More News Columnists

• Bill Slakey: As Trib closes, many questions remain unasked
• Phill Casaus: Don't cry for us, Albuquerque; it was worth it
• Joline Gutierrez Krueger: My Wall of Fame holds memories of people, stories that have mattered

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

This might seem a tired question by now, because we've been to this movie . . . or this commercial, anyway.

But the question - when is a public service announcement a campaign ad - hasn't been answered.

It usually comes up during election season. It's back again sooner, in my mind at least, with the upcoming broadcast of a television special "Shaping the Future: Albuquerque's Economic Success." Mayor Martin Chavez provides voice-over and is featured prominently.

The city - you - spent $36,000 to produce the video. It will set us back another $20,000 to broadcast it five times on the four New Mexico TV stations before the end of July. (Considering the video is 30 minutes long, that's actually cheap compared to what it costs to air TV ads during election season.)

But before you judge, listen to the idea: The video is meant to reach out and let community members and business leaders know about economic development in the Duke City.

It's not a campaign ad, the mayor said.

"I'm not a candidate for anything," he said.

Now we all know Chavez wants to be a candidate for something. He has said he's interested in the Governor's Office but hasn't made up his mind.

But he's not a declared candidate, he says, unlike Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, who stars in public service announcements from time to time.

Denish, by the way, acknowledges that she's in those PSAs for everything from Insure New Mexico to foster adoptions. But, she says, it's early.

She's right - and that applies both to her case and Chavez's.

Still, the local newspaper ad about the city's special, complete with a photo of the mayor, caught my eye. It lays out nine lists on which Albuquerque fares well.

Lists are a good thing for Chavez, who seems to have steered the city onto mostly positive ones. Not so good for Gov. Bill Richardson, who was assailed in a now infamous "Meet the Press" episode for his state being at the bottom of too many bad lists.

Anyway, public service announcements or official literature that flirt with being campaign-related aren't new.

We can probably all recall when former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron, a Democrat, came under fire for a series of ads related to the Help America Vote Act. Critics wondered whether the ads weren't meant to promote Vigil-Giron instead of the obscure HAVA.

Former Attorney General Patricia Madrid faced similar criticism over fliers that came out of her office during her face-off with U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson.

The topic also floated to the surface recently when Albuquerque City Councilor Martin Heinrich - now a candidate to run against Wilson - showed up in an ad promoting the city's San Juan-Chama water project. The spot wasn't campaign-related, Heinrich and the city-county water authority said. Could it appear that way? Sure. Almost any ad could.

But Chavez might be in a category by himself here. In general, he's almost never off the TV screen, out of print, away from the podium, off the airwaves for long.

As a media master, he's in the spotlight probably like no other Duke City politician before him. So he doesn't really need more exposure than he already gets to let potential voters know what he's all about.

Denish, Chavez's likely primary opponent in the 2010 gubernatorial matchup, hasn't seen the video, which aired over the weekend.

"I'm hopeful it promotes Albuquerque," she said. "We need all the New Mexico promotion we can get. I hope it's really about good policy and not his policy views," she said.

Denish said others will judge whether the video is masquerading as a political ad.

"The decisions about whether it's a good use of taxpayer money will be highly scruntinized by the (city) council and other people," she said.

Those other people surely include voters. Maybe its up to them, when checking out candidates, to inquire whether politicians have a plan to limit their use of public funds on what could be seen as self-promoting around election time.

Denish said voters will be the best monitors of what's right.

"I think it will become obvious to the voters when you are stepping over the line in terms of using taxpayer money to push your own agenda."