Before you say there's not much to consider in the New Mexican delegate count, consider this:

Al Gore took New Mexico in 2000. John Kerry lost New Mexico in 2004.

Which of the two came closest to beating George Bush?

You guessed it. Gore did.

And if Gore had won his home state of Tennessee, he would have been president even after having lost Florida.

fred camorra call

Sent by fred camorra call | 5:09 PM ET | 02-08-2008

I live in Rio Rancho, NM (Pop. approx 90,000) and voted on Tuesday. It was a free-for-all. There was only one polling site - at the local high school, and hours were limited, noon - 7pm. The workers at the site did their best but the logistics and lack of foresight were apalling. I arrived at 4pm and didn't get to vote until after 7pm. Dozens if not hundreds of people either left in disgust or didn't even attempt it.

While the Party in charge bears the bulk of the responsibility for this mess, I believe that we registered Democrats of Rio Rancho are partly to blame. If we'd gotten our lazy butts to the polls the last time around perhaps the high turnout wouldn't have been such a surprise.

Sent by Anne | 5:21 PM ET | 02-08-2008

One of the more familiar photographs you will see in public buildings in and around Roswell is that of former Roswell Mayor Bill Owens sitting in the back seat of the presidential limo, next to George Bush.

Scrunched up close together for the benefit of the photographer sitting in the back of the limo, George has a friendly hand laid atop of Bill Owen's right forearm. Both men are smiling broadly.

You'll see this photograph in the Roswell Public Library, in practically every Roswell government building I've visited thus far. You'll see this photograph in the Roswell airport, in the Wal-Mart Super Center, Sams, Target, Albertsons and more than a few auto repair shops in and around Roswell.

At the same, Democratic Governor Bill Richardson is much respected in Southeastern New Mexico.

Roswell is an indpendent place to live, a city whose residents are firm believers in state's rights. I'm new in the area. I know that the citizens have a way of taking care of business without getting embroiled in bureaucracy. Being the new guy in town, it's taken a while for neighbors to feel comfortable having a conversation with me.

In New Mexico, you got to be patient before you can be accepted as someone who can be trusted. Which is good by me. I've spent a lot of years in Florida where transience is a way of life, and a good many never stay put long enough to even get to know their neighbors.

New Mexicans tend to sit back to watch and listen without necessarily saying much. Me, being from Florida, has a habit of speaking my mind fairly quick. There were times when I did that, and people would look at me with raised eyebrows of amusement. Let me tell you, it's been something of a chore learning to more quietly act and think like a New Mexican.

From what I've seen, numbers at primary polls don't mean all that much in my part of New Mexico. People are still sitting back watching, surveying, thinking about the subject at hand.

Like I said before, Gore took New Mexico, John Kerry didn't. Gore came a lot closer to the White House than Kerry did. The GOP didn't steal Gore's chances in Florida. Gore lost his home state of Tennessee. All the same, Gore sorely hurt not winning Florida.

Which brings me to the Clintons and Al Gore in Florida. Al Gore was not a happy Vice President behind Hillary in the Bill Clinton campaign. One of the primary reasons Gore lost Florida is because there was a rift between then Junior Vice President Gore and then Vice President Hillary Clinton. The Clinton's did not come to Florida to help Al Gore in 2000. If there was a fault for Gore losing Florida, it was not the GOP. It was yet another schism within the Democratic Party that caused Gore to lose Florida in 2000.

Fast forward to 2008, and you got Hillary possibly considering Barack as her V.P. running mate. Barack will have to weigh the alternatives that he will be Junior Vice President behind Senior Vice President Bill Clinton, in a Hillary White House.

If Democrats in New Mexico are slow to go to the polls, one of the reasons is because New Mexicans don't seem to appreciate internal schisms within their political or social systems.

Now, a few of the high profile conservative radio pundits are bashing McCain cause Mitt Romney represented the truer meaning of conservatism.

We'll have to wait to see how McCain mends those fences between moderate and conservative Republicans. And we'll have to wait to see who McCain chooses as his V.P. running mate.

At the same, we have to wait to see how Hillary mends the schisms within the much fractured Democratic Party. We have to wait to see if she tabs Barack as her running mate, and if Barack will accept Hillary and Bill's gracious offer.

fred camorra call

Sent by fred camorra call | 7:35 AM ET | 02-09-2008