It may not be the star-studded bonanza Democrats threw in Denver last week, but the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. this week is just as thrilling and momentous an occasion for New Mexico's delegates.

So, you can’t make it to Denver for the 2008 Democratic National Convention? No worries; it’s a madhouse anyway. But, let’s see how you would have navigated the convention of the century.

Going into the convention as the face of Hillary’s New Mexico campaign, superdelegate and New Mexico Lt. Governor Diane Denish concedes that 2008 is Obama’s year.

Allen Ginsburg, Abbie Hoffman, naked hippies and “Yippies” chillin’ in Lincoln Park. An effigy of Mayor Richard M Daley burnt to cinders. And, of course, helmeted Chicago police officers and Illinois National Guardsmen busting heads with batons and rifle butts...

If Jerome Block Jr. wins the race for New Mexico’s 3rd Public Regulation Commission district, taxpayers will pay the Democrat an annual salary of $90,000. But the State of New Mexico has already doled out tens of thousands to the candidate under the state’s public campaign finance laws. How he’s spending it raises questions for campaign watchdogs.

This week, as the Democratic National Convention unfolds (Aug. 25 to 28 at the Pepsi Center in Denver), the voting public will feel the last aftershock of the primary season.

Initially, Governor Richardson was pushing a special session to achieve universal health-care coverage in New Mexico, but has since scaled back the proposal to three bills that would provide all children under 18 with health insurance, increase electronic medical record security and consolidate government health-care agencies under a single entity.

What do the race for New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission and a late 1990s gang-related feud have in common?

Democratic candidate Jerome Block Jr., apparently.

Court and lien records show that at least three construction subcontractors have filed more than $2 million in liens and lawsuits against the Railyard Co. LLC, claiming they weren’t fully paid for their work.

Tom BenavidesIn an election year like 2008, when an unpopular president has termed out and the nation is almost universally calling for “change,” when voter registration is breaking all-ti