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Everyone in the Roundhouse is gripped with anticipation of the 6 o'clock showdown. What's going to happen? Those who know won't say. Those who say don't know.
A senator I talked to said the governor could offer an "olive branch" by bringing down the spending bills before six and ask the Senate for a vote on the health care bill. (The senator predicted the Senate would vote down the bill.)
Supposedly lawyers for the Legislature supposedly are prepared to file some sort of legal action with the Supreme Court.
Someone suggested that Richardson would act on the bills before 6 tonight -- but not deliver them to the Legislature until 8 a.m.
There's a rumor Richardson would veto all the Senate project, but leave the House's project relatively intact.
Meanwhile, whoever stole the flowers from Room 300, please return them!
I wrote a speculative sidebar on possible scenarios on how this situation plays out. You can find that HERE. (Is there a scenario I left out? Feel free to comment here and/or on the New Mexican site.)
I also did a little analysis piece on Denish's showing some political independence from Gov. Bill Richardson, both in this situation and her public take on the state party's handling of last week's Democratic Caucus. You can find that HERE . But don't read that without also reading Deborah Baker's piece about Richardson's office denying state police protection for Denish. That one is HERE.
- Music:"Rio Grande" by Brian Wilson
According to the latest figures on the state Democratic Party Web site, 1,120 Democrats voted for Richardson yesterday.
There's no way of telling whether all of those were exempt state employees.
The NPR Web page that had this item was soon taken down, but somebody called "hillbillie fan" posted it on the Daily Kos:
BREAKING: BILL RICHARDSON ENDORSES HILLARY CLINTON!
by hillbillie fan
Sun Feb 03, 2008 at 05:26:53 PM PST
The presidential candidates Sunday took every opportunity they could to reach voters on Super Bowl Sunday, appearing on TV talk shows and holding rallies right up until game time.
On the Democratic side the news was New Mexico's Gov. Bill Richardson's endorsement of Hillary Clinton. Having been the first Hispanic American presidential candidate, RIchardson had the potential to help Barack Obama with a constituency that has been slow to warm up to him.
But Richardson, who will watch the game with Bill Clinton Sunday night, stuck with the family that elevated him to two Cabinet-level positions in the 1990s.
(Thanks to a co-worker for pointing this out to me late Sunday.)
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Doug Mattson has the real story in The New Mexican. My favorite line: "Political questions were off-limits as Clinton and Richardson sat glued to the television ..."
Golly gee, why would anyone want to ask crass political questions at such an event?
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In other political news, Heath Haussamen uncovered the only known poll about the Dem Caucus in recent months. In the poll, conducted by a political science class at New Mexico State University Obama is leading Hillary 48-42 percent.
But beware: the number of interviews is small (207 Democrats who say they're likely to vote Tuesday), so the margin of error is higher than most public polls you see, 7 percent. (Heath says he got that number from Professor Jose Z. Garcia, whose class did the poll.)
But check it out yourself. You'll find it HERE.
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My story, which ran in the Sunday paper, on Tuesday's Caucus is HERE.
CNN has learned that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson will watch the Super Bowl this Sunday with former President Bill Clinton in Red River, New Mexico.
Despite the obvious implications for the much sought after endorsement of Richardson, a Hispanic who holds sway in the community, a top Democratic source describes this as "two old friends getting together, and not to be "construed as a coming endorsement."
Nonetheless, Richardson is not unaware of the power of that picture. The former president has been phoning Richardson “with regularity” since he dropped out of the Democratic presidential race.
Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley said the office does not comment on the governor’s private schedule.
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Rep. Al Park's HB 190, which would make it easier for candidates in state and congressional races to get on the primary ballot unanimously cleared the House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee Tuesday. My story in today's New Mexican is HERE.
The mirror bill, SB 1, is working its way through the Senate.
If the bipartisan support shown on the House committee holds up the bill shouldn't have difficulty winning the two-thirds majority vote needed to pass the emergency clause, menaing the bill would go into effect before the March 15 pre-primary conventions. Without the bill it's possible that only one candidate -- and possibly even no candidates -- would be able to get on the ballot in some of these crowded primaries.
Speaking of today's paper, I also have a round-up of Democratic presidential caucus news -- including the possibility of Gov. Richardson endorsing a candidate this week. That story is HERE. In it I quote a story about Richardson in The Washington Post. But I didn't use my favorite part of the story by Jose Antonio Vargas, where Richardson says Barack Obama saved him in one of the debates.
"I had just been asked a question -- I don't remember which one -- and Obama was sitting right next to me. Then the moderator went across the room, I think to Chris Dodd, so I thought I was home free for a while. I wasn't going to listen to the next question. I was about to say something to Obama when the moderator turned to me and said, 'So, Gov. Richardson, what do you think of that?' But I wasn't paying any attention! I was about to say, 'Could you repeat the question? I wasn't listening.' But I wasn't about to say I wasn't listening. I looked at Obama. I was just horrified. And Obama whispered, 'Katrina. Katrina.' The question was on Katrina! So I said, 'On Katrina, my policy . . .' Obama could have just thrown me under the bus. So I said, 'Obama, that was good of you to do that.'"
Seattle Post Intelligencer cartoonist and columnist David Horsey has a profile of post-presidential-campaign Bill Richardson, which you can find HERE.
- Music:"Talk About the Blues" by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
With Gov. Bill Richardson's withdrawal from the presidential race, I thought I'd seen the last of Richardson campaign e-mails. But just a few minutes ago, I got this one, apparently aimed at the last 17 people in New Mexico who haven't contributed the limit to his campaign. It came with a tantalizing subject line, "My Endorsement." But, spoiler alert: He doesn't endorse anyone.
Here's the letter in its entirety:
Dear Steve,
These last couple of weeks have been blessedly peaceful.
After living inside the tornado of a presidential campaign for 11 months, it has been so good to get back to New Mexico and the business of running this wonderful state I call home.
I've had a lot of calls from the media asking me which of the remaining Democratic candidates I'm going to endorse. And I thought you should be the first to hear my answer.
I'm not endorsing any of them -- at least not for now.
But I am endorsing the issues and priorities that were first raised by my campaign and which are now an accepted part of the discussion.
Watching the candidates debate in South Carolina last night, I couldn't help but be struck by how much their positions have come around to the positions that you and I hold dear.
It is now clear that ending this war and bringing our troops home will be a priority for any Democratic President. As will energy independence and universal health care -- issues we led the way on here in New Mexico.
And now all of them are talking about improving education and providing scholarships for public service.
It was like I was still in the debate!
So while we may not have been successful in electing me the Democratic candidate for President, we were very successful in influencing the Democratic platform in important ways.
I'm proud of that accomplishment. And you should be, too.
There's one last issue I still need your help on before I can officially end my presidential bid. Right now we still have an outstanding debt.
We spent that money in those last few frenzied weeks in Iowa and New Hampshire trying to capitalize on the fluid poll numbers. Given how high the stakes were, I'm sure we would do the same thing given the same situation again.
Will you please make one final contribution to my campaign so we can officially "zero out" that debt?
I recognize that it's a hard thing to do with the nomination no longer on the line. But I believe it is essential that the final act of our campaign is to meet every outstanding obligation.
And let me tell you one last time just how much your support has meant to me. Backing a presidential candidate is a serious, thoughtful act. And knowing that you considered all your options and chose me makes me very proud.
The House is organized and the gov is about to speak. 
Tom Benevides just dropped by, He says he's really really running for U.S. Senate this time. I remionded him that the last time he told me that, in a previous election, he never even filed. He says he was 54 signatures away from getting on the ballot. But this time he's sure he's got enough to compete with Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce.
According to some of my reporter pals, it appeared over the weekend that Gov. Bill Richardson was joining the ranks of weirded beardos. He didn't appear that way on Friday when I saw him, but my sources say his growth was noticeable by Sunday. However, now I understand he's shaved.
Just for the heck of it, here's the picture The New Mexican ran last November of Richardson circa 1978.
