Political Notes

The Albuquerque part of Steve Pearce's official announcement of his United States Senate campaign went nicely. Pearce's volunteers packed nearly everyone who attended the event at the Embassy Suites onto the stage, presumably for the benefit of the television cameras. Former Governor Dave Cargo was a surprising emcee, surprising considering Cargo's reputation for being a moderate and Pearce being a card-carrying conservative. Another surprise was the attendance of three pueblo governors.
Two days later, new University of New Mexico President William Schmidly got an initiation into Politics New Mexico-style. Schmidly's presentation of UNM's tentative plans for development on the nine-hole remnant of the original 27-hole golf course on the north campus was treated mostly civilly by the 300 or so Baby Boomer types crammed into the largest lecture hall in the Law School which borders the golf course. Audience members responding to the presentation got repeated loud applause and shouts of support as they denounced the proposals.
Seven elected officials, all Democrats, attended the presentation and a rally held immediately before the meeting. Lt. Gov. Diane Denish and Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez led the elected group. Should something like the plans being discussed move to the building stage, Chavez, a candidate to the United States Senate, threatened to hold the building permits hostage. Legislators threatened retribution as well.