NM: Sen. Pete Domenici (R) to Retire Next Year

[Verily]

Hasnt Richardson been encouraging Chavez to run?

If Heather Wilson goes for the Senate seat, Chavez may decide her House seat is a safer bet, which would open the door for Richardson to move into the Senate race after the early primaries.

[Verily]

New Mexico, on the other hand, is a lot like New England in the sense that they only vote GOP because of popular incumbents.  Once the incumbet retires, the Democrats gain the seat.

That's not true at all. New Mexico is split almost exactly down the middle partisan wise.

Rep. Joe Skeen (R) retired in 2002; replaced by Pearce (R)
Rep. Steve Schiff (R) died in 1998; replaced by Wilson (R)

At the state level, at least, the Democrats are overwhelmingly dominant. Veto-proof majority in the House, with approximately the same ratios as California.

[Verily]

At the state level, at least, the Democrats are overwhelmingly dominant. Veto-proof majority in the House, with approximately the same ratios as California.

That would be relevant if not for the 17th amendment.

My point is that the Democrats have a much deeper bench than the Republicans in New Mexico, so they're much more able to provide good candidates for multiple races at once than the Republicans.

[Verily]

Great Opportunity for the Democrats

BTW: Do you Americans pronounce Chavez as "Shuh-Vess" or "Chaves" (like caves) ... ?

As in Spanish. SHAH-vez. (Well, depending on the accent, some Spanish speakers would say "CHAH-vez".) Americans generally know how to pronounce common Spanish words and names.

[Verily]

Great Opportunity for the Democrats

BTW: Do you Americans pronounce Chavez as "Shuh-Vess" or "Chaves" (like caves) ... ?

As in Spanish. SHAH-vez. (Well, depending on the accent, some Spanish speakers would say "CHAH-vez".) Americans generally know how to pronounce common Spanish words and names.

Almost all Spanish speakers would say "CHAH-vays" (the s at the end is pronounced like an s), with the possible exception of Castilians who might use "CHAH-vayth".  So we pronounce it incorrectly, as usual

"Vayz"? Definitely not.

tSAY-zar tCHAH-vez.

[Verily]

Great Opportunity for the Democrats

BTW: Do you Americans pronounce Chavez as "Shuh-Vess" or "Chaves" (like caves) ... ?

As in Spanish. SHAH-vez. (Well, depending on the accent, some Spanish speakers would say "CHAH-vez".) Americans generally know how to pronounce common Spanish words and names.

Almost all Spanish speakers would say "CHAH-vays" (the s at the end is pronounced like an s), with the possible exception of Castilians who might use "CHAH-vayth".  So we pronounce it incorrectly, as usual

"Vayz"? Definitely not.

tSAY-zar tCHAH-vez.

tsay?  Now you're speaking nonsense, though English orthography is convoluted enough that we might be saying the same thing but in a different way .  IPA is: /sesaɾ ʧaβ̞es/

z is always pronounced like an s in Spanish, except in a few dialects.  e is always pronounced (not quite) like the "a" in "table".

In English, though, poor Cesar Chavez becomes /sizɚ ʃɑvɛz/, which isn't close at all.

(sorry if your computer doesn't properly format any of these; I can switch to X-SAMPA if you'd like)

The little t I added to the beginning is the slight "click" at the opening of Spanish words beginning with s-sounds. It was the best approximation I could come up.

It is never sizɚ, I don't know where you're getting that from. The worst English pronunciation would be Say-zer (or maybe Sez-er for someone who had no idea what they were doing).

[Verily]

Great Opportunity for the Democrats

BTW: Do you Americans pronounce Chavez as "Shuh-Vess" or "Chaves" (like caves) ... ?

As in Spanish. SHAH-vez. (Well, depending on the accent, some Spanish speakers would say "CHAH-vez".) Americans generally know how to pronounce common Spanish words and names.

Almost all Spanish speakers would say "CHAH-vays" (the s at the end is pronounced like an s), with the possible exception of Castilians who might use "CHAH-vayth".  So we pronounce it incorrectly, as usual

"Vayz"? Definitely not.

tSAY-zar tCHAH-vez.

tsay?  Now you're speaking nonsense, though English orthography is convoluted enough that we might be saying the same thing but in a different way .  IPA is: /sesaɾ ʧaβ̞es/

z is always pronounced like an s in Spanish, except in a few dialects.  e is always pronounced (not quite) like the "a" in "table".

In English, though, poor Cesar Chavez becomes /sizɚ ʃɑvɛz/, which isn't close at all.

(sorry if your computer doesn't properly format any of these; I can switch to X-SAMPA if you'd like)

The little t I added to the beginning is the slight "click" at the opening of Spanish words beginning with s-sounds. It was the best approximation I could come up.

It is never sizɚ, I don't know where you're getting that from. The worst English pronunciation would be Say-zer (or maybe Sez-er for someone who had no idea what they were doing).

I'd think the average American would conflate "Cesar" with "Caesar" and then choose to massacre "Cesar" just like we butcher "Caesar"

If they're getting "Cesar" confused with "Caesar", they'll also get "Caesar" wrong. I would not expect the average American to have that problem. (In any case, Americans pronounce "Caesar" incorrectly, too; it's Kay-sahr in Latin.)