Howdy! I just got home from the Pre-primary convention in Albuquerque……………..

I attended the State’s Central Committee meeting on Friday afternoon then the Pre-Primary Convention Saturday (I was there at 7AM to help register and give out the ballots - this process in itself is worthy of another email)

Our State’s plaform as amended and adopted includes the following:

1) A resolution from the New Mexico Democratic Party to begin articles of impeachment against George W. Bush.

2) An amendment to the Democratic Party of New Mexico 2006 to be included at the end of the section on National Defense includes the following language…………..

“The Democratic Party of New Mexico respects and appreciates the work of our service men and women. Therefore we demand more respect from the Federal government for these people who dedicate their lives to service.

We believe that service-men and women ought to be fully respected and accepted as members of the military, therefore we fully support repealing the ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ policy of the U.S. Armed Forces, and support fully integrating the GLBT citizens into the military. WE believe that women in the Armed Forces are equally as responsible and trustworthy to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions, and therefore believe that they should be able to access all reproductive healthcare procedures and options on military bases, domestic and abroad.

We believe that until these things are true of the U.S. Armed Forces, People in the United States have the right to freedom of protest, and speech that includes universities which receive public funding. Therefore, we believe the Solomon Amendment should be repealed.”
(both the above resolution and amendment were passed unanimously with a standing ovation- it was both the most powerful and the most poignant moment of this convention )

3) There was another amendment (or resolution, not sure which) regarding the cessation of funding for any additional “space-exploration” intended to provide support for any U.S.A. “tactical-pre-emptive” military activies……….(this too, passed unanimously and with standing ovation, however I do not yet have the complete text for this at this time)

I was able to meet and speak with many of the candidates, Gov & Lt. Gov (met them as part of our group), Attorney General (who is now running for one of the U.S. House of Rep. seats and she is AWESOME - Patsy Madrid) , and the other 2 candidates to the U.S. House of Reps (1 is an incumbent Udall who is a prior state Attorney Gen and State Legislator who appears to be a “favorite son” here and then the candidate running in my U.S. House District Al Kissling whom I know directly)

We have a wonderful D.V.M. Dr. Powell running for Land Commissioner who is so strong and firm on environmental issues I pray he suceeds with a landslide victory…….this office is so very critical for us here in the “land of enchantment” since we have the Bush administration attempting to sell off alot of BLM land here to help offset his financial catastrophes (New Mexico has an incredible amount of BLM territory that we are eagerly trying to get converted to Wilderness Areas (protected).

It was a most interesting experience with the typical flaws of political conventions (alternate balloting, timing restraints, order of candidates, proxy problems etc.) We are hopefull these issues will be addressed and remedied before the ‘08 campaigns begin.

The women that I traveled with were stimulating and interesting to say the least………. They were the Democratic Chair of our county (newly elected since the current chair resigned to devote all his energy towards his campaing for a state house seat) and was probably the most knowlegeable - then another gentle lady was a retired gerontologist who has been very politically active with AARP and finally our Deputy County Clerk (an elected position) who “certified” the voting scanners before we opened the “voting” and then again for the final “count”………………………..she had plenty to say about the office of Secretary of State (we now have 3 candidates that will run in the primary - each one of them very strong credentials and backrounds)

I will be active participant in 3 of our campaigns:

1) A County Commissioner seat (Karen Perez, who is sharp, focused, and an excellent communicator) She is a civil engineer who specializes in water issues and is keenly interested in water resouce conservation and management. She has Bachelor and Masters degrees in Engineering from NMSU, and did a 2 year stint in the Peace Corps in Honduras, where she built water systems in small villages. (there is an incredible explosion of development in the area and want any growth to be done prudently)

2) District #37’s representative to the New Mexico House - Jeff Steinborn, Dona Ana County’s resigning Democratic Party Chair (he’s a sharp young man with strong financial backing from the Democratic part of the Democratic party, if you get my “gist”)

3) U.S. House Repr. District #2 Al Kisling, who is a warm and congenial gentleman, a retired minister, a Yale graduate, and left leaning democrat. (He had the crowd standing for his entire Nomination’s acceptance speech- this guy was truly “preaching to the choir” however he is lacking sound financial backing and is running against Steve Pearce who gets most of his $$$ support from White Sands Missile Range ).

This Democratic POSTURING here in NM does not appear to come even close to the synergy effects we had going for us in the 60’s (if any of you were participating politically at that time you have an idea of what I allude to) …………………and I feel that will be the level of momentum we need to both reach and SUSTAIN in order to effect the “change” necessary to ultimatey “BRING DOWN THIS SORRY ASS EXCUSE FOR AN ADMINISTRATION”

dubya’ is the living example of why “no child left behind” isn’t working

Anyhow………………..back to the grind………………………

Ellen Joy Mangan
Las Cruces, New Mexico

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)

“To stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men.”–Abraham Lincoln