Bloggin on a May weekday

Just when you thought that the mighty New Mexican spring-time winds had done their damage and called it a year, the gusts were out in full steam today, starting their howls before the sun made its first appearance and lingering even as I put words to screen and come your way with the latest hard-hitting political action from the Land of Enchantment. It may be windy, but, if you like campaign excitement, New Mexico's the place for you. Buckle up, and settle in for the latest commentary.

Shendo Getting a Second Look in CD-3?
With front-runners Ben Ray Lujan and Don Wiviott locked in a heated contest for the Democratic nomination in the race to replace outgoing Congressman and senatorial candidate Tom Udall, former Indian Affairs Secretary Benny Shendo, Jr., has quietly worked himself into the race and is getting a second look from many voters (this blogger included) across Northern New Mexico.

Boasting a wealth of experience working in areas across the policy spectrum at the cabinet level in the Land of Enchantment, Shendo has mapped out a progressive platform and is passionately taking his message to voters. Himself a cultural cornucopia, Shendo hails from the Jemez Pueblo and speaks several Native American languages, Spanish, and English.

Some 3rd district voters, myself included, have been less than inspired by Lujan, who serves on the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission and is son of state House Speaker Ben Lujan, or his rival Wiviott, who is a wealthy realtor from Santa Fe, who initially planned to compete for Senator Domenici's Senate seat before the grandfather of New Mexican politics announced his coming, premature retirement and ushered in a groundswell of interest from better-known Democratic candidates, including Udall and, briefly, Duke City Mayor Martin Chavez.

Little polling exists to confirm Lujan's and Wiviott's front-runner status (or, for that matter, pick up on a possible surge by Shendo), but each candidate has flooded the airwaves in recent weeks with ads touting their progressive credentials and strong-minded ideals to our country's and state's most vexing issues, including finding and implementing an aggressive, workable exit strategy from Iraq or making New Mexico the leader in the U.S. push for innovation in wind and solar renewable energy resource development.

Shendo, a less well-funded candidate, cannot afford the airtime of his two more prosperous opponents, but unlike his similarly financially-suited counterpart in the 2nd District, McCamley, has refrained from slamming his opponents with negative press releases and public comments and, instead, mobilized his support at the grassroots level in order to affirmatively promote his campaign to a disaffected electoral community thirsting for change in Washington.

With Congressman Udall having enjoyed wildly high approval ratings as the 3rd district's go to guy on The Hill, the next representative from the state's youngest Congressional District will have some mighty big shoes to fill. However, with his affirmative, no-holds bar appeal to voters' better judgment, Benny Shendo, Jr., is showing voters and his opponents alike that he is in this race to win and will stop at nothing to spread his progressive message before voting on 03 June.