My Blue State '08

Statewide County Summaries

EditGrid Spreadsheet by user/mybluestate2008.

Cost of Coordination

In 2004, the price for legislative candidates to participate in the Presidential coordinated campaign was too great for many Democratic challengers to incumbent Republicans. 

To prevent this from happening again in 2008, the party will begin raising funds to ensure nominees from GOP held districts and incumbent Dems with challengers don't have the added cost of a "buy-inn" for coordinated campaign services.

Building Capacity Within The Party

Volunteering for the party as a one star volunteer, or even a five star volunteer general training other volunteers, can't be the end of the progression of political knowledge and experience.

With a curriculum of training available to volunteers ranging from Political organizing, to communications and citizen lobbying, not only would volunteers  be able to obtain the skills necessary to apply for paid positions within the party or on a campaign, but the Democratic Party of New Mexico would benefit by having more volunteers with more skills and abilities.

New Mexico Voter Registration By Region 1982 vs. 2006

How we can own the party

The Democratic Party of New Mexico's stated policy is to "finance the business of the party primarily by contributions from each of its individual members as their means allow." and that "The State Central Committee has the responsibility of fulfilling that policy by maintaining a systematic program for soliciting and collecting such contributions." 

But the reality is that our party's donor base consists primarily of large, special-interest contributors and money from national committees and not individual contributions from our members.

If we want to take back our country, we have to take back our party first. Democrats are faced with a question; do we want to be a party dependent on special-interests or self interested  and that means we have to have more donors and that means we have to have more Democrats take ownership in their party. That will only happen when we send a message that the party isn't just about getting candidates elected regardless of the cost, but that the party is also about building infrastructure and respecting each individual Democrat.

How to build 5 Star Volunteers

OPTION ONE: Operation Teams

5 Dems Deep: within any campaign or party headquarters there are basically 5 defined roles for regular volunteers--the people who really make any organization a success and a fun place to be. These roles can be loosely defined as:

• Front Desk/Office Manager

• Volunteer Organizer

• Phone Bank Manager

• Fundraising

• Mail specialist

There are probably other major duties that I'm forgetting, but the thought is that they fall in under the major duties as specialties related to the primary headings.

Most volunteers find a specialty that they like doing based on the amount of time they're able to donate to the campaign. For instance, being a volunteer organizer who welcomes volunteers and helps them get into a projects might not be ideal for someone who can only volunteer once a month and never gets to see the project completed. A one a month volunteer, however, may be a genius when it comes to bulk mail preparation.

The idea being that by identifying individuals who prefer one of the identified areas of focus, we build 5 Star Volunteer teams--volunteers who each know a skill down pat and enjoy working with one another. This goes back to the idea that being on a campaign is a lot like being on a team; you get to know your teammates and how they work and when you're having fun, there's no beating you.

Its in the interest of the party to make sure volunteers are not only having fun, but also being utilized to the best of their abilities. This means that we can't let even our best volunteers  work everyday to the point of burning out. Instead, the party can establish a framework for teambuilding of 5 Star Volunteer squads that can operate in rotations. Instead of signing up as an individual who comes in and does something different every time, instead you would come in with your squad. If you're sick a day, no sweat, members from other squads who play your position can fill in just fine.

The idea extends to any area of specialty where volunteers are essential to success; poll workers, election day volunteers, van drivers, outreach groups, election protection lawyers, IT specialists, you name it. The number one thing is that volunteers are giving the party their time, they don't want to see it wasted or misused. Identifying and tracking volunteer areas of skills so that they may be called upon when they can have the greatest impact, is not too much to ask.

Another plus is that as a 5 star team that has trained together, also has the ability to be mobile, meaning that a volunteer team from Santa Fe can easily plug into a volunteer team in Las Cruces if Las Cruces needed more volunteers in the final days of the election. Not to mention the possibility of 5 Star Teams deciding collectively to endorse

Also, imagine the value a 5 Star Team of volunteers would have walking in the door of any candidate running for office? you have something significant to offer any candidate seeking volunteers. Imagine making a group decision about which candidate to support and walking in with your whole team. What candidate wouldn't be grateful?

OPTION TWO: 5 Star Volunteer Generals

Similar to option one, the party would track individual volunteers' skills or areas of specialty. However, 5 Star Volunteer Generals would be individuals who had matriculated through 5 areas of training and certification and would become trainers themselves.

Both programs would require the party to develop a core volunteer curriculum and training and a method of tracking individual volunteers' level of experience. Tactically, this would allow the party to identify the base of volunteers who operate as the skeletal structure of our party today, and provide these people with additional training and recognition to enhance their leadership within the party so that more people may benefit from it.

Time To Debate!

In 2008, New Mexico will again be a battleground state. And with Pete Domenic, Heather WIlson and Steve Pearce seeking re-election, Democrats in New Mexico have an unprecedented opportunity to send a second wave of Democrats to Washington to continue the fight against corruption, incompetence and cronyism that's robbed even our returning soldiers of the quality care and respect they're sacrifices deserve.

With so much at stake, we, the candidates for state party chair, owe it to our newly elected State Central Committee Members every opportunity to learn about our plans when it comes to blazing a path to victory wide enough for all Democratic Candidates. 

Let's answer questions, let's have exchanges, let's converse, let's get it all out in the open and let's give Democrats a real debate so they can make a real decision on April 28th. 

AlterNet: Democratic and Republican Parties, Realigned

AlterNet: Democratic and Republican Parties, Realigned:

Intransigence and myopia. The flowering of these habits within the GOP is driving the Democratic Party to clarity. And the potential for serious consequences is real. It is not enough to suggest that a big Democratic win is possible in 2008. Something far more strategic is at work: large-scale party realignment with historic implications.

None of this seems apparent, of course. Indeed, for a number of hopeful partisans, such a possibility seems beyond reason itself. Politics is assumed to be modulated through the inherited customs of the two major parties. Complacency and sloganeering are settled habits among Republicans. Clarity, on the other hand, can scarcely be called an ingrained cultural habit among Democrats. In the face of corporate saber-rattling, a fair degree of communal Democratic wilting is highly probable. This traditional analysis, while time-tested and even accurate as far as it goes, is leading to inside-the-Beltway conclusions that are superficial and obsolete.

Regional Head Quarters

Using a regional model of organizing, the Democratic party can better allocate and distribute resources throughout the state and facilitate the growth of regional capacity, allowing the Democrats to address local and regional challenges in a manner that best suits those regions.

The Party's objective would be to have 5 regional Head Quarters by the caucus. Phase one of implementation would begin immediately, with 3 Headquarters opening, one in each Congressional district.

Opening additional Headquarters in CD 2 and 3, the locations of which would be decided in conjunction with the CD Vice-Chairs, would be the first step in ensuring state party resources are distributed statewide. The intent of opening Congressional District level HQ's first is to:

• Immediately incorporate the state's 6 CD Vice Chairs into the leadership and decision making processes of the party and development of its regional base capacity of membership service and party visibility.

• Provide SCC members with increased transparency and oversight of party operations and membership Return On Investment.

• Establish shorter supply lines between county party operations and state party resources by locating supplies at regional HQs.

• Allow staff to operate regionally, lowering transportation time and fuel costs and increasing their accessibility to party members.

• Increase communications amongst SCC members at the Congressional District Level.

• Identification of regional issues, priorities and benchmarks for progress

• Regional goals.

• Increase party visibility and activity in your community

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According to Research & Polling's Brian Sanderoff, the state of New Mexico can be broken down into 5 distinct regions listed below. The final locations of the additional regional HQ's would be determined at a later date after the SCC had received recommendations and analysis from party members and staff.

Albuquerque Metro

• Bernalillo County
• Sandoval County
• Torrance County
• Valencia County

East Side:

• Chaves County
• Curry County
• DeBaca County
• Eddy County
• Harding County
• Lincoln County
• Quay County
• Roosevelt County
• Union County

North Central:

• Colfax County
• Guadalupe County
• Los Alamos County
• Mora County
• Rio Arriba County
• San Miguel County
• Santa  Fe County
• Taos County

Northwest County

• Cibola County
• McKinley County
• San Juan County

South/Southwest

• Catron County
• Dona Ana County
• Grant County
• Hidalgo County
• Luna County
• Otero County
• Sierra County
• Socorro County

A Candidate In Every District

A commitment to compete means a commitment to find candidates to run in every Republican held legislative district in the state and to provide those candidates the support necessary to challenge even the safest of the GOP's incumbents.