Watching Richardson on TV

OK, I'm spending way more time watching television than I'd prefer, but, hey, if I couldn't go to Boston (which I could have, but I would have risked returning to utter mayhem and confusion), then watching it on TV may be the next best thing. Actually, it's fascinating for a variety of reasons, the main one being how much the TV political "analysts" are just terrible. I mean, atrocious. 1. Comparing Barack Obama to Tiger Woods! For the love of God, why? Because he's young and black? What is wrong with people? It's so banal and venal and idiotic. Did they even listen to his speech? Read it here. It was a great speech, delivered powerfully, one of two last night that made me, for one, feel something. The second was Teresa Heinz Kerry's. All the pundits had to say after she spoke was that some people would be afraid of her, that she was "sexy," and that she was scripted, but convincing. First of all, she wrote that scripted speech herself. Second, it was a real call to arms and reminder of the values of this country framed in a historical and literary and social activist context delivered by a woman of incredible intelligence. Frankly, I was voting for Kerry no matter what, but she made me feel good about it. How can the TV news people miss it all? Miss the actual goosebump feeling you get when you're hearing a real political speech, not just Teddy Kennedy bullshit?
OK, enough tirades.
Watched Gov. Bill on TV as well. He doesn't do too well talking off the top of his head. When challenged about the Hispanic vote and the Democrats' alleged lock of it, he just mumbled about the party's optimism. Come on!
According to The Times, Richardson is the only official reading Bill Clinton's book, although he isn't finished with it yet.
Gov. Bill also has been found trying to barter for passes to star-studded events (Oh Bill!) and has jumped on the bandwagon regarding the criticality of the Native American vote in New Mexico

The D-Party

Bill Richardson may have received a standing ovation, but he's no Bill Clinton. Is anybody? Despite my refined cycnicism perfected over more than a decade of journalistic undertakings, I was moved and even slightly mesmerized listening to Bill Clinton last night. You can Read the full text here Maybe it was just the memory of having a president who spoke English well and had something to say that offered a positive image of our country. But it also reminded me of what it felt like to have Bill Clinton be the first president I ever voted for (because it was the first time I was old enough to vote for president). It wasn't that long ago, and presumably I have many more presidential elections in the offing (assuming Bush doesn't win Nov. 2 and shut down electoral politics once and for all), but there is something unique about that first time feeling as though one's vote is really going to help change the country to something closer to what one wants it to be. I hope people who are voting for the first time, regardless of age, experience that sensation, because it really can be the beginning of engagement.
Or, as I said in my PSA for French and French (now airing on Cable TV), "Voting is the best way to participate in our democracy." Too bad I look like complete and utter shit in that commercial. I can't believe how close up they went on my face. Jesus God, I would have brought a pound of pancake makeup if I'd known.
In other news, SFR has a story in this week's paper from the convention about Clinton's no-show at the Rock the Vote Party and how discouraging that was for young voters expecting him to be there.
If you're in Boston and interested in New Mexico, never fear, New Mexico's Tourism RV is on the scene at the Fleet Center. No, I didn't know we had a state RV either.
As far as Richardson goes, he's apparently using the Convention not just to promote the Party, but to woo Richard Dreyfus to make a movie in New Mexico. I, for one, am not sure how many more TV and film projects around here I will be able to stomach. The entire town seems over-run at the moment by film crews. Still, better than uranium mining, I suppose. Finally, I really do think Richardson needs a better speech writer. He's got charisma, but the words he says just don't have the power and insight that people like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton have.

Richardson Heads to Boston for DNC

We had to be understanding when Gov. Bill Richardson sent his regrets to our Best of Santa Fe Party, held last night (even though he did win second place for Best Politician; US Rep. Tom Udall won first place and his wife, Jill Cooper, stopped by to accept his award). Richardson came to the party last year (as did his security detail), but this year, unfortunately, our party conflicted with his party's big party: opening day at the Democratic National Convention. I'm sure that was a tough call for him (and I'm sure we served better cocktails).
Everybody wants a piece of Richardson, whose weird super-star status continues to bemuse me. I think I first met Richardson when I was about 20 years old, an intern at SFR, and was invited to his Christmas Party held for local journalists (actually, it seems quite unlikely I was invited to that, I probably went as the date/guest of one of the reporters here). Richardson kept bellowing at people to get me drinks (OK, maybe I was actually 21, let's hope so).
Anyhow, these days he's got better things to do than make sure interns are drinking (well, let's hope so) His stature is such that this week, one Boston columnist even refers to him as one of the 'Two Bills,' at the DNC—the other being Bill Clinton—in an article about the fact that Ordinary People Don't Care About the National Convention
And speaking of interns.
No no no. Let's get a new topic, shall we?
OK, let's stay on Richardson, since he'll be all over the news this week. (And we'll hopefully have several reports in next week's SFR).
Thus far, there's been the brouhaha over whether Hilary Clinton is speaking on behalf of the DNC
On a more interesting note, Hispanic participation at the convention is expected to be high; there are 600 Hispanic delegates and some are saying this is the most diverse convention ever held.

Meanwhile Kerry's people are pushing the notion that Kerry is the top choice for Latino voters, 60 percent, they say. Here's the Washington Post article with the info on that!
But before I sign off:

THE NEXT HIP HOP VOTER PROJECT IS FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 10 PM, THE PARAMOUNT NIGHTCLUB, 331 SANDOVAL STREET IN SANTA FE, NM. HOSTED BY THE NEW VOTERS PROJECT.
BE THERE. REGISTER. VOTE.

WASHINGTON POST
Poll Shows Kerry Leading Among Registered Latinos
Most Reject President's Handling of Economy, War in Iraq

By Richard Morin and Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, July 21, 2004; 6:46 PM

Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry holds a strong lead over President Bush among the nation's Hispanic voters, with a majority rejecting the president's handling of the economy and saying the war in Iraq was a mistake, according to a survey by The Washington Post, Univision and the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute.

At a time when Bush and Kerry are running roughly even among all registered voters, Kerry enjoys a 2-1 advantage over Bush among registered Latino voters. Hispanics give Bush lower approval ratings than does the overall population, and the poll shows that the bulk of the Latino community continues to identify with the Democratic Party.

The findings suggest that, at this point in the campaign, Bush is falling short of his goal of notably improving on the 35 percent share of the Hispanic vote he received four years ago, although his advisers said they believe he is still on track to do so. Kerry advisers, in contrast, said they are determined to keep Bush from winning as much of the Hispanic vote as he did in 2000.

Bush enjoyed solid Latino backing as governor of Texas, particularly in his 1998 reelection campaign. In the past four years, his political advisers and the Republican National Committee have worked assiduously to court the Hispanic community, which they see as a key not only to the president's reelection this fall but also to the long-term strength of the Republican Party.

There were some signs in the poll that suggest the GOP has begun to make additional inroads among Hispanic voters, but opposition to Bush's policies appear to be an obstacle to more significant growth. A third of all Latino Republicans say they were once Democrats while few Republicans have switched allegiance. And an increasing share of wealthier Hispanics identify with the GOP than in the past.

Competition for Hispanic voters remains fierce. Latinos now outnumber African Americans, rank as the fastest-growing minority group in the country and are less solidly attached to the Democratic Party than are African Americans. The 2000 Census counted more than 35 million Hispanics in the United States, a 50-percent increase in just one decade.

Three-quarters of all Latinos live in high-growth western and southern states and their political influence has grown with their numbers. Although their clout has been muted by low rates of turnout, the number of Hispanics who cast ballots in 2000 represented a 20-percent increase over 1996 and they accounted for about 5 percent of the overall electorate.

The survey of 1,605 registered Latino voters was sponsored by The Post, the Univision Spanish language television network, and the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI), an independent think tank affiliated with the University of Southern California.

Hispanic voters in the 11 states with the largest Latino electorates were interviewed by telephone July 6-16. Together, these states are home to nearly nine out of 10 Hispanic voters living in the United States. They include the key battleground states of Florida, New Mexico, and Arizona, where Latino voters may play a decisive role this fall, as well as states such as Texas and California, which have significant Hispanic populations but are not considered competitive.

As with voters nationally, pocketbook issues and national security lead the list of Latino concerns this election year, the survey found. Fully a third -- 33 percent -- rated the economy as their top voting issue. Unlike voters nationally, education came in second among Latinos (18 percent), eclipsing terrorism (15 percent) and the war in Iraq (13 percent.) Nationally, slightly fewer voters name the economy (28 percent) as their top voting issue while slightly more say the war in Iraq (20 percent) or terrorism (19 percent) is most important to them. About one in ten (12 percent) named education.

Latino voters surveyed were sharply critical of the war in Iraq. More than six in 10 -- 63 percent -- said the war was not worth fighting, a view shared by slightly more than half of all voters nationally. Fewer than a third of all Latinos and under half of all voters believe the war justified its costs.

Latinos also are somewhat more pessimistic about the war on terrorism than the overall population, with 37 percent saying the United States is winning and 40 percent saying this country is losing.

The survey found that Kerry claims support from 60 percent of all Latino registered voters in the 11 states surveyed while Bush has 30 percent. Just 2 percent support independent Ralph Nader, with 8 percent undecided. Among all voters nationally, Bush and Kerry were tied in the most recent Post survey, with each receiving 46 percent of the vote.

Matthew Dowd, chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney campaign, said other polls of the overall population show Bush doing far better among Hispanics, including two putting his support around 40 percent. Those surveys included far fewer Hispanics than in the Post-Univision-TRPI poll.

"We got 35 percent in 2000," he said. "If [the election] was held today, we'd get somewhere between 40 and 42 percent. " Paul Rivera, senior political adviser at the Kerry-Edwards campaign, agreed on the significance of how Latinos vote in November. "Our goal is to exceed the Clinton-Gore number from 1996, which was 72 percent," he said, adding that the campaign hopes not only for a record percentage but also a record turnout among Hispanics.

Both campaigns have spent about $1 million each on Spanish-language television ads this year. For Kerry, that represents more than Al Gore spent in all of his 2000 campaign and for Bush it is about half of his 2000 total.

Kerry officials today unveiled a new Spanish-language ad called "faith," in which the candidate promises an immigration plan during his first 100 days in office. The most recent Bush ad aimed at Latinos, called "priorities," began airing about a week ago. The ad criticizes Kerry for missing major votes in the Senate.

Neither campaign, however, is close to its ultimate vote goals, according to the survey. Fewer than half of all Latinos say Kerry is reaching out to them and their community -- and a similar proportion say the same about Bush.

Democrats currently have greater appeal to Hispanics, with half saying they believe Democrats have more concern for their community, compared to 14 percent who cited the Republicans. But on some key measures, Bush is more popular among Latinos than is his party and a majority view him as a likable person.

In the poll, 36 percent of Latinos said they approved of the job Bush is doing as president while 54 percent disapproved. On some specific areas of performance Bush was judged even more harshly. Six in 10 Hispanic voters disapproved of the way Bush was dealing with the economy and the situation in Iraq, while somewhat fewer disapproved of the way Bush was handling immigration issues. They divided over Bush's performance on education.

"Bush is wrong on Iraq," said Maria Cerda, 42, of the Bronx who is from the Dominican Republic and cleans offices for a living. "There are a lot of young people dying over there. Education and better jobs is what we need. Not war."

Cerda sees Bush as a "weak leader -- people are always telling him what to do." Her opinion of Kerry is only slightly better. "He doesn't seem that strong to me, either, but he's better than Bush."

The one area in which Bush received majority support was on his handling of terrorism, where 54 percent of Hispanics said he had been doing a good job. Six in 10 said they believed Bush was a "strong leader," a trait that has been one of the president's strengths nationally.

Yet even on the war on terrorism, these Latino voters said they preferred Kerry to Bush -- by a modest 43 percent to 35 percent ratio. A similar proportion favored Kerry to Bush in dealing with Iraq. By larger margins, the Massachusetts senator was viewed as superior to Bush on the economy, where Kerry had a 25-percentage point advantage, immigration (20 points) and education (24 points).

The Democrat also was viewed as somewhat more caring and, by a smaller margin, better able to handle crises than Bush. On none of the key measures of presidential character or personality was the president judged to be superior to his Democratic challenger, an advantage Kerry holds even though about one in four Latinos said they didn't know enough about him to judge.

"I am with the Democrat Kerry," said Maria Medina, 44, a Mexican-American who lives in Chicago and works as a kitchen manager in the Cook County jail. "The economy is not in good shape. I am disappointed in the way [Bush] is leading the country."

She said she knows little about Kerry. But she voted Democratic four years ago -- her first election as a U.S. citizen -- and likely will do it again. "Democrats understand people with needs. Republicans are for people with no needs."

Slightly more than half -- 53 percent -- said Kerry understood the problems "of people like you," while 37 percent held a similar view of Bush.

A slight majority -- 53 percent -- said Kerry "can be trusted in a crisis" but 47 percent said they trusted Bush. Six in 10 did say Bush had a "likable" personality, but a slightly larger share (69 percent) said Kerry was likable, too.

Latino voters are far from a monolithic voting block. Cuban-Americans have long stood out for their attachment to the Republican Party, and in this survey, fully three in four give President Bush a positive job approval rating, and a similar percentage say they plan to back him in the fall.

They also are twice as likely as Mexican-Americans or Puerto Ricans to say the economy is improving, and four times as likely to base their voting decision on terrorism rather than domestic issues. By a large majority, they support the war in Iraq.

All this could make for another close race in Florida, where Cuban-Americans voted overwhelmingly for Bush in 2000, prompting some community leaders to claim credit for electing Bush president. The survey suggests Cuban-Americans in the Sunshine State once again could provide Bush a major boost, despite his lukewarm ratings nationally, and the poll showed him leading Kerry by a wide margin among Hispanics there.

"I'll probably vote for Bush," said Ricardo Aguilar, 38, a Cuban-American who owns a commercial photography studio in Orlando. While he has reservations about Bush, he views Kerry as a "flip-flopper." Said Aguilar, "He says, 'Life begins at conception, but I'm for abortion. I voted for the war but I don't want to fund it.' Huh? He tells me he's going to make 5 million jobs, but doesn't tell me how."

Assistant polling director Claudia Deane contributed to this report.

Immigration Talk

An article in today's New York Times about A Hispanic Electorate With many Variations does a decent job of talking about the challenges of appealing to the Hispanic vote in New Mexico. It leads off with an anecdote about how Teresa Heinz Kerry's attempt to identify with the immigration issue fell flat when she tried it in Albuquerque last weekend. I touched on this issue when interviewed for an alt-weekly coverage of Hispanic issues, although the writer didn't go into a great deal of depth. The Times does a good job of explaining why the immigration issue, so important to Mexican immigrants, doesn't resonate with native Hispanics, many of whom have been in New Mexico for eight generations, though it didn't fully explore the racism against Mexicans by some Hispanics in this state. It also looked at how the political demographic has changed over the last 50 years in New Mexico, and the ways in which FDR's New Deal changed the politics of the state, transforming many Hispanics into Democrats. It didn't, though, really touch on the ways in which the Republican appeal to Hispanics could be along semi-religious lines, when it comes to party issues of abortion and gay marriage. This was one of the ways in which Jorge Ramos discussed the diversity of Hispanic issues when I interviewed him last month, noting that while some Hispanics identify politically with the Democratic Party, they may be more socially conservative when it comes to certain issues.

The Politics of Culture

On the face it, Santa Fe’s culturally-packed weekend was devoid of politics. At the July 16 press preview for SITE Santa Fe’s biennial (which contrary to Staff Writer Zane Fischer’s column this week I was not dragged to; I wanted to go), Curator Robert Storr made a point, in response to questions, of saying that the exhibit, Disparities & Deformations: Our Grotesque, was not political in nature. And he went on to say, or at least imply, that his political views, whatever they might be, were not relevent to the show.
I wondered, as I wandered through the hallways, about this decision. If a biennial is about, to some extent, capturing the cultural zeitgist, how in 2004 could any show create a dialogue about “Our Grotesque,” without acknowledging the grotesque in our national and international affairs. As a photo critic and I discussed later in the weekend, photos from Iraq over the last few months felt more disconcerting and grotesque than anything we saw on SITE’s walls.
The weekend continued to unfold. That evening, 1,000 people packed Sweeney Center for a live no-rules fight, called Explosion, that featured fightters from The Santa Fe Brazilian Jui Jitsu Academy. On the one hand, it’s always exciting, in Santa Fe, to see a large enthusiastic turnout for any event. This was, to my knowledge, the first event of its kind in downtown Santa Fe. I was a little surprised, I’ll admit, that one can’t have wine served at gallery openings for the most part, but can have a full bar at a live fight, but that’s another story.
It was pretty violent, at least from my point of view, but engaging, particularly for the crowd, which cheered on the home team with real vigor and support (all the Santa Fe team won their matches, except for one fighter).
Within an hour of the fight, The Paramount Nightclub was packed for hip hop. Well, hip hop and Real World. One of MTV’s Real World shows (We’re pretty sure it’s Real World Road Rules, Battle of the Sexes Part 2) is in town for a month, filming here and stationed at Vista Clara Ranch in Galisteo. Friday nights at The Paramount don’t normally fill up until around midnight. A full hour earlier, it was jammed, with TV cameras and old Real World “stars,” like “Adam,” from Real World France, one of a group of kids who spent nearly their entire time in Paris arguing with each other about who cleaned the house more (“Real World,” if you’ve missed it, puts five 19-22-year-old strangers in a house together, gives them a job, and then films their interpersonal dramas), as well as "Robin", from Real World San Diego, who used a racial epitat in an early episode and later was arrested for disorderly conduct.
The TV cameras created a level of intensity in the club, at the event. People danced themselves into a frenzy, presumbly hoping to be caught on camera, and the night grew louder and crazier with each passing minute.
I wondered, well into the night, if there was any possibility of making politics as engaging for people as popular culture is. The SITE show? Boring, mostly, to me, and many others I spoke to, although I'm sure many artists found it more relevent and engaging. But if it doesn't engage the average person (of which I am one, kind of, I think), then what does it mean? Is art dead? And popular culture? What about it? Frank Rich, last week, wrote in the Times about how Fareinheit 9.11 wasn't the movie that was going to change the election, that if any movie could do that it would be Spiderman, and he wasn't kidding. He found more meaning about our times buried in that superhero action flick than he did in Moore's movie, and his argument was convincing. We already know Ronald Reagan made a decent president (for some) because he could act like president, just like Arnie seems to be winning his bid to make everything think he's governor (oh yeah, he is the governor, sorry). It's no secret that politics needs personality and showmanship. But what about culture? What does it need? Is Real World as real as it's going to get? I confess, with some shame, to watching Real World from time to time, and usually feeling a little appalled by the vapidity of its "stars," (As James Wolcott points out in this month's Vanity Fair, everyone is a star these days, now that you don't need talent or even looks to become one, just a total lack of inhibition or, some might say, pride. Perhaps all the Reality TV show contestants should run for office?). They never really talk about anything but themselves, or each other, as if their lives exist in a vacuum (which they do, the TV vacuum).
Another Real World "star" we ran into over the weekend was a very out lesbian (but not on the show, I don't think) and very aware of just how gay-friendly Santa Fe, and totally down for it all.
I always thought, with The Hip Hop Voter Project, that capitalizing on the energy of a cultural event was the best that we could do, it creates an opening, I think, and I still think that. But is there a way to make politics as engaging as a no-rules fight? It's surely as violent, or can at least lead to violence (aka Iraq?). Or is that the wrong approach? Is there a way to connect the growing gap between what we do for "fun," (distraction) and what we think is "important?"

Redford & Richardson

Yesterday, Robert Redford teamed up with Gov. Bill Richardson here to blast the Bush administration's environental record. The event was held at the Audubon Center. The event was sponsored by The Environmental Accountability Fund" and the Conservation Voters. In addition to the water issues I wrote about yesterday, New Mexico is in a position to be heavily impacted by environmental policies relating to land because we have, well, a lot of it, and a lot of it is federal. Richardson is on record objecting to the recent ruling regarding building new roads in national forests, then there's the oil drilling in Otero Mesa issue. The Bureau of Land Management unveiled a plan in January to open up 1.4 million acres of land in the Greater Otero Mesa area to basically unrestricted development—the plan would allow oil and gas companies to drill 140 wells over 20 years on those lands. This is, I believe the largest stretch of Chihuahuan desert grassland in North America, and has a healthy population of pronghorm antelope, as well as one of the largest untapped natural gas reserves in the US. The BLM’s plan is at
The BLM's plan. You can also read Richardson's counterproposal
Other enviro issues worrying state officials include the easing of mercury emissions from coal-fired plants and their threat on air and water and changing the Clean Water Act. Oh, and the nuclear industry, of course. On the bright side, it ain't ever dull around here.

NM Congressman Says Don't Let the Terrorists Win & E-Voting

Our congressional representative, here in the third district, Tom Udall (one of the few, the brave, who actually didn't vote for the freaking Patriot Act) yesterday signed a letter to Tom Ridge at Homeland Security urging him not to postpone the November election. It's going to be mailed on Friday. Udall says his offices in both NM and DC have been flooded with people opposed to delaying the election. Unsurprising; it's all anyone talked to me about yesterday, and I received numerous articles via email about the possibility, most of them titled "Here We Go."
This Saturday, July 24, from 6 to 8 pm at the Unitarian Church, the other election issue will be discussed: Electronic Voting. Numerous groups are sponsoring the event, including the League of Women Voters and the ACLU. Denise Lamb from the Secretary of State's Office is supposed to be there as well. There should be a good explanation of the Help America Vote Act, explication of the "paper trail" issue and the other concerns that the new electronic voting machines have prompted. This has been a growing hot topic around these parts—well, everywhere. You can read more at Verified Voting, or you could just read my story now located on Alternet.
All of this election postponement talk is very disconcerting. Kind of makes the paranoids look less paranoid. For me, having read so much dystopic fiction in my not-so-distant youth, I can't help think that "Here We Go" is a pretty good response. In all the books that depict futures undone by apocolypse etc., (Handmaid's Tale, He, She and It, etc), it usually starts with the US government postponing or haultinge key element of our democracy for security reasons. Then, 100 years later, we're all being sodomized by robots. OK, not exactly, but you know what I mean. Pull on one thread and the whole thing starts to fall apart. I can't think of anything more frightening than the Nov. 2 election being postponed. By the Bush administration. On the other hand, I've never seen a riot up close and personal before.

The Thirsty West

Today, SFR interviewed Dave Miller, who is on Gov. Bill Richardson's Drought Task force, about ways in which the State of New Mexico hopes to address the water crisis. Miller was quite upfront, even saying he believed Cloudcroft, NM could run out of water within days!
There are two excellent books that detail the ways in which water supply has become and will increasingly become a political issue. I see it as, perhaps, one of the most emergent political issues out there (aka Dune). In this way, New Mexico is in an interesting position, because we are, in some ways, confronting the politicization of water early, as a result of, well, not having any.
The two books everyone should read are
Water Wars by Diane Raines Ward and
Blue Gold, The Fight to Stop The Corporate Theft of the World's Water By Maude Barlow
I interviewed Barlow last year, prior to her talk here in New Mexico. She perceives New Mexico to be in one of the most dire situations with regard to the situation. Well, so does everyone.
What's interesting, or perhaps sad, is that while some people, an increasing number of people are looking to conservation to address our shrinking water supply, it is definitely too little too late on that front. Even a complete hault to all building and development probably wouldn't do it. So what's becoming an increasing trend is government and private industry looking to technology to deal with water issues.
In today's Albuquerque Journal it was reported that US Sen. Pete Domenici, R-NM wants Sandia National Laboratory involved in a national project to find ways to make unsafe water safe and use less water to produce energy. You know, in between missile testing over White Sands and burying more radioactive waste in Carlsbad and testing out ebola virus in Los Alamos and…
Am I ranting?

So It Begins

So Kerry and Edwards were here last week for their first official visit to New Mexico as Team Dem 2004, in Albuquerque last Saturday. Then on Monday, the Democrats announced their roll-out of Spanish language ads. A few hours later, Republicans announced their own Spanish language ads. It seems that
Jorge Ramos was right when he said candidates are going to need to reach out to Hispanic voters. Not by actually having Hispanics on the ticket or anything, though.
OK, I admit it. I see Kerry and Edwards smiling away, and then Bush and Cheney, um, snarling away, and I think, for the love of something, could we get a woman on a ticket? A person of color? Anything besides all these old white guys? (Of course, Edwards, as we've been hearing, ain't that old, although I don't personally find him that hot). The New York Times had a funny piece over the weekend comparing the attractiveness of former presidents, so this isn't just my own shallowness. It's news!
What else? As you may recall, I saw John Sayles' upcoming movie, Silver City, when I was at the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies conference in San Antonio last month. It will be released in Santa Fe on Sept. 17, and I'm hoping SFR can have some kind of sponsorship event of the film, along with voter registration.
Speaking of which, I am supposedly filming a portion of a public announcement for local channels tomorrow, telling people to register to vote (and vote).
The DNC Convention starts next week and, no, I am not going, despite all my well-laid plans (which were not particularly well laid, obviously). Between getting ready for Best Of (and trips in August to LA and Canada), a week in Boston seemed a little unrealistic. I'm hideously jealous of everyone who is going, though, for what that's worth. Spoke with US Rep. Tom Udall, D-NM this week, who will be there, stumping for Kerry, along with the guv. But the truly crazy thing about this convention is my sincere belief that the words "I love Ronald Reagan" will soon issue from my lips. No, not the dead one. The son. The son who ain't voting for Bush. God bless America!

texas, street fairs, cars, planes etc

OK, I am not really kicking it too hard on this blog, but in my defense, the past few weeks have been insane. To wit:
Getting ready for The Reporter's 30th anniversary issue.
Going to San Antonio for the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies annual conference
Last Friday's voter project
Buying a new car
But this week I plan to write a bit more about the AAN conference, which was quite good and at which I learned a great deal.
Until then, check out Don Hazen's On the Spot column from his trip to Santa Fe that talks about the Jorge Ramos booksigning and gives The Hip Hop Voter Project a little shout out.