Politics: Clarity

Once in a while several news reports appear and together illuminate an issue. So it was Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, April 1 and 2, with three stories. Here is the issue was clarity in political matters, saving us the trouble of listening to reports and then saying, "what really is happening here is..."

The April 1 story, but no April Fool here, was the report of a decision in Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez' legal challenge to mayoral term limits. Until the March 31 decision, the rule had been that Albuquerque's mayor only got two terms. Chavez sued the city January 3, seeking to dump the restriction and won. Now a mayor suing the city he leads certainly is a decidedly odd situation, but, oh well. Normally, I think, such provisions are changed by agreement of the legislative and executive bodies of the government unit. Also, normally, such changes specify that no one holding office at the time of the deal benefits. Not here. Chavez can run for a third term, a possibility he is obfuscating. Chavez said, "It brings clarity to the landscape, and I've had a lot of folks encouraging me to seek and additional term.

An April 1, Gov. Bill Richardson said in Washington, D.C., that if asked to accept a position in a Democratic administration, "I must consider it." Ah, yeah. Clarity again.

More clarity came when the state Republican party establishment officially unveiled its support of Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White in the primary race for the congressional nomination in the 1st Congressional District. The point here is that parties are supposed to stay out of primaries. The fact of this support was well known, even if not previously

acknowledged. Indeed, a White candidacy for something above sheriff in been in the works for a long time. It seems that parties can't spend money in support of primary candidates, but from the non-legal view here, that seems a distinction without a difference. A phone call, a phone call there.... An illuminating chat came a few years ago with an Albuquerque businessman who considered a race for governor in 2002. To the race, the businessman would have brought intelligence, experience, good looks and a lot of his own money. He paid the obligatory call on then GOP Chairman John Dendahl who made it quite clear that party support was going to eventual nominee John Sanchez. End of candidacy. So even though the GOP's official support for White is inappropriate, score some points for clarity.