By Lee Ross
Mountain View Telegraph
Sunshine, hot dogs and hamburgers with chili, kids playing with balloons and a set of high-power politicians telling jokes: a perfect afternoon for some.
That was the scene at a Democratic get-together at Edgewood Elementary School on Monday where quite a few people from the East Mountains gathered to hear Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., a candidate for U.S. Senate, deliver his message and press the flesh. It was also a unique event for Edgewood.
"They thought there was nothing but Republicans out here," said Santa Fe County Commissioner Mike Anaya. "We had a good turnout ... it's a good thing that it happened."
Udall began his speech by chiding Martin Heinrich, a candidate for 1st Congressional District, for his appearance at the event and for working too hard.
"I heard he was just driving down the highway and he saw a crowd and drove over here," Udall joked.
Also attending were former Gov. Bruce King, Santa Fe County Commissioner Mike Anaya and Chester Hill, Edgewood's oldest native resident according to Edgewood Councilor Brad Hill, "If you get the Anayas here and the Kings and the Hills, you've got the whole town," Udall laughed.
Anaya also broke the ice by poking a little fun at the area.
"The land is so flat that you can sit on the porch and watch your dog run away for three days," he said.
The group of Democrats also made a few serious points. Chairman of the New Mexico Democratic Party Brian Colón took a little time to vent.
"Let me start out telling you something that really annoyed me the last year," he said.
Colón said he was tired of his party being portrayed as unpatriotic and that it is time to bring the U.S. troops "home from this inappropriate war in Iraq."
Concerns about U.S. conflicts was one of the reasons Charley McGee, a 65 year old veteran and previously a lifelong Republican, came to the event. He'd switched parties a week before.
"I don't care for what's going on in this country right now," he said, noting the treatment of war-veterans in particular. "I'm tired of the good-old-boy society."
His wife, Kathy, said she is on the side of the Democrats because she is frustrated by the conflicts the United States has gotten into, including Korea, Vietnam and the current war in Iraq, and said she'd like to see senior citizens treated with respect.
Andrew Hormer, a real estate agent with an office in Moriarty, had a more severe sentiment about the Republican party.
"The Bush administration lied to the American people," he said.
He added that the investment in money and lives in the conflict in Iraq has yielded little for the American people and he likened Republicans to Nazis.
"As far as I'm concerned, Republicans are pseudo-Americans, not real Americans," he said.
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