We have 56 days with the fate of our nation & our future at stake. Trump will do ANYTHING to retain power. Today, we feature an update on how you can get involved and offer a look back at last week’s posts on transformation to inspire you.

Today, we offer links to posts on tangible opportunities to transform NM’s energy use and its health system and a shocking piece of investigative journalism from Dahr Jamail, who will be my guest on next Saturday’s Retake Conversation. Before we get to the summaries of last week’s posts, a few announcement of coming events and then an important update on our election strategies. We have significantly expanded our national election strategy with a focus on how you can influence key Senate races while also helping to ensure a Biden win. Read On!

Wednesday, September 9 from 6:00-7:30 pm. YUCCA Action presents Dare to Lead: Facing the Climate Challenge Head On, a virtual conversation with Representative Roybal Caballero and special guest, Representative Deb Haaland, District 1 Representative in Congress.  YUCCA Action will be discussing the latest and most pertinent climate issues facing the diverse communities in New Mexico. Both of these dynamic and strong leaders are YUCCA Action endorsed candidates. In the Spring, YUCCA Action endorsed a slate of candidates from northern and central New Mexico. These candidates expressed a clear and deep commitment to being bold and placing science and frontline communities to the front in policy making. This event comes 55 days away from the 2020 General Election in which we will be electing a whole new State Legislature as well as Federal Representatives and Senators. This is a virtual event that can be watched on Facebook at www.facebook.com/yucca.action. Attendees may also watch the event on Zoom, registration at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rv6WQqC1Q1Oe3bw4_fSP8A 

Retake Conversation, September 5 with Peter Smith, former GOP Lt. Governor, State Senator, and US Representative, now a member of Republicans for Trump. This is a fascinating interview. Peter is also the President of KSFR the board of directors and so he and I have co-hosted several pledge drive shows. Interestingly, he lost his re-election campaign to the US House of Representatives to Bernie Sanders, in part because Peter had announced his support for an assault weapons ban and the NRA decided to back Bernie. We talked about his reasons for supporting Biden and also reflected on the days when the GOP had principles. Very worth a listen.

Sept. 15 Retake Zoominar: NM In a Severe Drought & With No Plan. Conversation with four of New Mexico’s foremost water experts who will describe the scope of the problem and the strategies that must be employed to manage the crisis. You must register to attend. For more info and to register, click here.

News In Brief. Today’s NIBs focus exclusively on the 2020 general election. The first in the list is actually pretty horrifying, as David Brooks lays out in pretty graphic and credible detail just how Trump might refuse to leave office. He then asks the question of the day: What do we do, if that transpires? The other pieces are all worthy of review, as we learn that Biden’s apparently significant national lead, may be misleading and far closer than we suspect. Countering that was some positive polling news that suggests that Trump’s fear campaign may be backfiring, even with Republicans. And then we offer two articles one profiling 10 House district races that could flip and 10 Senate races that also could flip. May it be so. Finally, below our NIB, results from the most recent NM state polls show clean Democratic sweep of national races.

• From the NY Times: “What Will You Do if Trump Doesn’t Leave? Playing out the nightmare scenario.”
• From CNN: “Biden’s True Lead Is Smaller Than It Appears”
• From The Washington Post: “The latest polling suggests Trump’s ugliest campaign strategy may be imploding“ This bodes very well for Nov 3, but is even relevant for 2021 and beyond. These polls suggest that a vast majority of Americans are tired of being at war with each other and want to be reunified.
• From CNN: “The 10 House districts most likely to flip in 2020.” More promising news, as the majority of possibles are red to blue.
• From CNN: “The 10 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2020“. Here the news is even better as 8 of the 10 races would flip red to blue and one of the blue states is very likely to hold. Plus, the list doesn’t include McConnell’s seat, which is also in play. In South Carolina Jaime Harrison has a real good chance to unseat Lindsay Graham. We have more detailed info on the key Senate races on our National Election Strategy page.

New Mexico Polling Results

• Ben Ray Lujan, US Senate +9
• Teresa Leger Fernandez + 15
• Deb Haaland, +27
• Xochitl Torres Small + 2

Election Exhortation

It is Labor Day. Remember those essential workers you’ve been relying upon to survive COVID? Well, their future depends upon the outcome of the November 3 election and as of today, there are 56 days to election day, 56 days for you to get involved in the campaign and make a difference OR 56 days for you to wring your hands and hope that others do the lifting for you.

To make your work easier and more informed, Retake has updated its election strategies. We have:

• Updated our Six Priority NM Legislative Races with more information on the campaigns and the ways each is using volunteers;
• Updated election information on how to vote early or by mail in NM;
• Updated our National Election Strategy, identifying the eight key Senate races, offering the current state of those races as reflected in the polls and providing links to each campaign;
• Created a way for you to easily organize friends in other parts of the nation, like swing states and in states with key Senate races–click here.

For our election strategy, we are especially encouraging people to get involved in Senate races in Colorado, Arizona, Iowa, Michigan or Maine as in all five of these swing states there are also critical Senate races, so your involvement and support in those races addresses two goals at once. And if you have friends in any of those states, reach out to those friends, organize and zoom and get them active. Our team strategy makes this ever so easy.

Certainly we should be encouraged that polls nationally and in key swing states are trending up, with Biden leading in most swing states and with five Democrats leading in the polls against the Republican Senate incumbents they are challenging. But, as one of the News In Briefs above lay out, that lead is deceptively narrow and as a second article outlines, there is a very real possibility that Trump could be leading on Nov. 4 with millions of votes uncounted, the majority very likely to be votes for Democrats. That article, “What Will You Do if Trump Doesn’t Leave? Playing out the nightmare scenario,” outlines a situation that is fraught with hazard. For these reasons, it is vital that we all get involved in this race. We must take responsibility for ensuring we understand the rules governing early voting and mail-in voting and that we do what is necessary to ensure our vote is counted on Nov. 3 We absolutely must win the White House and the Senate if we can have any hope of repairing our nation and restoring some semblance of a future to our children.

I absolutely loved the photo of the TrumpZobra that was set up outside the Zozobra burning in Santa Fe, so I had to share.

Retake has made it as easy as we possibly can to help you take the leap, reach out to a few campaigns, donate funds, if you possibly can. Donate time, if you have it. Encourage friends to become involved, especially in swing states. This is not the time to be complaisant and to sit back and let the imaginary “other” do the work for you. You are the other. You are the one who can make this happen. If we are to have any hope of implementing any of the transformative strategies outlined in the last four or five posts, we must win in November. Let’s Do It.

What Transformation Looks Like: The Vision & Actions We Can Take

Transformation Now or Never +
An Opportunity to Say Goodbye to PNM

Monday, August 31. Our first post of last week offered a new piece in the transformation series: municipalizing our utility industry. Ext PNM, El Paso Electric & Xcel Energy, hello local control & fairness for ratepayers. While the post on Wednesday (below) pretty much displaced municipalization as a strategy, replacing it with the much easier life: Local Choice Energy, the true value in this post is its offering links to the posts that launched the “transformation” series. So if you’ve missed any of them, this is a great place to start, as we cover economic recovery, pharmaceutical reform, and the democratizing of the workplace.

Click here to read the full post.

We Can Transform NM’s Energy Future In 2021, IF…

Wednesday, Sept 2. On Monday, we wrote of how municipalization can create local energy autonomy & free us from utilities like PNM. But Local Choice Energy offers a far easier lift to achieve the same end: energy independence & local control without costly legal battles. This post lays out how the same SB 374 Community Choice Energy that was utterly neglected in the 2019 session, is being resurrected and could bring transformative change to NM. After one very short announcement, we will share how changes in NM politics and NM’s budget have created an opportunity to get this done. We can do this!

Click here to read the full post.

Huge News: Final KNG Report Finds that Health Security Offers Universal Health Care Coverage & Saves State $1.6 – $2.7 Billion

Thursday, Sept 3. The only reason the legislature doesn’t pass the HSA in 2021 is if they are swayed by the insurance lobbyists. In this post we published a CALL TO ACTION to write your legislator & testify Friday at Health & Human Services Committee hearing. No more excuses for why it isn’t the time for health security in NM. We want this in 2021. I testified on Friday and also listened in to the full day Legislative Health & Human Services Committee hearing, as it offered a great opportunity to “chat” with legislators, cultivate relationships, and share our perspective on key bills. While it is too late for you to offer comment during the committee hearing, but it is not too late to contact your legislator. The post had speaking points and contact info so you can still raise your voice and build up a relationship with your legislator.

Click here to read the full post.

You Will Be Livid After Reading This Dahr Jamail Report on NM’s Shameless Failure to Regulate Gas & Oil’s Reckless Abuse

Friday, September 4. This is a searing report, based upon an extraordinarily well developed piece of investigative journalism, exactly what you should expect from Dahr Jamail. You will be livid with our Governor and her inexcusably ineffective administration for their inaction. Despite astronomical levels of methane and produced water leaks, our state has failed to levy any penalties or fines or withhold any leases. We’ve heard that our regulatory agencies have staffing and funding shortages, but if that is what is impeding holding gas and oil accountable, it is time for the Governor to fix that situation. If she doesn’t, it will become all too apparent, that she meant it when she told NM Oil & Gas Association that she worked for them. The post includes speaking points and contact info to raise your concerns with the Governor and her administrators of the Oil Conservation Division, Environment Department, and Energy Minerals and Natural Resources.

Click here to read this important post and please do take action.

In solidarity,

Paul & Roxanne

Categories: Election, Political Reform & National Politics

Tags: 2020 Election, Biden, Featured, read more, Senate races, Swing States