Crossposted at New Mexico FBIHOP
Click on photos for larger versions. More available on my Flickr page, as always.
Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois was in the state and saw a good chunk of it in a short period of time — at least up and down I-25.
I’m not quite sure where he met up with Second Congressional District candidate Harry Teague for a fundraiser, but Emanuel stopped by Gabriel’s Restaurant north of Santa Fe for a fundraiser and quick talk with the press (which is to mean myself and Steve Terrell of the Santa Fe New Mexican).
Emanuel spoke about the big year Democrats had in 2006 and how we won; it wasn’t just the war.
Yes, the war was a big factor. But the deteriorating economic condition in the middle class was a big factor in the fact that the Democrats took back the House and the Senate. And it will again be a contributing factor because people realize that under the Republican Party stewardship, the middle class has been hurt.
After the Ben Ray event, it was time for Emanuel to hop in his rented car (I assume) and head down I-25 to Albuquerque for a press conference with Martin Heinrich, Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano, Captain Ahren Griego IAFF Local 244 and other firefighters from IAFF Local 244.
“We can fund our labs, and create new jobs, and we can fund our police departments across the United States,” Emanuel said in his short speech. “I’m going to be here to help Martin because it’s time for a change.”
President Bush took a beating — not a good sign for his staunch supporter, Darren White.
I got to speak to Heinrich for a few minutes after the event. “It was a proud day to stand up there with them and to say I’m going to stand with them on these issues where we’ve seen President Bush and his allies cut back the COPS program dramatically, cut things like the Byrne Grants, do things that directly impact our first responders in a negative way.”
Byrne Grants help fund drug enforcement for the police.
But the cuts went deeper for Solano. After all, he has to deal with the cuts to the funding; he’s a sheriff and knows firsthand what they do.
“Santa Fe County used to get enough money to get about 10-15 bullet proof vests a year. Which wasn’t enough,” Solano told FBIHOP. “We have a department of about 90 officers, it wasn’t enough to fund it all — but it helped a lot. Last year, we got funding for one vest, $500. This year, we don’t expect any funding at all.”
This caused Solano to do something he “never would have imagined” doing a year ago — backing the opponent of a law enforcement officer for a Congressional seat.
“You would think that Darren White, with his connections to Bush would have spoken up for us,” Solano said. “And I’ve never heard of him doing so.”