As always, click on all pictures for the larger version.  And you can see the rest at my Flickr page

Crossposted at New Mexico FBIHOP

Saturday, I followed Tom Udall around the city, starting up in the Northeast Heights at Page One, the largest independent bookstore in the state.

Page One Town Hall

The event at Page One was a town hall meeting, where about 100 people showed up to hear Udall give a short speech and ask the Congressman questions.

Udall began the speech by telling about his accomplishments both as the Attorney General and as a Congressman.  He mentioned he voted against the war in Iraq and said, "We should have stayed in Afghanistan; we should have captured Osama bin Laden."

To fulfill the "must talk about VP talk," Obama said he "Loves Richardson" in an interview with a local TV station.

Oh, and more pics at my Flickr set on the event.

I left my house at 10:00 am just to see Barack Obama at Rio Grande High School, a 45 minute drive from my house down in the heavily Hispanic South Valley.  I got back to my house at about 4:00 after battling traffic and my need for a stuffed sopapilla from Stufy’s (try the #8s if you ever go to Stufy’s).  Was it worth it?  Yeah.

Obama showed up at Rio Grande High School Monday for a town hall meeting, with hundreds of supporters cheering him on.  Included were some Democratic big-hitters, including Gov. Bill Richardson and Senate candidate Tom Udall.

Before Obama arrived, some New Mexico Democratic candidates and elected officials received attention from the gathering crowd in the sweltering gymnasium.  

Click on pictures to make larger.  And yes, these pictures all came out bad.  The lighting was between horrible and incredibly horrible.

As always, for more pictures, go to my Flickr page

I made the drive down I-25 that is both familiar and incredibly boring.  The drive from Albuquerque past Isleta, past Los Lunas even past Belen... to Socorro, New Mexico.  Somewhere along the trip (near Belen usually) I always ask myself why I'm doing this -- especially when I plan on turning around and driving back in just a few hours.

But I had a chance to see Tom Udall in action at a Town Hall-style meeting called the "Energy Security Roundtable."  And while Udall will never be confused with John F or Robert Kennedy for his oratorical skills (though few are), he still did pretty well in front of the crowd of about 40 in Workman 101 on the New Mexico Tech campus.

Harry Teague is a True Blue New Mexico candidate.

Crossposted at New Mexico FBIHOP

Did we find Ed Tinsley's macaca moment?  To be honest, I would think that Tinsley was the least likely of the serious Republican candidates to come off and say something this incredibly stupid.  Steve Pearce talks off the cuff and doesn't care what others think; Darren White has a legendary temper.  And Dan East... well, I have very little idea about him at all -- and he has virtually no chance against Ben Ray Lujan.

But Tinsley, at the Association of Commerce and Industry (ACI) candidate forum this weekend, Tinsley said: "How can I call my two nephews over there right now...  and tell them I'm running against a guy that will cut your throat. That will cut the bottom out of your funding. That will..."

You can see the video below, fully in context.  See the crowd reaction.

Two weeks ago, I wrote volume 1 in this series.  Despite a... lackluster at best response, I will soldier on and present Volume 2 in Blogs You Should Be Reading.

This is something to check into late at night, long after you've read all the blogs on the front page of Kos, MyDD, Open Left or any other of the blogs you normally read.  Long after most right-minded or day-star (that's the sun) dwellers have gone to sleep, we're awake, looking at the same diaries, hoping someone will comment.  

But I will present some cures for the common late night boredom.  These aren't necessarily political blogs (though they probably mention politics regularaly) rather they are just blogs I enjoy and you probably haven't heard of.

So on to tonight's Blog You Should Be Reading!

And go ahead and give your suggestions of blogs we may not have heard of but we should be reading in the comments.

Crossposted at New Mexico FBIHOP

Click on photos for larger versions.  More available on my Flickr page, as always.

Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois was in the state and saw a good chunk of it in a short period of time -- at least up and down I-25.  

I'm not quite sure where he met up with Second Congressional District candidate Harry Teague for a fundraiser, but Emanuel stopped by Gabriel's Restaurant north of Santa Fe for a fundraiser and quick talk with the press (which is to mean myself and Steve Terrell of the Santa Fe New Mexican).  

Emanuel spoke about the big year Democrats had in 2006 and how we won; it wasn't just the war.

As you may have heard, John McCain is running around calling Barack Obama a "celebrity" as many times as possible even in places where it doesn't make much sense.

McCain's ad says Obama is the "biggest celebrity in the world" and shows pictures of two starlets more associated with infamy these days than actually, well, doing anything.  I guess McCain's never heard of David Beckham, Pele, Muhammad Ali or a host of other people much more recognizable.

But John McCain doesn't want you to remember: He's the real celebrity.  He's the one who appears on movies and TV shows.  

Ever get onto Kos at two, three, four in the morning, read the blogs you're interested in and then start migrating to the blogs you have no interest in... just for something to read?  Hoping for some commenting contact?

I hear ya.  I get off work at 12:30 am in the Mountain Time Zone, so by the time I get to Kos, things are pretty well dead.  So I have to search around to find other blogs to read that I normally don't; MyDD, Talking Points Memo, Open Left are even more dead at this time.  And those New Mexico blogs to the right? Ha!

We're the small towns of the blogosphere.  Lights off and all restaurants closed by sundown.  Except for a couple of crazies (me) who stay up and watch the late night TV shows!  We watch Letterman and Leno Craig Ferguson!

So go below the fold for this week's edition (the first of many, I would hope) of Blogs You Should Be Reading. And no, I'm not talking about any of the "A-List" blogs out there; you already know about them.

Imagine you're a candidate for office, and you're given a simple question: Will you attend your party's convention?

A no-brainer, right?  Go watch the candidate at the top of your ticket get officially nominated, maybe get some face time on national TV in primetime.  Mingle with the other people of your party.  I'd do it.

You'd probably do it, too. Hell, every Democratic blogger in the nation (seemingly at least) tried to go to the convention.  But you're not a Republican candidate for Senate this year.  They're afraid of that (R) after their name.  

Crossposted at New Mexico FBIHOP

McCain got an op-ed rejected by the New York Times. McCain's commentary was in response to one in the same paper by Barack Obama.

Here's what David Shipley, op-ed editor of the New York Times, instructed the McCain team to change via e-mail:

the article would have to articulate, in concrete terms, how Senator McCain defines victory in Iraq. It would also have to lay out a clear plan for achieving victory — with troops levels, timetables and measures for compelling the Iraqis to cooperate. And it would need to describe the senator’s Afghanistan strategy, spelling out
how it meshes with his Iraq plan

Crossposted at New Mexico FBIHOP

A few weeks back, Marjorie Childress had a great article about net neutrality over at the Independent (the other place I write and actually get paid for).

Something interesting that I remember this weekend was seeing which candidates were the most net-friendly.  I don't mean just showing up and glad-handing at Netroots Nation or sending staff, but also understanding net neutrality.

And the divide between Democrats and Republicans was as clear as the digital divide between the middle-class urbans and lower-class rural New Mexicans.

The New Mexico Independent was curious about what those who are running for federal office in New Mexico think about the issue. As it turned out, Democratic contenders were all informed on the topic and knew where they stood. Conversely, none of the Republicans running for Congress responded to the inquiry. They either declined to comment because of the complexity of the issue or declined all comment. First Congressional District candidate Darren White refused to respond despite several requests.

My brother posted a horrible diary on the samet hing, so I'm gonig to go ahead and make it better.  By copying his post from my blog.

So its been a while since our first two podcasts (Podcast #1) (Podcast #2) in late February and early March. LP even said he wanted to get some podcasting equipment and try it again.

See also:

A protest photoblog

John McCain came to Albuquerque today for a town hall meeting with five hundred supporters.  The crowd began filtering in at 8:45 am for the 10:15 am scheduled start; the event actually started on time.

The schedule handed out to the press said McCain's state finance chair Ken Zangara was slated to start the event, but it turned out that former state Speaker of the House Manuel Lujan gave the introduction instead.

McCain spoke for about fifteen minutes about... well, you know his talking points by now.  He hit many throughout the opening remarks and by the end of the town hall with the slow-pitch softball questions, he probably hit just about every talking point from his campaign. From more drilling to nuclear power to "Barack Obama is going to raise taxes", it was a John McCain greatest hits collection.

You may have heard today that Anheuser-Busch was sold was sold to InBev, a Belgium-Brazilian company.  Though most of the products Anheuser-Busch makes are... not the best beer (Budweiser and Michelob, I'm looking at you!) they do have a couple of beers I enjoy (Beck's, Stella Artois).

So I just want to know with this micro-diary: what is your favorite type of beer? Or favorite beers.  I've been known to enjoy a couple in my time and if you hop below the fold, I'll let you know.

You can be assured that Natural Lite and Milwaukee's Best will not be on the list.

I generally don't write diaries on weekends (hell, as of late I haven't had time to write many diaries period) but thought I'd go ahead and highlight the Netroots Nation sessions which are most interesting to me and which I will attempt to attend.  

I found at least one session for each time period that looks interesting and at many times, there are multiple sessions; I'll have to decide which session to attend when I get there.  

This is perfect for anyone who wants to stalk me; just print it out, and you're ready to go for four days!

But highlight what sessions you're looking most forward to, if you're lucky enough to be able to attend, in the comments below.

I've read and commented on some diaries here that argue that Barack Obama should attend Netroots Nation.  Or at least his wife, or a high level surrogate.  While perhaps his wife or another surrogate should show, I really don't mind if Obama doesn't show up to Austin with the unwashed masses of bloggers in pajamas.

It appears that Obama will be in the states still during the time period.  So the Europe question (no one can fly back and forth from Europe to the US that quickly unless they wear a cape and underwear on the outside of their clothes) is a moot point; he will possibly speak in Germany on July 24.  So it's possible for Obama to show up on Thursday and Friday and give a speech.  

But I say it's not worth it.

There were 99 Senators on the floor of the Senate to cast their ballots for the Medicare vote.  Barack Obama was there.
And even Ted Kennedy was there.  Kennedy was not scheduled back until September.  Kennedy had brain surgery not too long ago.  Yet he was able to suck it up and get his ass on the floor to cast an important vote for cloture.

The Caucus said this:

Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts walked triumphantly into the Senate on Wednesday for the first time since learning that he had brain cancer, hoping to provide Democrats with the crucial, single vote that they need to reverse a cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors.
...
Holding both hands open, like a preacher receiving a blessing, Mr. Kennedy, 76, shouted a loud "Aye!" He then quickly flashed two-thumbs up, before turning to receive more hugs and kisses.

Crossposted at New Mexico FBIHOP

The Tom Udall fundraising machine is still running strong, with no signs of stopping -- if anything, the fundraising efforts are gaining steam.

Democratic candidate Tom Udall has raised over $2.1 million in the second quarter for his Senate run according to a press release from his campaign.

In the second quarter, which ended at the end of the day on June 30, Udall raised more than he had in any other quarter so far.