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.

My name is Roy Gross. I’m a proud member of Teamsters Local 299 in Detroit, Michigan.

When I was a young man and wanted to start a family, I went to Detroit and landed a job as an automobile transporter. I delivered new cars from the assembly plants to dealerships around the country.

It was a great job, a Teamsters union job. You worked hard and it paid good wages, plus health care and pension. I worked there for 18 years. Working class families were doing well in Detroit until the Bush Administration took office, then everything changed.

Manufacturing jobs were exported by the hundreds of thousands and replaced with minimum-wage jobs in the so-called “New Economy.” I’m one of the lucky ones; I still have a job. But many of my friends and co-workers have lost their jobs and their homes.

If you ask me, this so-called “New Economy” is not working. We need a renewed economy. That’s why I’m seeing so many of my friends in Michigan - Democrats, Republicans and Independents - putting aside their differences to join this campaign.

Barack Obama will enact fair trade policies and work just as hard for us as we work for America. I will do everything I can, from now until Election Day, to put Michigan in the Obama column.

Monica Early, Ohio

I’m Monica Early from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Last January, someone sent me an e-mail containing so-called “facts” about Senator Obama. The e-mail painted a scary picture, questioning his faith and patriotism. I decided to do some fact-checking on my own and learned the truth.

What I discovered is that Barack Obama is a man of faith, a man of values and a man of action—someone who has shown his love for America by fighting for our people, helping communities left behind on Chicago’s South Side, fighting today for working families and the tax breaks we need to purchase a home, pay for college and save for retirement.

I am grateful for the e-mail that tried to scare me. It brought me here, an ordinary citizen, empowered by a leader who told me I could make a difference. Ohio is home to four of the fastest-dying cities in America. John McCain promises to continue the Bush economic policies that got us there.

Einstein said a definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. If we elect John McCain, then, according to Einstein, we surely would be insane.

We need change. We need President Barack Obama!

Wes Moore

Hi, my name is Wes Moore. Twelve years ago, I took an oath on the Bible to defend, support and protect the United States of America. Today, I cannot fathom a more perfect expression of my allegiance as a soldier and citizen than giving my full support for Barack Obama to be my next commander-in-chief.

Before I deployed for Afghanistan, my grandparents gave me a Bible. Inside, they wrote four simple words: have faith, not fear. Those words protected and guided me and the soldiers under my command during some of the most trying days of my life.

I want a president who has a comprehensive strategy for Iraq and Afghanistan, and who can rally young people to serve, both in and out of uniform, and sees these as complementary, not contradictory goals. I want a president who believes in supporting our troops while we are fighting overseas, and supporting us with proper health care and education when we come home.

This election is not about history. Nor is it about making history. It’s about seizing history.

The charge my grandparents gave me—have faith, not fear—is the same challenge I issue tonight. A faith that this nation can rise to meet any challenge.

Tonight, Senator Obama is not asking you to have faith in him. He is asking you to have faith with him. Let’s make Barack Obama our next president.

The Honorable Janet Monacco, Florida

I’m Janet Monaco from Rockledge, Florida, by way of Long Island, New York. Fourteen years ago I moved to Florida to pursue my vision of the American dream. Within five years, I had bought a house and opened two pet stores. I was living well.

Then disaster struck: back-to-back hurricanes, and rising costs of food and gas. Today, I’m a struggling small-business owner who is diabetic and without health insurance. I work 70-hour weeks at the store and more hours in a part-time job and still can’t afford insurance.

I don’t tell this story to get sympathy. Everyone has challenges. But what gets me angry is that George Bush and John McCain have done nothing for people like me—and, in fact, have done plenty of things that make it even harder to get by. Huge tax breaks for those at the top. Looking out for the lobbyists and not the little guy. And billions spent in tax cuts for big corporations, but not enough for small businesses like mine.

I’m supporting Barack Obama, because we can’t afford four more years of the same. Yes, we can make a change!

Nathaniel Fick

Good afternoon. I’m Nathaniel Fick. My Marine platoon landed in Afghanistan on a moonlit night in 2001. A little more than a year later, we rolled into Iraq. I’ll never forget one dawn after a vicious gun battle. We’d just medevaced one of our wounded Marines, and I turned to see a small American flag hanging from a humvee’s antenna. For a second, it reminded me of the line we all know so well: “And our flag was still there.”

I registered as a Republican at 18 and voted for John McCain in 2000. It took seven years of hard experience to get me on this stage. But we cannot afford more of the same. That’s why we need Barack Obama and Joe Biden to lead us beyond the tired divisions of the past. They have the judgment to make the right decisions, leading our military, and uphold our highest ideals.

Everyone who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan has left something: a friend, a limb, a piece of their youth. In those palm groves and on those ridge lines, this is personal for us. I don’t want to retreat; I want to win.

The past seven years have been hard, often heartbreaking. Our flag, however, is still there. Let’s move forward in our quest to live up to the idea of America.

Teresa Brito-Asenap, New Mexico

Buenas noches, good evening.

I am Teresa Brito-Asenap from Albuquerque, New Mexico. The first nine years of my life my grandparents worked with me to study and learn. They always talked about the importance of education. But it was not until third grade that I realized that mi abuelita, my grandmother, could neither read nor write.

But because of them, today I hold a doctorate in education. I owe them and my parents everything. Strong families raise strong students. All they need are world-class schools and dedicated teachers. Yet because of George W. Bush and John McCain, our schools don’t have the resources they need to meet the high standards of No Child Left Behind.

We don’t need four more years of the same. We need to turn the page and put our kids at the head of the class. Barack Obama will invest $10 billion a year in early education funding and give any student who wants to go to college a $4,000 tax credit. That’s the change we need and the change Barack Obama will bring as president of the United States.

Arriba y adelante – si se puede!

Pamela Cash-Roper, North Carolina

I’m Pam from Pittsboro, North Carolina. Wait till you hear what’s happening to me.

You might find my story familiar. Maybe it’s happening to you.

My husband, Keith, and I used to have a modest home we could afford, cars, money in a 401(k) plan, health insurance, and our health. We educated ourselves, got good jobs with benefits, worked night and day, raised four happy children, and saved some money.

It was the American dream. We did everything we thought you were supposed to do to live it. We really felt America was working for us.

Then, eight years ago, our American dream turned into a nightmare. Keith needed open-heart surgery. He lost his job and with it the family’s health insurance. I couldn’t afford to pay for health insurance on my nurse’s income, so we don’t have any.

Having no health insurance works – as long as you stay healthy.

Five years after Keith’s surgery, I had a quadruple bypass, and our medical expenses grew.

I’m a lifelong Republican who voted for Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and Bush. But I can’t afford four more years like this.

That’s why I am supporting Barack Obama as my president.

Barney Smith, Indiana

My name is Barney Smith.

For most of my life, I was a proud Republican.

Growing up in the Indiana heartland, America was a place of boundless opportunity. You could go to the town factory and get a job the same day. You could start a family and buy a house with your salary.

My father started at Marion’s RCA plant in 1949, manufacturing picture tubes for TV sets.

I started in 1973. My wife worked in a high school cafeteria. Together, we made a living and raised a family.

Then, in 2004, the plant closed. Today, a foreign worker does my job.

After 31 years, I received 90 days’ severance pay and was unemployed.

Thirteen months later, I got a job at a distribution center.

Republicans talk about putting “country first,” but tell that to Marion, Indiana. They sent my job overseas.

America can’t afford more of the same. We need a president who puts the Barney Smiths before the Smith Barneys.

I’m going to put country first by voting Barack Obama for president.

The heartland needs change. And with Obama, we’re going to get it.

Because at a time when young men and women are dying for our country overseas, America faces a question worthy of silent reflection. And the American people are watching to see how we answer it. What is the best measure of a person's capacity to protect this country? There are often moments of great importance that go unnoticed in the unruly course of history.

And six years ago, there was a moment of great clarity and foresight. And if the world had known to listen, perhaps today there would be less heartache and sorrow. In October 2002, on a small stage before a small crowd, Barack Obama gave a speech that was barely noticed at the time.

In the midst of great fervor—brought about by an administration that questioned the patriotism of anyone who disagreed with it—Barack Obama called the coming war what it was: “a war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.” He was right!

Barack's words were prescient and brave. “I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East—and strengthen the recruitment arm of Al-Qaida.” He was right!

He said: “a successful war against Iraq would require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.” He was right!

Instead, Barack Obama urged President Bush—who’s never in the mood to be urged in a direction other than his own folly—to finish the fight with bin Laden and Al-Qaida. He was right!

Six years ago, in this simple but forceful speech, Barack Obama did more than just challenge President Bush. He offered a detailed vision for foreign policy—including the vigorous enforcement of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty—condemnation of human rights abuses even among our allies—and a commitment to reconciliation between Pakistan and India. He was right!

At the same time, there was another voice. After 9/11, John McCain turned his sights toward Iraq—a country that had nothing to do with 9/11—and called for a full-scale invasion. Barack Obama foresaw chaos. John McCain said we'd be welcomed as liberators, and that Iraq would pay for its own rebuilding. John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right!

Barack Obama was among the first to call for a timetable for responsible withdrawal. But John McCain, to this day, condemns the idea. The Iraqis are calling for a withdrawal timetable, but John McCain would keep us in Iraq for 100 years. John McCain is wrong. Barack Obama is right.

And Barack Obama saw the foolishness of embracing Pakistan’s Musharraf. John McCain thought we should support the dictator and let him take care of the Pakistani terrorists. Musharaff is now gone, and the terrorists are stronger than ever. John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.

With America fighting two wars, the 9/11 terrorists still at large, Iran pursuing nuclear weapons

and Russia in Georgia, America needs a president who gets it right the first time. That president will be Barack Obama. With a vision of foreign policy that has ranged far beyond Iraq, Barack Obama has found a kindred spirit in another leader of great strength and wisdom—Joe Biden.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we must fight the terrorists—not where we imagine them to be, but where we know them to be—like Afghanistan and Pakistan. We must lead a global effort to secure loose nuclear materials, not where we imagine them to be, but where we know them to be, in Russia, and the countries of the former Soviet Union.

It's time we had a president committed to fighting poverty in the Third World and ending the genocide in Darfur; who leads international efforts to stop global warming, strengthens our friendship with Mexico and Latin America, and stands behind Israel with full-time diplomacy to achieve peace in the Middle East; a president who ends the global scourge of AIDS in our time and sets an example of moral leadership by following our constitution, shutting down Guantanamo, and ending torture.

We must do all of this, not because we imagine these are American ideals, but because we know they are.

And ladies and gentlemen, Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe it’s time to finish the job and get bin Laden. We don’t need another four years of more of the same. It’s time for the change America needs. This is the judgment and vision of Barack Obama. This is the preparation he has to be President of the United States. And this is the man we need to return our country into the goodwill of other nations and the grace of history. Thank you, and God bless our country.

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."