Governor Richardson was re-elected to a second term in 2006. He previously served as a member of the House of Representatives for fifteen years, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and as Secretary of Energy during the Clinton administration.

Check out pictures from this historic announcement.

Visit www.VoteForChange.com for all the info.

It will be a star-studded event. Among those set to speak before thousands:

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, members of the family of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, DNC Chairman Howard Dean, former Vice President Al Gore and Senator Dick Durbin will introduce his colleague, Senator Barack Obama.

Catch live streaming high-definition video here.

Tonight, former President Bill Clinton will speak to the convention and Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) will accept the Democratic nomination for vice president.

Other speakers include Governor Bill Richardson (D-New Mexico), Senators Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) and John Kerry (D-Massachusetts). Check the full schedule here.

And New Mexico will help Barack Obama get to 270 electoral votes, because in the West, we know Washington is broken and Barack Obama is the change we need.

It’s bad enough that John McCain and my opponent Steve Pearce have supported every one of George Bush’s special interest economic policies, but even though gas prices reached a new record, the deficit reached a new record, food prices reached a new record, health costs reached a new record, college education costs reached a new record.

This administration set more new records than Michael Phelps. Despite all these new records, John McCain and my opponent Steve Pearce want to continue George Bush economics four more years and try to set new records in middle-class misery.

Go to middleclasssqueeze.com and see how George Bush economics impacts your family.

In January we’ll show what it takes to change Washington and make the economy work for the middle class again.

Thank you. God bless you and God bless America.

DNC Chairman Howard Dean said the sum is unprecedented for a presidential campaign and represents a show of Democratic confidence that Latino voters could prove pivotal in states including New Mexico and Michigan. [...]

Targets will include Florida; Western states such as Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico; and Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan, industrial battlegrounds with sizable Hispanic populations. The money will be spent on niche advertising and other outreach, along with mobilization efforts aimed at identifying, registering and turning out new Democratic voters.

Over the weekend, the campaign held a training session in Las Vegas to teach local organizers how to canvass Hispanic communities. A similar forum will be held soon in Florida, Dean said, and sessions in other states are in the planning stages.

These efforts do not bode well for John McCain. His team says "we've already been doing all that." Whatever it is they are doing, it is not working at all.

Although Republican rival John McCain represents Arizona, a state with a strong Hispanic presence, Dean cited a poll last week by the Pew Hispanic Center showing Obama's approval rating with registered Latino voters at 66 percent nationwide, compared with 23 percent for McCain.

His message? That McCain is tanking because his support of the war and President Bush. Yes, it's something Democrats have known for a long time, but it's worth noting when his Republican colleagues finally start admitting it.

You can listen to the whole thing, but here are a couple excerpts:

Domenici: I think it's obvious that Senator McCain was much higher and has now come down and I think you can see it in just talking to him -- the tone of his voice, the way he appears, the way he reacts -- that things aren't going like they were a year ago.

[...]

Caller: Do you think the fact that Senator McCain has supported the war to the point to have been so close to the president -- that that might have impacted his popularity?

Domenici: McCain's?

Caller: Yes, sir.

Domenici: Yes, I do. I think he probably he himself would sit down and go through it and would say that he dropped off by staying too close too long with the president for the war and that probably caused him to drop.

State parties will publish their delegate selection rules and clearly explain how to participate in the summer of 2007.

Democratic Party of New Mexico
1301 San Pedro NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
505-830-3650
505-830-3645 (fax)

District-Level Delegates: 17
At-Large Delegates: 6
Pledged Party Leader & Elected Official (PLEO) Delegates: 3
Unpledged Delegates: 12
TOTAL Number of Delegates: 38

Alternates: 4

TOTAL DELEGATION SIZE: 42

System type: Party-run primary

State convention page: None available.
State plan: Plan Available (PDF)
State filing form: Not available online. Please contact the state party to receive a copy.

** This information is prepared by the DNC's Office of Party Affairs and Delegate Selection and may be subject to change. For more information, please call 202-863-8000.

Colón stopped in Roswell on Saturday, traditionally a Republican district. He spoke with about 50 people, telling them that he is the product of Democratic values.

"I remember standing with my parents in line for a block of cheese and a loaf of bread," Colón said. "But I was able to go to college and then law school."

Colón said Democrats believe in the importance of funding the care of soldiers returning home from war and that the only way to make improvements in health-care, education and government ethics is to elect Democrats. Colón said that people are fed up with the war and continuous ethics questions about elected representatives.

"The other party is not the party of patriots," he said. "They only wrap themselves in the flag."

By contrast, Colón called Army Sgt. James Akin "the true test of patriotism." Akin hoped someday to be the nation's president, and he managed Democrat Victor Raigoza’s failed bid for a state Senate seat. Akin was killed in Baghdad earlier this month.

The tour of every New Mexico county is part of the 50 State Strategy devised by Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean.

The Democratic Party used to focus on about 18 counties in each state when working to elect Democrats. Now, under the leadership of Governor Dean, Democratic Party chairs are building grassroots support in every county in their respective states.

The Democratic Party of New Mexico is no longer focused only on cities and towns that run along the I-25 corridor, said Colón.

"The enemy is in The White House, and we're going to get him out."

Senator McCain sent out an invitation to supporters inviting them to an open “Exchange of Ideas,” charging $2,100 per person for preferred seating. But don’t worry, you can watch it online for the bargain price of $100!

McCain has courted K Street more aggressively lately, meeting lobbyists and business community representatives in early February, said a supporter who attended. Yesterday he announced the backing of Tom Loeffler, chairman of The Loeffler Group, who raised $375,000 for Republicans in 2004.

Bush “pioneer” fundraisers supporting McCain include Wayne Berman and Richard Hohlt locally, and Michigan residents Ronald Weiser and James Nicholson. Each raised more than $100,000 for one of Bush’s presidential campaigns. Other major Bush fundraisers supporting McCain are David Metzner, of American Continental Group, and David Girard-diCarlo, of Blank Rome.

So that Giuliani fundraiser in Las Vegas at which NRA chief Wayne LaPierre was expected?

Not so much, says LaPierre's spokesman, Andrew Arulanandam.

"He was invited to a fundraiser, but he cannot attend due to prior commitments," he said.

But some of the state's biggest fundraisers are working with McCain, and some GOP insiders said they believe other prominent Republicans - such as former Gov. George Pataki and former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato - are considering backing the Arizona senator.

Giuliani has a history of squabbles with state and national Republicans. Few forget his endorsement of Democrat Mario Cuomo over Pataki in 1994, or that he ran for mayor with the backing of the Liberal Party - but not the Conservative Party.

If the presidential election comes down to which candidate has the best-looking pair of legs, who wins?

Most Americans say Republican Rudy Giuliani has the nicest pair, according to an unscientific survey.

"Oh, yes," a woman said. "He's got much nicer legs." "Sure," a guy said. "He's got nice legs. Did he even have to shave?"

Despite his strong ties to Massachusetts in politics and business, former governor Mitt Romney does not have the support of Republican State Committee member Stephen M. Zykofsky in his bid for the White House.

Instead, Zykofsky, of Lynn, backs Rudolph W. Giuliani, believing that of the major candidates, the former New York mayor is the one "most capable of handling the job of president at such a difficult time."

Zykofsky is one of a number of active Republicans in the region who either are supporting others or keeping their options open. Other Giuliani backers include state Senate minority leader Richard R. Tisei of Wakefield, state Senator Bruce E. Tarr of Gloucester, and former Massachusetts Republican Party chairman Brian Cresta of Middleton.

A new poll suggests the former Arkansas governor may need to do much more to build his standing among potential voters.

Huckabee's bid for the Republican presidential nomination barely registered support, even among white evangelicals, in a poll released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University.

Quinnipiac surveyed more than 1,000 likely voters in three states identified as pivotal in 2008: Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Among registered Republicans, Huckabee's support was less than 1 percent in Pennsylvania and Ohio and just at 1percent in Florida.

Sen. Pete Domenici, bracing for a Senate Ethics Committee investigation of his phone call to then-U.S. Atty. David Iglesias, has hired a defense attorney.

Chris Gallegos, a spokesman for the Albuquerque Republican, said Domenici has hired Lee Blalack, who previously represented former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in an ethics investigation of his stock transactions, as well as representing convicted former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

Is Newt Gingrich paving the way to run in 2008? That question must be asked in light of the fact that he appears on James Dobson's Focus on the Family radio show today.

Though the two of them don't discuss 2008 presidential politics, clearly Gingrich is playing to a supportive audience. Newt has had some past marital problems so when he spoke to Dobson he said he had "gotten on my knees and sought God's forgiveness."

John McCain's Obama-esque remarks about our "wasted" resources in Iraq weren't the only comments that landed him in hot water after a recent appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. Many of his staff were blindsided by his campaign announcement. And several aides were so outraged that they've quit, say Republican insiders.

"They're imploding—he had a game plan that had him announcing much later in the year," one top Republican aide tells Radar, adding that the campaign is "in serious trouble ... Romney's plan and Rudy's jump in the polls caused him to scrap his plans completely. When you do that, and you're not prepared for it, the staff goes crazy. Some of his coordinators in different states were pulling their hair out!"

Alfonse D'Amato lashed out at an aide with Sen. John McCain's campaign yesterday, saying it's untrue he's endorsing the Arizona maverick for president.

D'Amato "has very high esteem for his dear friend, Sen. McCain, but has made absolutely no commitment to any candidate for the 2008 presidential election," the former senator's aides said in a statement.

When Bob Dole says Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will “have the age issue” dogging him throughout his presidential campaign, he speaks from experience.

The oldest man to run for president when he unsuccessfully challenged President Bill Clinton in 1996, Dole, now 83, called McCain, along with former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the frontrunners for the 2008 GOP nomination.

Although he’s the “best known,” Dole said, the 70-year-old McCain will face constant questions about his fitness and ability to serve. Then again, “every candidate will have minuses,” he added.

A spokeswoman for former Governor Mike Huckabee says longtime Huckabee aide Brenda Turner is "taking a break" from the Republican's presidential campaign.

Spokeswoman Alice Stewart says Turner told the campaign last week she would take time off from Huckabee's campaign in Little Rock. Huckabee left as governor in January and last month formed a presidential exploratory committee.

Mr. Giuliani—fresh from the 8 a.m. Acela—seemed tired, almost distracted. And his speech, heavy on qualifiers and careful distinctions, low on culture-war references, seemed to suck all the energy out of the room. He slipped in and out of the conference so fast that many attendees didn’t even realize he’d shown up until hours later. (Writer George Will, who introduced Mr. Giuliani, seemed dynamic by comparison.)

Three marriages is hardly the end of his political troubles. As Giuliani woos conservative Republicans in search of his party’s presidential nomination, he will have to deal with his pro-choice position on abortion, his cheerleading for gun control, his amenability to gay marriage and a soft stance on illegal immigration. And don’t forget Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn Monroe? Well, yes. Giuliani dressed up like Marilyn for a satire put on by journalists in 1997. You can bet that photos and maybe videos of the skit will be all over the Internet at some point - I found a couple of photos in about five minutes - and you can bet it will do him no good. Remember Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis being photographed wearing an Army helmet in 1988 - just a helmet, not a blond wig, lipstick, mascara and a dress - and what that did to his campaign?

Southern Baptist leader said Tuesday that evangelical voters might tolerate a divorced presidential candidate, but they have deep doubts about GOP hopeful Rudy Giuliani, who has been married three times.

Richard Land, head of public policy for the Southern Baptist Convention, told The Associated Press that evangelicals believe the former New York City mayor showed a lack of character during his divorce from his second wife, television personality Donna Hanover.

"I mean, this is divorce on steroids," Land said. "To publicly humiliate your wife in that way, and your children. That's rough. I think that's going to be an awfully hard sell, even if he weren't pro-choice and pro-gun control."

Restrictions on senators' intervening with federal agencies were adopted after the Keating Five investigation, in which five senators contacted regulators on behalf of banking executive Charles Keating.

Senate offices should refrain from intervening in pending court actions "until the matter has reached a resolution in the courts," the Senate's ethics manual says. The House's version has similar warnings.

Two New Mexico Republicans, Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, acknowledged they asked a U.S. attorney in their state about the status of a corruption investigation that would have hurt Democrats.

Given the French government's reputation for arrogance, one would think it would be smugly thumbing its nose, but it's not. Chirac has reaffirmed his support for the United States, and the leading candidate to succeed him as president is openly calling for better trans-Atlantic relations.

But Romney's campaign still sees political gain in whipping up anger toward France. It's similar to Romney's decision last year to refuse State Police protection for Iran's moderate former president, who was speaking at Harvard, as a protest against Iran's current hard-line president. The common thread is that Romney seems to believe that presidential voters will respond only to the gesture, not the facts behind it.

It's not the French to whom Romney is condescending; he seems to think GOP primary voters have brie for brains.

This makes the Competence Primary very important in the Republican nomination contest, and Giuliani is the front-runner in it, although he has competition from Romney, a successful businessman with strong management skills. This doesn't mean that Giuliani will excel in the Temperament Primary. Some of the qualities that made him a successful mayor - the hunger for power, the jealousy of other centers of authority, the egocentric drive - don't make him the most pleasant person. And the Ideological Primary will be a major challenge.

I don’t know if David Horowitz knew Cpl. Matt Sanchez was once a gay porn star and male prostitute when he introduced him to me at last weekend’s CPAC. But he did know that Sanchez was an eager yes-man, and a supposed victim of the campus PC thuggery Horowitz has made a career out of decrying.

As several gay blogs revealed late yesterday, Corporal Sanchez was known during his halcyon days as Rod Majors, a majorly well-endowed gay porn star. According to Tom Bacchus, Sanchez was also a $200-an-hour male prostitute who advertised himself as an “excellent top.”

He said he does not want America to become the "France of the 21st century," noting that France began the 20th century as a world power, but lost that designation by the end of the century.

The plan, for instance, indicates that Romney will define himself in part by focusing on and highlighting enemies and adversaries, such common political targets as "jihadism," the "Washington establishment," and taxes, but also Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, "European-style socialism," and, specifically, France.

"There are no true conservatives in the race," groused Gregg Jackson, who was peddling autographed copies of his book Conservative Comebacks to Liberal Lies.

Jackson ticked off his complaints about each candidate: Sen. John McCain passed a campaign finance bill that restricted free speech; former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani supports abortion rights; and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has flip-flopped on abortion and gay rights.

Jackson's complaints were echoed by many others at the conference and beyond.

"How can you have the mess we have in New Orleans, and not have had deep investigations of the federal government, the state government, the city government, and the failure of citizenship in the Ninth Ward, where 22,000 people were so uneducated and so unprepared, they literally couldn't get out of the way of a hurricane."

New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici acknowledged Sunday that he called a federal prosecutor to ask about a criminal investigation, but insisted he never pressured nor threatened his state's U.S. attorney.

Kenneth Gross, a Washington lawyer who specializes in congressional ethics rules, said Domenici's phone call to Iglesias could have violated Senate ethics rules if there was an element of pressure or coercion to his inquiry.

"It doesn't sound very good to me," Gross said. "But requests for the status of cases are generally considered permissible."

In yet another example, CNN profiled the 2008 presidential field and Romney listed his favorite movie as "Raiders of the Lost Ark." But as recently as 2003, Romney told media outlets that his favorite was the George Clooney flick "O Brother Where Art Thou."

Why the switch?

Perhaps the answer lies in this very Biblical description of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in the CNN piece:

"Renowned archaeologist and expert in the occult, Dr. Indiana Jones, is hired by the U.S. Government to find the Ark of the Covenant, which is believed to still hold the Ten Commandments."

And we all know how much the religious right loves the Ten Commandments...

Former governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, one of eight announced or prospective presidential candidates to speak at CPAC, summed it up best when he said that perhaps for this year it should be renamed the "Conservative Presidential Anxiety Conference." He added, "The theme could be 'Dude, where is my candidate?' "

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, facing a federal investigation of whether he accepted improper gifts or payments from a federal contractor, retained Abbe Lowell, one of the nation's best-known criminal defense lawyers.

Mr. Gibbons, a Republican, represented Nevada in Congress for five terms before his election as governor last year. He served on the House intelligence and armed services committees, and used his position to help a Reno software maker, eTreppid Technologies LLC, seek federal contracts.

...

Mr. Lowell, a partner at Chadbourne & Parke LLP, is representing Jack Abramoff, the former Republican lobbyist who is cooperating with federal officials in a public-corruption probe. Mr. Abramoff is also serving a prison sentence for fraud.

State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, is on the host committee for the tonight's fundraiser at the home of DFB Pharmaceuticals President John Feik.

A spokeswoman for Giuliani's exploratory committee said the fundraiser, which is scheduled to run from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., would not be open to the news media.

The Big Apple critics generally credit Giuliani with cracking down on crime and rallying the city after 9/11. But they cite plenty of unflattering incidents, from Giuliani's public war against his second wife, Donna Hanover, during their divorce to his close relationship with his former top cop, Bernard Kerik, who was eventually convicted of taking $165,000 in gifts from a company seeking city business.

The journalistic detractors also say Giuliani drove out an earlier police commissioner, William Bratton, after he was hailed as a crimebuster on the cover of Time. Giuliani even went to court to stop New York Magazine from touting itself in bus ads as "possibly the only good thing in New York Rudy hasn't taken credit for."

Democrats Discover New Political Frontier
By Carl Hulse
New York Times
November 1, 2006

"...Despite a Republican edge in registration, Democrats are discovering the Mountain West - and Colorado in particular - to be a new political frontier as the party benefits from a potent mix of changing demographics, anger over the war in Iraq, resentment toward conservative social initiatives and millions of dollars' worth of advocacy advertising.

"...If that trend holds, Democrats could be in for a big day next Tuesday. The Democratic candidate for governor, Bill Ritter, is leading in his race against Bob Beauprez, a Republican congressman. If Democrats can retain control of the State House and Senate, which they gained in the 2004 elections, they would have total control of the state government for the first time since the early 1960s.

"...In neighboring states, Democrats are seen as having a good chance of capturing a Senate seat in Montana, are battling in what should be safe Republican House seats in Idaho and Wyoming, and have their eyes on Republican seats in Arizona and New Mexico. The increasingly blue tinge of the formerly red region - some say it gives new meaning to the phrase 'purple mountains' - has the national party seriously considering holding its 2008 presidential convention here at the foot of the Rockies. ..."

To read the entire article, please click here.

Democrats push for gains in Mountain West, look to '08
Billings Gazette (Montana)
By Noelle Straub
October 28, 2006

"Democrats' hopes for a political resurgence in the Mountain West have soared nearly as high as the region's snow-capped peaks recently. Party officials want not only to increase their tally of governors and members of Congress next month, but to put some Western states in their column come the 2008 presidential election.

"...They are trying to build on a number of recent successes. Four Western states, including Montana and Wyoming, that all had GOP governors have elected Democrats since 2002. In Colorado in 2004, Democrats won control of both houses of the state Legislature for the first time in 40 years, and the Salazar brothers won U.S. House and Senate seats that had been Republican. The state may elect a Democratic governor Nov. 7. ...Democrats control at least one house in half the Mountain West state legislatures. They have a chance to pick up U.S. House seats in Colorado, Nevada and Arizona. Even in Idaho, which went 68 percent for President Bush in 2004, Democrats have a shot at picking up the governorship and a congressional seat.

"...Between 30 and 40 full-time staffers are on the ground in the West, according to DNC officials. State parties make the hiring selection and supervise the staff, who work to mobilize voters and get the national party's message out. ..."

To read the entire article, please click here.

Although the bill passed Congress several weeks ago, the do-nothing GOP Congressional leadership held the bill until now, so that they could use the publicity for electoral gain heading into the upcoming elections. The bill signing ceremony also ends an intra-Party clash the White House lost, as the bill signing will now take place in a public ceremony, which the President had hoped to avoid.

"By abandoning comprehensive immigration reform and embracing election year political stunts, President Bush and Republicans in Washington have once again put the interests of their party above the interests of the American people," said Democratic National Committee spokesperson Luis Miranda. "As much as the Republican Party wants to pretend they've done something to make our country safer, the fact is this political stunt will do nothing to secure America's borders and will do nothing about the 12 million people working inside America's borders today. Democrats remain committed to real and comprehensive immigration reform that's both tough and smart."

President Bush's Election Year Rhetoric On Immigration

Bill Signing Timed For Election Season. "Weeks after the bill passed both the House and Senate, Republican leaders sent the fence bill to the White House on Monday. President Bush must sign it within 10 days, or it is automatically vetoed and sent back to Congress. The unusual delay before the bill's signature will let Republicans talk about border security and illegal immigration in the last days of campaign season, as the GOP tries to hold onto slim majorities in the House and Senate." [Gannett, 10/24/06]

• GOP Congress Wanted To Wait Until Elections For Fence Bill Signing To Make It A Political Issue. "The White House is pleading with Congress to send over the bill authorizing 700 miles of fence on the U.S.-Mexico border so the president can sign it immediately, but Republican leaders on Capitol Hill want to wait until closer to the election and to have a public signing ceremony. 'Send us the damn bill. We'd like to autograph it,' said a senior administration official . Congressional Republicans, though, are convinced the issue is a political winner and want to hold onto the bill so it will be signed closer to next month's congressional elections. ... 'It's a timing issue: We want it signed closer to the election when folks are paying attention and those who want to take advantage of the messaging opportunity can do so, and the White House is aware of this," said an aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican. House Republican leadership aides confirmed that strategy." [Washington Times, 10/18/06]

• Bush Flip-Flopped: Will Now Sign Bill In Public Ceremony. "The decision to have a public ceremony is a reversal for the Bush administration, which had appeared reluctant to tie itself so publicly to the enforcement-only measure. Although Mr. Bush had committed to signing the bill, aides had said consistently over the past few weeks there would not be a signing ceremony. But Republicans in Congress had demanded a public signing, with leaders saying the bill is a major accomplishment that will help their re-election prospects." [Washington Times, 10/24/06]

Latino Republicans Unhappy With Failed GOP Policies On Immigration. "The Rev. Danny de Leon of Templo Calvario in Santa Ana, considered the biggest Latino bilingual church in the U.S., said that he was so frustrated with his party's response to immigration that he was likely to stay home rather than vote for Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger - and that he might also sit out the 2008 election. 'A lot of people are saying, 'Forget being a Republican. I want to go to the Democratic Party,'' said De Leon. 'It's a shame that one issue has divided many of us that have been in the Republican Party for a long time and has brought us to ask the question: Do I or do I not want to belong to this party?'" [Los Angeles Times, 10/24/06]

Fence Bill Flawed

Funds For Fence Can Be Allocated To Other Projects. "There also are questions of whether the fence will be more of a symbol to be used in elections than a reality along the border. For one thing, shortly before Congress adjourned, the House and Senate gave the Bush administration leeway to distribute the money allocated for the fence to other projects, including roads, technology and other infrastructure items to support the Department of Homeland Security's preferred option of building a 'virtual fence.'" [Washington Post, 10/12/06]

GOP Bill Only Offers "Down Payment" On Fence Construction; Billions More Needed To Build. "GOP leaders have singled out the fence as one of the primary accomplishments of the recently completed session. Many lawmakers plan to highlight their $1.2 billion down payment on its construction as they campaign in the weeks before the midterm elections." [Washington Post, 10/6/06]

Comprehensive Immigration Reform "Dead"

Scripps News: Comprehensive Immigration Reform "Dead." "Comprehensive immigration reform appears dead for the year, as House Republicans on Thursday announced plans to push ahead with border security measures and leave everything else for another time." [Scripps News, 9/7/06]

Rep. LaHood: "We've Given Up On Immigration." "Rep. Ray LaHood, an Illinois Republican, noted that the unfavorable political landscape leaves GOP leaders little choice but to fight it out on defense and terrorism. 'People aren't paying attention to the economy. We've given up on immigration. We need to send people home with some significant accomplishments, and we have no other choice,' LaHood said. 'We have no other issue.'" [Washington Post, 9/17/06]

Bush Lowers Expectations: No "Timetable" For Immigration Reform. "I'll continue working -- I don't know the timetable. My answer is, as soon as possible, that's what I'd like to see done." [President Bush, 9/15/06]