of um personal non policy based discussions much of and i'm not i'm not trying to say to really point fingers here i just think that there is too much of that and so i don't know enough about her as a policy maker i don't know enough about her policy positions from what i know um i'm certainly skeptical but i want to know more uh but what has really you know affected me over these two days is that i think that we are as a country on the wrong track with respect to the discussions that we have to have

gotcha mark it makes an interesting point in steven thank you for being here really take a look at your hearing absolutely the um vlogosphere in particular and let's get that home to little fire the left side of the vlogosphere was was fairly outrageous by any standard when it came to commenting on serapelyn we've obviously know much more about her about her daughter the pregnancy the the boyfriend on and on it goes the GOP on the other side use that it could be argued very effectively in the two days leading up to her speech but again leading up to let's let's pretend it's you know leading up to tomorrow afternoon what can people expect to hear now that that's been all passed and you saw that enthusiasm on television also what do you think's going forward from here on the stump we can expect from serapelyn well i think the cane pale and need to run as a reformer they they they they want to it's a change election they want to run as a reformist candidate and so a paleans going to run as a reformer anti-corruption

good government candidate that aligns perfectly with the cane that's the position they want to take i think her handlers really caused her a problem which is you know any we we would want Mayor Chavez to try to get pork from Washington we want governor Richardson to get pork from Washington serapelyn did that as a mayor she did that as a governor she didn't really destroy the old boys network she we want our state and local officials to do that she took a pretty aggressive position in her in her speech i think and so she's going to really be subject to attack legitimate attack and i think the key is how she can handle that sure is she going to be able to handle that affect your mark oh she's asked for the fight is it fair if if senator biden comes out this leaves rolled up in a little you know brass knuckle under his plum is is that okay well i hope he does and look this woman last night was dynamic electric explosive i mean we now have two maverick reformers that are going to go to washington and change washington for real

you know i think that she has the democrats on their heels and you know these comments that are made by some in the media relative toward they're really frankly demeaning and to a degree sexist about having speech writers write her words for her when in fact you know pretty much every politician has somebody writing their speeches for them the suggested that that she shouldn't be a vice presidential candidate because of her family needs look this woman appeals to independent voters women voters rule voters she resonates with them 38 37 million americans watched her speak last night and i think that's uh you know she's resonating with the american people in less than obama and vesco field is a fantastic speech and bring it on you bring up something interesting and let me swing it back to jim did she does she appeal to that narrow segment the camps are set the obama camps set the mccain camps set they have their they know who they're voting for we're going after that middle you know my first thought when the he pick

paleon was this was a pick for michigan ohio and pennsylvania all those women that oh mr obama could not get more than 30% with is this going to work not only women i think she's getting what i'm calling the kebela's about kebela's is the big sporting goods company that has these massive stores in pennsylvania i own michigan which become major cities on weekends and they are in rural counties particularly in pennsylvania uh that senator obama lost to hilly clinton by sometimes three or four to one uh the heavily white working class um many catholic uh definitely pro-life and she is a true sports woman i mean she looked good you know holding a gun she's very comfortable with it and i think that demographic is going to be drawn to her because that is where she comes from i mean she and her husband had a fishing business you know that's that's that's you know out in the pacific you know waters pulling in salmon and they are going to relate to her uh she is probably definitely not going to win over the hardcore uh pro-choice uh hillary clinton boaters but there are also a lot of pro-life democratic women out there and pro-life

democrats the reagan democrats that might be attracted to her what's going to happen is that the obama campaign is going to attempt to paint her as very very far right as really not like the eastern or because she you know comes from elaska she's a westerner but i think what we saw last night why she was so impressive is she is genuine there is a one a strong woman there i um governor lingo of who i introduce her said you were seeing a fearless woman and i think that's exactly what we're going to see for the rest of this campaign if i may pick up on this on this sexist um i think that we are engaged in a um we're hiring people for the for the most important jobs probably in the world and we are uh vetting as voters two candidates and we've never had the opportunity to talk with an african-american and to reach critical judgments we've never had the opportunity to do it with a woman and when in fact we are asking about the very specific skills and knowledge that are required her ability to communicate her ability to be a nuanced communicator

her ability to um really reach a consensus across all of the divides that those are not sexist and it is not racist to push and ask about baroque obama i don't think that we know how to conduct this conversation and it ends up sounding as if though uh the only way that it can be conducted is with epithets and and finger pointing well we're gonna have to stop it on that one we will follow up when miss pail and and mr. mccainer here we'll talk we'll talk all that next week now the conventions are certainly over but the campaign visits for new mexico continue to come fast and furious as i mentioned senator mccain and miss pail and we'll be here tomorrow night and you can watch the rally at the convention center live on our website new mexico and focus dot org starting at about six o'clock and on thursday michelle obama held a roundtable discussion with military wives and Santa Fe followed by a voter registration rally at u and m here in Albuquerque and here are some of the highlights of that appearance the next first lady of the united states

michelle obama thank you thank you so much amazing amazing and new mexico is a battleground state the state is critical we can win the state and moving the state to the obama biden category is gonna move this election in a way that no one can predict we're excited to bring about some change and it is so good to see so many of you here i know there are many people here who have been with us from the very beginning and we are grateful to you but we also have new veracobama supporters which we welcome with open arms because we know the importance of this election

we do we understand it and it is so important to women that convention did you watch the rock speech that last night how it felt to be in that arena with 80,000 people who look like america they came from all races and backgrounds and religions and genders and parties it was amazing what it showed me is that people are hungry for change hungry they want unity they want optimism they want strength they want courage and vision and insight so we need to work hard between now and the election in November and you know who's gonna get it done women

so women are willing to shoulder the burden we have been trained that this is what we're supposed to do we're supposed to do it all and all we're asking for is a washington that understands what's happening and when women and family struggle community struggles and when community struggle city struggles and state struggle and we have a struggling nation we cannot and will not take the women's vote for granite getting people out and getting them registered is the task that we have for this month because there is a window to voter registration as many of you know by the end of this month and it varies from state to state but around the end of september the beginning of October times up and if you're not registered then your voice will not be counted this is not easy

and at times it gets tough and knowing that you have other women other folks around this country who are praying for you and thinking about you and getting mad for you and standing behind you every step of the way makes it all possible but Barak needs you now not just to win but he's gonna need you to lead the problems that we face are they're difficult there are no quick fixes and they're gonna take a nation united ready to sacrifice and compromise and push and volunteer and continue to work and to continue to have the conversations with one another and if we do all of that if we work together respecting one another our cultures our backgrounds our experiences if we bring all that energy together then not only will we elect

Barak Obama the next president of the United States but we can possibly change the face of our nation for the future thank you so much thank you guys we're committed to bringing you as many of these campaign visits live on our website as possible over the coming months and don't forget those videos will stay up on New Mexico in focus dot org for you to watch at your convenience now back now to our panelists election angst kicked in the high gear here this week when Senate hopeful Tom you'd all son-in-law was set to take a job but New Mexico's Bureau of Elections director Jim Noel later resigned amidst a wave of criticism Mark let me start with you do you think the Secretary of State should have recognized it seems like an obvious question but should you recognize that this was pretty much a non-starter given the familial relationships here absolutely it was just a bad decision in terms of the executive power that she wields and also just in political for the

persons involved to really think that that wouldn't cause the ire or expectation of New Mexicans to say what's going on here is just a bad misjudgment are you listening with you on this are you as surprised that they only had two people in the running for this it goes right to the point you know I mean what did they do to actually look and find somebody for the job and you know I would also say that you know to compare the election of the United States senator the most powerful office that New Mexico has a side from governor to that of the election of a county clerk and saying that they're the same thing you know misses the point and so I thought that was unfortunate but they in the end the right decision was being Steven Kaye whatever's done for years amazing coverage on this you guys have done stories covering this kind of thing it just it seems like every time we can't seem to get this right and get people as Marco says comfortable that things are being watched carefully what do we got to do here well I think actually no L was the right person for the job aside from the appearance

of a conflict of interest he had done a wonderful job in the judicial commission he'd gone after judges mostly democrats he wasn't a political hack but he's the last person I think who can say that an appearance of a conflict was important because he had said that we wanted to independent commissions running the elections so he knows that's important I think the key thing we ought to be doing in New Mexico is making sure we're ready to run the election and in the last I heard you know the voting tabulation machines haven't been looked at the counties are fighting with the state of over who should pay it there hasn't been maintenance on the machines there was a 25% failure rate in the last election I mean somebody needs to get on it or we're going to be embarrassed in the next election what do we have a 57 days something like that if you throw this you I thought that that what was troubling was that there seemed to be some gubernatorial fingerprints here that in fact the governor had been involved and when Mary of Ed I was asked about it she evidently hedged whether there had been inquiries made up until that point I was prepared to

say you know I understand why Jim was offered the job I think the world of him I think that he's really an upstanding competent we need competence in this position and the position is fairly a political this doesn't count votes this trains all of the folks this makes sure the machines are working this is I mean it has to be someone who knows election law but I don't think that this was the kind of person who can in fact influence outcomes except it also seems to me sure it doesn't seem like the kind of gig Jim by the way you can build a political career on either you just if this is one of those things you do you roll your sleeves up you do it it's public service but you don't exactly launch yourself Jim it Jim noisler is a fine man but he had enforced the judicial ethics standard of avoiding appearances of impropriety and appearances of conflict of interest and his wife is Tom Udall's campaign manager the and and daughter as well you know and the director of the Bureau of Elections can influence the outcome because that is

who receives and investigates the complaints of improprieties throughout the state on election day and leading up to it the county clerks are calling in with the questions on interpretation of election law we have had so many questions in the state over the past eight years are longer when we've had these close elections and there's you know the republicans have raised you know you know all sorts of attacks on the integrity the process we've had missing ballot boxes you we need confidence in our election and I think Jim noisler despite the great job he did at the judicial standards commission also did not show good judgment and accepting a job where he could be in a position to determine or at least have the appearance of determining a close race that might favor his father-in-law sure are you okay with bomb parole in the box was a good guy yeah yeah and you know and again you know there's always going to be this question in partisanship sure which is you know because it's a dent bobs a democrat you know and the and there's not hasn't been or was less time there was a republican up there and I think there

was a valid argument for having an independent commission running the election so you okay with bomb parole I think that the process needs to be opened up I think that the disclosure that only two candidates were considered doesn't meet the people in New Mexico's standards we ought to in that important position have as many candidates to choose from as possible and there ought to be a process of of agreement that goes on between both having sides having input but it was just a bad decision yeah that's how fun it was a Stalin that said that's not who cast the votes it's who counts them I believe it was Margaret the last word on this go ahead I mean we're now in a situation you know Danny IV Soto left the position what seven months ago something now we're in a crunch now we are in a position in which it is not likely that we will have the personnel in place to really oversee this crucial function sure and that was Stephen's point it just at some point the election that's good point if there's any saving grace now public service company of

New Mexico is ready to tackle climate change seemingly the utility unveiled a new plan this week to reduce its use of coal and I'm sorry to reduce its use of coal but get into nuclear power and some other things the plan still needs approval from the public regulation commission Stephen this is actually fairly complicated and there's a bit of a tipping ticking time bomb here for P&M to change you've got potentially within any new administration there's going to be a financial cost with the more missions that you're putting out but maybe not a bad thing what did you what did you make of P&M's ideas well it seems to me like P&M's basically taking a wait and see attitude and not moving either way they're they're not going to make they're not going to develop more coal-fired plants which I think if you're concerned about global warming is a good thing but they're going to continue to rely on the nuclear power they get from out of state they're going to hope for environmental help and people conserving but basically what they want to do is rely on natural gas and they just sold their natural gas business and they're not the only

people relying on natural gas basically everybody wants to rely on natural gas because it produces about half the CO2 and one third of the methane but it's not just everybody in the United States it's everybody in the world it's right and guess what countries have the most natural gas Russia Iran and Qatar so you know I'm not sure we're going to be completely solving our problems by the way I mentioned they're not looking to do more nuclear energy right roughly it's roughly about 20 percent they're going to state about roughly 20 percent exactly but they've also said that they're usually I think it's about 60 percent of their power 62 percent comes from coal and so you make good mention of that market to you on this if if not coal if not nuclear but they're also talking about wind and solar and some other things we're really going with they are talking about the renewables and I think that what we're seeing is the kind of sea change in attitudes and and that it's that it has to happen more rapidly than it is but not too long ago after all the possibility of nuclear was still on the table and

it's just not economical that's I don't think that this is about you know despite all of the campaign ads against time you know this is about how expensive it is and so nuclear is out there as a small possibility in terms of increase but we do not have the technology for renewables we know that that that's really some you know decades off I mean we can continue to do the the investing in that and so for the most part we're talking cap and trade we are talking about a system of negotiating around pollution and that you know without more personal conservation and UNM comes into the picture because UNM is now pledged to try and lower its usage and that's important because in fact we have to identify all of those big users and bring down but this is not going to be a matter of getting out of coal which means the four corners area will continue to be impacted

I mean they're only going down the plan is if I read this correctly it's only to 49% by what 2020 gym for coal that doesn't seem to be aggressive it's not a huge decrease it probably can't be most of the electricity 50% on average the electricity in this country or better is generated by coal and it's going to be that way for a long time to come we not only don't have economically feasible renewable power on a massive scale yet we really don't have clean coal technology and coal is really the worst form of power generation we can have for the long term in this country in terms of economic impact one exciting feature though is the prospect that we may see a large thermal solar collector plant built here now this is a centralized solar electricity generating facility the technology was developed here at Sandia Labs you can go take the tour and they've got these massive mirrors on this tower and they concentrate the power of something like 300 400 suns and they can show you what it does there's a piece of metal out there that's about

this stick and the matter of a second it cut a hole right through it they turned it on it was over that is the great potential the shot solar builds the tubes that are used in this so we are starting to see this synergy from the national labs and if that plant is built and it takes off some people engineers in the field say that is the greatest close in potential for generating solar power on a large scale interesting from a business standpoint Marco it is this underneath all this discussion really a fight about P&M's viability in the future I mean it's really its existence as a viable energy producing and disseminating entity I mean it's been a lot of rumors for a lot of years at some point P&M we could lose P&M and go out of state somewhere else I'm going to write a big shack I mean how do you see this in there from a business well I think that they're trying to do what they must do to fit within the law that's been placed on them and so 20% by the next whatever year it is 2020 20 20% by 2020 I mean I think Margaret underlines the point

that people have to face these new renewables are going to cost more money and it's going to be increased cost to the consumer and so what we need to do is get it right the first time and you know they're only going to be doing 20% on solar because that's all they can we don't have the ability now to store solar energy once we can generate it and that's a huge problem so before we go down that road of trying to make a huge investment in that area we have to develop the ability to be able to store the energy so that we can bring cost down ironically T. Boone Pickens is going to be here next Thursday that's his point exactly you can generate all you want it if you can't store it and roll it but the other irony is this and I noticed that during the democratic convention a lot of the major environmental groups were lauding T. Boone Pickens you know we don't need the drill off short because we're we've got his plan but to get the huge quantities and natural gas he's talking about you need to drill that's how that's where it comes from well the other thing is that you know we're talking only industry right now transportation is off the table

and you know this has been a problem we have to say to Detroit we have to say we need to bring these emissions down and there is not the political will right now well then and we can't get there unless we're willing to do what's necessary to get down to the end of the road and that is we need a bridge to the future and that bridge is to drill here and drill now and we're going to pay less and that means now it's time drilling just it's in the air it's amazing now it's time for my favorite part of the show if you haven't seen it we call it putting our panelists on the clock they will have just one minute as a group to tackle each of the following issues so let us begin here potential political troubles for Governor Richardson the FBI is now investigating a California firm that has contributed to Richardson's political activities over the years questions have arisen about CDR financial products and its involvement in the governor's grip transportation project Marco take it away well it is never a good thing when the FBI comes calling and wanting to inquire about the award of contracts especially when they're for a billion dollars

I expect that what they're looking at is whether there was any quid per quote and those questions will have to be answered the timing of the receipts of the funds to cease it weather and also to the other organization and I think it's going to be very difficult for them to prove the fingerprints but nonetheless I think that that's what they're looking for I think one of the other we have all the tourists here actually you have a California firm outside the state not involved in state politics that gave a total of a hundred ten thousand dollars cash to governor Richardson they didn't do that just because they had money lying around let me please I think that my guess is that it's CDR or one of these 37 companies like it that are being sued that it's actually being investigated CDRs had trouble with the SEC and in a separate state so we really don't know yet you know who's being investigated the the transactions Marco you're absolutely right they don't look good but as long as we don't have public financing we're going to have the appearance of corruption work quickly well I think it's

going to depend on probably getting an informant you know someone who knows something who's you know I think otherwise I doubt that that this and that and that's I don't mean to suggest that there's anything there sure but to prove that there's anything there I think you need someone inside sure absolutely Albuquerque public schools UNM and C&M unveiled plans this week for a new partnership that would include a lined academic calendars more dual credit classes and an easier system for transfer and credits between those three institutions that's a big one right there for a lot of people Margaret that your influence of credits what do you think of this I've been working on pipeline issues for years now and with with pipeline we're trying to keep students in school but this kind of structural change of actually getting these entities to talk and agree and align is crucial to making sure that families and students can work within this entire fragmented sure Stephen this just seems so obvious what took so long for us to get here it's

well you know every education task force has recommended alignment right on and so I'm glad finally I think the reason is that smidley actually accomplishes it is last two positions and when I interviewed him on my show he said this was one of his objectives so I think that it's one of the good things that he's doing here here let's give him credit for that for sure and award it's brilliant yeah absolutely mark it it's brilliant and more should be done wow mayor martin chavis's dream of a panda at the real grand zoo is officially turned into a nightmare chavis has been negotiating with chinese officials gosh it seems like forever to acquire one of these animals but this week he admitted it just isn't going to happen w malle certainly was happy Jim it seems to me by the way I've never heard word one from the chinese that they were into this idea from day one of what happened here this is gonna cost the city two million dollars a year in addition to building you know something else and just bleeding you know our money and we import everything else from china looks like we're importing fiscal discipline too now work well I'm

certain that there are many and Albuquerque and New Mexico who are disappointed and I know the mayor made his best efforts but at the end of the day it's probably wiser fiscal decision that we expand our funds as somewhere else could it be wise because there's a possible run for another term well I'll tell you what I I'll remember you remember many years ago pita minichy he had to bring the polar bears to new mexico and and I think that was one of the best political ads that ever occurred so I can see where the mayor was going with it sure well evidently pandas are one of these destination things in zoos that people travel to see pandas and so it's not wacko from a tourism point of view I just don't think that it was going to happen and there's china sitting saying there are too many pandas outside of china that's right that's right the way this week's uh burning of this is zobra and Santa Fe of course last night a ritual that dates back to 1924 I actually didn't know that the ceremony is designed to burn away a year's worth of troubles Stephen did you burn anything last night to pay a little bit and you know I've

been avid tennis player and I've had double knee replacement and I've been suffering swelling all year long and I finally started playing tennis again and my wrist started swelling so that's what I'd burned away that's going big we're gonna have to play I don't know what you played tennis very good well I object to the idea of having a fiesta that celebrates the uh bloodless reconquest of the native peoples and so I've never understood this I understand of course I understand the the the ritual but I think that we should rethink it gotcha you wouldn't be alone in that by the way I fred to listen that is in fact the origin of zobra I must say I've never observed the ritual but I wouldn't have had anything to burn anyway I just had a wonderful year oh did you go bargain the june film did you torture anything um well you know what I did is I gathered up all of my uh receipts from all the tickets that I had to pay from the previous year in Santa Fe because there's no parking and I burned those and I'm thankful that the city has wisely planned two new parking garages and I would just say because I am from Santa Fe that I do agree

with Margaret that there is some tension that remains between our uh Indian peoples and Hispanic peoples on that point but uh you know we have been working in Santa Fe to try and address those I do think that there needs to be a conference actually uh that would be highlighted in fiestas as that I would like to see that happen that's a terrific idea now a little bit different bringing a little culture of a different sort to your daily commute the city's transit system recently held a poetry contest and the winners will have their entries posted on various buses across the Duke City soon if not now Margaret I just something about this idea that's just so interesting to this good the Horner and drummers tutelude amini do umpa paddle rattle a tattle drummed the timpanew the wordy winds and brassalins showed off their tongue a dittles bassalos with pony bows outplayed the harper fiddles and in the lead dressed all in tweed the baddest waved hello wow I mean I just think it I did I don't know I just tickles the tongue it's just wonderful

wonderful play with words and sounds and I loved it a little bit of time left on this Stephen go ahead well I I think it's a wonderful idea I've always liked fiction sure I've been listening to these poet garrison killer repotry on K and W in the morning and I'm really enjoying it my only suggestion would be let's have some outside poets too some there's a lot of wonderful poetry let's put that up to sure how about this I think that I shall never see a buses lovely as a tree a tree won't get me anywhere it is a bus that gets me here to there wow written by great main no written by me on the way I'm gonna get you off the hook you don't have to read any poetry if you're out of time for this week's show but don't forget to head to our website for more information or continue the discussion about any of this topics you saw tonight or maybe even write your own poetry or hey haiku we'll take it the address is new mexico and focus dot org you can also send us an email at in focus at at whatever the email address is that's okay we'll

see you next week and don't forget you can also head to our website to watch the full rally with Michelle Obama right there on our website we'll also be streaming John McCain and Sarah Palin's rally now but Kirky live on Saturday night starting at around six o'clock a video of that event will also stay on our website throughout this busy election season until next time thanks for watching and have a great week you