Winning the Triple Crown

So tomorrow is the big day: Rep. Martin Heinrich's Town Hall meeting on health care reform -- and an over flow crowd is expected at the UNM Continuing Education Building.

The Basics: there is seating for only 600 people in the auditorium, but Rep. Heinrich seems to have taken a cue from Rep. Lujan's town hall experiences and has already arranged for an overflow room for 300 people to be linked with audio and visual feed.

Only the first 600 attendees can submit a question to the Congressman; they will not be pre-screened and will be selected at random by the forum's moderator, Augusta Meyers.

Parking access is only available after 1pm (due to a graduation ceremony at UNM) and doors for the event open at 2pm. (So get there early!)

If the Heinrich Town Hall goes well, New Mexicans will have achieved what Mine that Bird could not -- win a Triple Crown of sorts -- on the political track.

First came Rep. Lujan's town hall on Monday -- a model of civility and active voters. Large, crowded and engaged, constituents in New Mexico's 3rd set the bar high.

Next was Rep. Teague's town hall on Wednesday -- slightly more skeptical, but nonetheless civil and engaged.

Finally, and like the real Triple Crown, Rep. Heinrich's meeting this Saturday will prove to be the biggest test of New Mexicans. The 1st District is diverse and ranges the political spectrum. Will we resist the temptation to fall victim to those who would astroturf in our 1st District? We hope so.

So far, New Mexicans have been the exception to the nation-wide trend of branding our President a Nazi, bringing guns to meetings and shouting down Representatives. Let's continue our winning streak.