Governor Richardson May Get China Post. Palin to Africa?

Specualtion continues to escalate about which New Mexico officials may be tapped by the Obama-Biden administration.

Governor Bill Richardson is reportedly being considered for Secretary of State, Secretary of Commerce, President of the World Bank, and now for Ambassador to China.

Senator Jeff Bingaman is apparently in the running for Energy Secretary, but told me on election night, he doesn't think he'll be asked. The state's soon-to-be Senior Senator say's he's flattered to be considered. It must be noted that Bingaman called the post, "the worst job in Washington."

DEVELOPING STORY POSTED ON THE BOROWITZ REPORT:

From the Department of the Ridiculous

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is reaching out to President-elect Obama's transition team to indicate her interest in being named "ambassador to the nation of Africa." Senior Republican campaign staffers have told news outlets, that Palin did not know that Africa was a continent. Palin wants the appointment to Africa because, "it's a darned important country."

Gov. Palin said that although she had planned to continue in her position in Anchorage, she was willing to leave the governorship "because Africa is just such a darned important country."

"I have always been very, very interested in the nation of Africa, partly because of it being located where it is," she said. "If you are standing in Africa and you look real close, you can see South Africa."

She added that she had received phone calls encouraging her to vie for the post, including one from French president Nicholas Sarkozy.

In other news from the Palin family, Bristol Palin's fiancé Levi Johnston said he was "totally stoked" about Tuesday night's election returns, calling the results "definitely a game-changer for me."

"The election of Barack Obama means different things to different people," he said. "To me, it means freedom, dude!"

Embarrassingly Small Crowd Greets McCain In Albuquerque.

Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain left Albuquerque on Saturday afternoon just after 1pm. He probably wonders if his trip to Albuquerque was even worth it. While the state's Republican party says they handed out a little more than 3,000 tickets, less than 1,000 people bothered to show up for the Road To Victory 2008 Rally at Expo New Mexico's Spanish Village earlier in the day.

McCain, who trails in public opinion polls nationwide, and by double digits in some state polls, told the crowd that's he's always been a fighter, and it was too early for Democrat Barack Obama to start measuring the curtains in the White House. McCain vowed to fight on in the 2008 national campaign, but when he sees these small crowds, he must also see the handwriting on the wall.

A day after the Dow Jones tumbled another 312 points it was not surprising when McCain once again brought up Joe the Plumber's name, criticized Obama as the most liberal senator in Washington, D.C., and said he had the experience to guide America through it current financial crisis, help homeowners with their mortgages, reduce taxes and make America energy independent.

As Alaska Governor Sarah Palin might say: "You betcha," McCain begins his speech off with those two favorite words, "My Friends."

Listen to his rally address here:



McCain was introduced by South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham and his wife Cindy.

Local pols, including Rep. Heather Wilson, CD-1 Republican Candidate Darren White and former Interior Secretary and long-time congressman Manual Lujan also attended the rally.

White, I'm told, had a great line:

Even my dog Trixie (a pitpull) has stopped working on my campaign. It used to be: Wag For White. Now it's Pitpulls for Palin.

After an afternoon rally in Southern New Mexico the McCain campaign will jet off to Iowa.

Next up, Democratic Senator Barack Obama. He flies into New Mexico from Nevada this afternoon for an evening rally at UNM's Johnson field.

More than 10,000 highly-motivated democrats, many who have already voted early, are expected at tonight's event.

Obama will spend the evening in Albuquerque, but has no local press opportunities planned. We'll post the audio from Obama's speech later this evening . Tune in here if you want to hear the speech and avoid the parking hassles near the university.

For now there's time to grab a nap and wonder if the crowds will continue to diminish for McCain in the final stretch of this election.

UPDATE - 10/26/2008

Heath Haussamen covered McCain's trip Saturday afternoon to Mesilla. He reports the crowds were larger there. McCain was joined by Sen. Pete Domenici and Republican candidates Steve Pearce and Ed Tinsley.

Look at the photos and read Heath's report here.

John McCain in ABQ at UNM SUB on Monday.

DEVELOPING STORY

A rally is being planned for John McCain at UNM’s Student Union Building at 1pm tomorrow.

Doors to the event open at 11:30am.

The candidate will arrive in the Duke City just after noon, and leave immediately following the rally to prepare for his 2nd presidential debate with Barack Obama on Tuesday night.

A recent poll shows McCain trailing the democrat in New Mexico.

770 KKOB will cover the trip and have more details as they become available.

UPDATE - 12:40PM Sarah Palin will not be with McCain on this trip to Albuquerque.

UPDATE - 1:00PM NM Democrats plan a protest rally at UNM before McCain's arrival at 11am. Details as they become available.

Debate Word Cloud and Palin Debate Flow Chart

Joe Biden's Word Cloud from Debate Transcript

Here are word clouds featuring text from last night's VP debate transcripts.

You can create your own word clouds on wordle with text from anything.








Sara Palin's Debate Word Cloud









A secret flow chart from Sarah Palin's debate planning meetings:

The Art of Interviewing Politicians ... And the Frustration!

If you've followed this blog for awhile you know how difficult it has been for reporters, this election cycle, to interview politicians, especially Sarah Palin. Hear my interview with her here.

Palin has frustrated even the network reporters. Listen to Charlie Gibson's interview with her here and see Katie Couric's interview here.

And you simply have to roll this video, sent to me by 770KKOB Traffic Reporter Helen Wheels, featuring an interview with a politico in Australia. It's simply hilarious. I guess politicians are good at evading answers everywhere.



If you simply can't secure an interview with Sarah Palin, don't fret. The kind folks at this website have you covered. It's worth clicking through and checking it out.

Palin Photo Op Follies Hit Home for Local Reporter.

A few weeks ago, campaign media handlers chased me away from Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after I started a recorded interview with her on the garden patio at El Pinto restaurant in Albuquerque.

If you follow this blog you know our 32 second conversation ended just as fast as it began. Traveling Press Secretary Brooke Buchanan told me "thank you" and hustled me away. You probably also remember that a U.S. Secret Service agent instructed me to return to the bus (for bad reporters).

So, when I saw Jeanne Moist's video essay on Sarah Palin's Photo Op Follies I knew I had to share it with you here.

In a press pool we've learned that "thank you" means shut up and get out.

Listen to how many times you hear "thank you" around Palin's media handlers in this video.

Governor Palin Talks To Local Reporter Before Handlers Break It Up!

This blog post really started to develop last Thursday.

After catching up on some sleep from my adventures at the DNC in Denver I knew I had to try and get a one-on-one interview with Alaska Governor Sarah Palin during her trip to Albuquerque for a rally.

I got my first break when I was invited to cover radio chores for the local press pool. Yet, I knew the odds of getting an interview were against me. Only recently has Palin agreed to be interviewed by ABC's Charlie Gibson, and that's not until later this week up in Alaska. Other than ABC she isn't talking to my media mates.

I've been called a "pushy" reporter, because I'm usually the one who asks the first and last question at news conferences. And frankly these kinds of media events favor photographers with long range lens. So I was on a mission this weekend to get some audio for the radio pool. All I wanted was to be able to talk to Sarah Palin on tape.

At every stop along her journey in Albuquerque I asked her handlers if they could give me just a few minutes to talk with her about state issues she may have to deal with if elected, including drilling on the Otero Mesa, healthcare, and even western water compacts.

After being denied at every stop, and at every turn, I even thought about calling the hotel operator and asking to be put through to Todd and Sarah Palin's room. Now that's assertive, but maybe too assertive. I figured the secret service would bump me off the tour if I tried the hotel operator tactic.

This morning, I settled in for another long Sunday morning of waiting for the just the right moment. It finally came during a photo op trip McCain and Palin took to a local restaurant famous for their salsa and chile.

Just before 1pm, the press crews were herded off to an outside garden patio. I lingered just a minute to say "hello" to a waitress I knew from working there a few years ago, and somehow got stuck between McCain, several diners, and the photographers.

At that moment, I saw Palin finally walking onto the patio. She was coming my way. I quickly turned on my recorder, and when she smiled and stopped in front of me and I welcomed her to New Mexico.

Here's the audio from our :32 second conversation.



Now you're probably wondering why I didn't start with a hard hitting question like what she thought about the government taking over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but I didn't want to scare her off. After she started talking I planned a more important question to generate a newsworthy repsonse, but just after we started McCain's long-time traveling press secretary Brooke Buchanan broke us up. Despite the fact that Palin seemed to be enjoying her conversation, looking me in the eye, and smiling. When you listened to the tape does she sound like she's irritated talking to me? Not at all!

Almost instantly the secret service directed me back to the bus.

Eventually I was rescued by one of the local handlers (thanks KL). Actually I think one of the staffers directed Palin my way so I wouldn't go home empty handed. Photographers can always get a shot for their pools. Audio is harder to get for the radio crews.

It turns out TV crews in other cities have sparred with Brooke.




As we got ready to leave the restaurant, McCain and Todd Palin went to the cashier's stand to buy some salsa to take with them. After ringing up a little more than $8 bucks in locally made products the two men were heard haggling about who would pay the cashier named Savannah. In the end, I understand John McCain whipped out a $20 and they families left the restaurant and headed back to the airport where ABSOLUTELY NO REPORTERS were allowed to go near Palin.

I'm sure Gov. Palin will be back to town. I'm also sure I'll try again.

Photo credit: Peter St. Cyr

No Tickets. No Worries. We've Got the Audio.

Robert Duvall, who's seen in this picture standing between Sen. John and Cindy McCain, joined his own wife, Luciana Pedraza, and introduced the newly minted Republican ticket, at the Albuquerque Convention Center this evening for a big post convention rally in the Duke City.

Only 6,000 supporters got tickets to the McCain-Palin rally in Albuquerque tonight.

You actually may be luckier than they were. Supporters, who had to hunt for parking downtown, sweated in the sun waiting for hours to get into a 32-minute rally, and then only heard speeches way to familiar to the one's they heard earlier during the GOP Convention in the week in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Except for that one comment on earmarks from Gov. Palin, who's been defending her own record in Alaska. She decided to use her time in Albuquerque tell the crowd that Barack Obama has requested almost $3 billion dollars in earmarks during his time in the U.S. Senate.

"Just wait until President McCain puts a stop to that," Palin Said. Meanwhile, our ABC colleague Jack Tapper summarized all of Saturday's political punches here, as the battle of pork continues. I just wonder when either of the parties is going to tell us what they're going to do about the failing Fannie Mae and Freddie Macs. I've heard they'll likely go into conservatorship.

Anyway, here's the good news for you is there's no line here for you to stand in, no protestors shouting at you, (although they may use the comment page at the bottom of the post later to make their voices heard), and the bottom line is we're not charging $6.00 for parking either.

Still we've got the audio of their speeches just for you.

So sit back and enjoy their brief comments here, but download the audio to your i-pod only if you dare.

McCain spoke last, but get's top billing on this post.



And here is Governor Sarah Palin.



Photo credit: MG Bralley

Thirty Two Minutes and McCain Rally is Over Already.

Live Blogging from National Press Pool Risers set up inside the ABQ Convention Center.


Actor Robert Duvall introduced Senator John McCain and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and moments later the Straight Talk Express pulled directly inside the Albuquerque Convention Center Hall filled with 6,000 local supporters cheering his arrival while Van Halen's "Right Now" blared over the speaker system.

After the WWF style show fog cleared and the American Flag was finally spread out full again, the two families (McCain's wife wearing a weird combination of green and orange and world champion snowmobiler - 1st Dude Todd Palin) all made their way to the center of the hall.

Each pledge to put "Country First" and after 32 minutes the rally was over. To read about what happened before I arrived with the national press tour read LP's blog here.

McCain and Palin in Albuquerque.

The Straight Talk Express landed at Cutter @ 227pm and now we're headed to KNME where the candidates will be using the studios for a satellite interview. Following the interview Sen. John McCain, his wife Cindy (who's sporting a bandage around her wrist from a ruff handshake) and VP pick Sarah Palin will check into their hotel for a brief afternoon rest before tonight's rally at 7pm.

Photo Credit: MG Bralley

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Sunshine...Daydreams & Pay As You Go.

Everyone knew the political campaigns would heat up after Labor Day in New Mexico. Now They have.

On Wednesday night, U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Maryland -D) attended a Ben Ray Lujan Jr. fundraiser at State Fair Commissioner Nerissa Whittington's home. We learned at least 60 people contributed some $52,500 dollars to the campaign.

The DNCCC has not anted up much money for Lujan's race this year. They believe they will easily win the district, forcing Lujan to come down to the Duke City to raise money for TV ads.

Meanwhile, during the lunch hour on Wednesday, Hoyer was in the state's capital. He attended a private fundraiser for Martin Heinrich despite the CD-1 District only have a few precincts in Santa Fe County.

It must have been a good lunch because reporters were kept waiting in the blazing afternoon sun for 45 minutes outside the East Gates of Sandia National labs until Hoyer and Heinrich arrived to talk ironically about Solar Energy. Most reporters were offered an umbrella and a bottle of cold water before they boiled or melted.

After the news conference finally began, Hoyer said Heinrich's choice to take him to visit Sandia National Labs is evidence the young democrat will make continued funding for the labs a top priority if he's elected in November and heads to Washington, D.C.

Hoyer believes Heinrich, who has a mechanical engineering degree, will be in a good position to get funding because he understands many of the technical operations underway there.

In this brief Q&A with reporters (we were only allowed five minutes of questions after waiting 3/4 of an hour for them to arrive) Hoyer defended his two earlier votes to cut the lab's budget. He says it was based on the budget shortfalls caused by the Bush administration squandering a $5.6 trillion dollar surplus in the last eight years. he told us he believes the democrats here will win all three congressional seats in November.



Hoyer earlier told reporters that safe nuclear technology needs to be part of any comprehensive energy program.



Martin Heinrich told reporter the technology developed inside at Sandia and Los Alamos spurs venture capital investment that impacts not only the state and the region, but the entire country.



Republican candidate Darren White’s staff was quick to remind reporters that Hoyer voted to slash the national labs budget twice in 2007.

“Heinrich is proving once again that mingling with Washington’s elite is more important than dealing with the issues that face New Mexico working families. Hoyer voted repeatedly to cut crucial funding to New Mexico’s national labs, Sandia and Los Alamos, which would have cut 3,000 jobs,” remarked New Mexico Republican Party communications director Shira Rawlinson. “It’s ironic Heinrich picked Sandia Labs to appear with Hoyer since that is the exact place Congressional Democrats chose to cut over $400 million in funding that would have devastated New Mexico’s economy and damaged our ability to contribute to the national defense.”

On Thursday, Rep. Chris Van Holland will campaign with Heinrich and attend a forum with doctor's at UNM's Children Hospital. And Michelle Obama will be in Santa Fe and at UNM. On Saturday, John McCain, and perhaps his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will be in ABQ for a voter rally.

Alaska Governor Gets Attention in New Mexico

Tonight in St. Paul, Minnesota Republicans will make history. The party's first female V.P nominee will give her acceptance speech.

This afternoon, Republican Sen. Domenici and Representative Heather Wilson told reporters they are each confident in Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Wilson says she'll make a great VP. It is still unclear whether or not Palin will join McCain at Saturday's rally in Albuquerque.

Wilson also told me access to the Convention's facility was no problem for her and protestors had not disrupted her travels or access.

Earlier today, Lt. Governor Diane Denish announced a new Women for Obama group she's forming in New Mexico ahead of Michelle Obama's visit to the Land of Enchantment on Thursday.


This morning, Denish was joined on a tele-press conference by Teresa Brito Asenap, PhD (who spoke at Invesco Field about women's issues) last Thursday.

In New Mexico women make up the majority of voters in the state, and Denish and Brito Asenap want their new grassroots group to help mobilized ladies to vote by mail in the fall.

"Women are more involved day-to-day with raising their families and working than following politics," said Denish. The Lieutenant Governor wants to make sure volunteers working telephone banks and canvassing door-to-door can get more women to complete absentee applications.

Denish also went on the record and critized McCain's record on women's issues in the Senate. She said he voted against funding for healthcare, including breast cancer funds, and cast a nay vote for an equal pay bill. Denish was also critical of Alaska Govenror Sarah Palin's experience, and says she's not prepared to step into the Presidency at a moment's notice.

Meanwhile the Republicans are planning state-wide viewing parties during Palin's national address.

McCain's presidential campaign today announced that members of New Mexico Women for McCain and other McCain supporters will hold a Convention Watching Party starting at 5:30pm at the McCain/Victory 2008 Headquarters, at 5643 Jefferson NE Suite B in Albuquerque.



U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today released this ad, entitled "Alaska Maverick." It highlights Governor Sarah Palin's record of taking on the special interests in Alaska and bringing reform and change. While Barack Obama talks about change, Governor Sarah Palin has actually done it. The ad is scheduled to air in key battleground states, but it is unclear if it will air in New Mexico.