“New Heritage Sites of Hawaii Program Launched - ABC News” plus 1 more

New Heritage Sites of Hawaii Program Launched - ABC News

Posted: 03 Jun 2010 09:58 AM PDT

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The Hawaii Tourism Authority has launched the new Heritage Sites of Hawaii program to promote some of the state's special places.

HTA said Wednesday that 20 "must see" historical, cultural and environmental places of interest will be marked with a Heritage Site of Hawaii sign, acknowledging their significance to the islands.

Visitors will be able to download a guide to all the sites, which will be available in English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean.

The sites include Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park on the Big Island, Kauai's Kilauea Lighthouse, Iao Valley State Monument on Maui, Lanai's Kaunolu Village, Kalaupapa Lookout at the Palaau State Park on Molokai and Queen Emma's Summer Palace on Oahu.

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Swift Boats & Sarah Palin in New Mexico's Gov Race - DAILY KOS

Posted: 04 Jun 2010 11:51 AM PDT

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A self described, "Reagan Republican," Alan Weh, a Vietnam vet and small aircraft entrepreneur as well as former state party chair, was upset in the June 1st Republican primary by voters who preferred Susana Martinez. She spoke with voice-almost-breaking emotion about her county being over run by illegals and connected with her Republican audience by displaying a just below the surface, seething anger.

She received big money for her primary campaign, which was based around strongly attacking Weh for being too much in support of amnesty. Indeed, Karl Rove weighed in on behalf of Weh who supported Bush's approach to comprehensive immigration reform.

The famous Swift Boat attackers gave Martinez a whopping $450,000 donation (in New Mexico's context, this is a staggeringly huge sum.) The Republican Governors Association gave her a surprisingly large donation as well, highlighting the prospect that this newcomer to statewide politics might become a real star.

No doubt every Republican fundraiser or political operative in the US is paying very close attention unless they have already boarded a plane and are already in New Mexico for this.

This is a national race, with implications for the future that are very important. It may be that the national media will keep it all pretty low profile, since they are in the habit of ignoring what goes on out in sagebrush country.

Diane Denish, the Democratic contender, was unopposed in the June 1 Democratic primary. She got a lot more opportunity than most LGs to shoulder responsibilities for leading state government, as Richardson was famously out of state quite a bit, especially in 2007/2008.

Basically, she's a highly proficient manager of government workings and a leader who comes from a family with a deeply democratic tradition, centered in the small community of Hobbs.

New Mexico is not Texas and not Arizona. It is a Western state with an independent sense. Albuquerque and Santa Fe have celebrated 300 year anniversaries dating back to Spanish settlement. There are over a dozen Indian pueblos that predate the Spanish with several hundred if not thousands of years of history.

Hispanics are a near majority part of the voter population, and sometimes people feel like making a distinction between Spanish heritage derived from Spain and a more general Hispanic categorization. It can be confusing to a newcomer, not expecting the cultural complexity encountered.

On June 1, quite a few Hispanics registered as Republicans (this is a state where you have to register to vote by party preference - with no accommodation for Greens or Libertarians as primary voters) turned out for Martinez, who won by something like ten points.

The Hispanic and Spanish populations, the Indians and the white voters attracted to the independent cultural traditions of New Mexico's version of the West, have made New Mexico a more or less progressive state, something unexpected, not in the mold of its regional neighbors.

The question is whether this small state where politics has been genteel and laid back by comparison with states like Texas, where it's infused with evangelical intenstity, is a place that is ripe for the pickings by Republicans.

I would think progressives would have a stake in this race, if for no other reason that to consider why Sarah Palin & Karl Rove & the Swift Boaters have gotten involved in it.

I would urge people to book mark Diane Denish's website and email everyone on their lists about this race and keep the "contribute" link handy.

Diane Denish for Governor of New Mexico

Denish campaign direct contribution form

Act Blue page for Diane Denish

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