paying-attention

I am delighted that Bill Richardson managed to make his endorsement of Barack Obama significant. It would probably have been easier to stay out, or to stay on the Clintons' road to nowhere, but the governor's statements and his timing have deserved at least as much attention as he has gotten.

I'm not so delighted with the position of Martin Chavez, mayor of Albuquerque. I had always heard that Chavez was the consummate machine politician, but I thought he was a guy who understood perceptions. And here's the perception that he is currently emitting like a whiff of garbage in the sweet spring air: Politics is not about honesty, or governing, or competence, or who can do the best job under unforseen circumstances. No, Martin Chavez has made it clear that politics is all about who owes favors to whom, and which voters belong in which pockets.

Don't get me wrong. Chavez has every right to choose his own candidate and to defend that choice in whatever manner he pleases. In addition, we all know that the "scratch my back" strategy is common in politics and always has been. But I am sad to see him behave and speak with so little dignity.