During this past legislative session, it was virtually impossible to listen to the radio without hearing Governor Richardson touting his agenda (subscription) for New Mexico:
Four radio ads sponsored by the Democratic Party have already run concerning tax cuts, public safety, higher education and public schools. Five draft television scripts concerning similar issues have also been written, although it’s unclear if those ads are running.
The New Mexico Democratic Party went all out and spent nearly $100,000 on the Governor’s vanity ads. In fact, it would appear that the Governor must have tapped the well dry. According to this post the Democratic Party is now scrambling to keep up with the Republicans:
The Democratic Party has purchased two ads to announce the upcoming ward and precinct meetings on March 28 at locations around Bernalillo County. You may recall that Eric Elison of NM Democratic Friends spearheaded a drive to raise money for this after seeing a Republican Party ad in the Journal announcing their county meeting. Prior to this fundraising drive, the Party had plans to run only tiny print legal notices in the legal section of the newspapers.
This just all seems so sad. Democrats suffering ad envy at the same time as their elected officials are raising and spending dough in $1,000 increments. Now remind me again which is the party that values grassroots volunteers?