Before we get into the story in depth, I thought it might be helpful to post the cast of Rethug characters.  Most of them are unknowns on the national stage, despite being local heavywieghts within the GOP.  Some have (as far as I can tell) only bit roles, while others snagged the leads.  These are only the players who come immediately to mind; as we delve further into this, others may make an appearance, so don’t treat this as an exhaustive list.  Without further ado:

Adair, Rod:  NM state senator from Chaves County (county seat:  Roswell); one-third of NM’s axis of evil.

Barnett, Mickey:  Albuquerque-based lawyer and lobbyist; confirmed in 2006 as Bush’s nominee to the U.S. Postal Service Board.  Former legislative aide to U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici; former state legislator; second third of NM’s AoE.

Dendahl, John: NM GOP 2006 candidate for governor and former state GOP chair.  (He has left the state since his dismal performance as a gubernatorial candidate.)  Tight with the AoE, he was anointed state GOP chair at their urging after they ousted Ramsay Gorham (see below).

Domenici, Pete:  U.S. Senator for more years than anyone can remember.  Formerly regarded as a largely honorable pol from the wrong party; now seen as a pimp for the administration and a rent boy for the AoE.  Early political employer of Barnett (see above).

Foley, Dan:  NM state representative from Chaves County (Roswell), BFF of Adair, and third third of the NM AoE.  Also tight with Tom Krumland (see below) and willing to blow $20K in taxpayer-funded military resources to plug the opening of his buddy’s new business, then lie about it.

Gorham, Ramsay:  Former chair of the NM GOP, ousted in a very ugly, very public intra-party battle by the axis of evil.  Gorham, a woman and (by some accounts) a relative moderate, was insufficiently vicious for the AoE’s collective taste, and thus needed to be replaced by their buddy Dendahl, a likeminded bombthrowing bigot.

Krumland, Tom:  Roswell Republican and auto dealer; upon expanding his corporate empire in 2005, he and BFF Foley cooked up a scheme to get the NM National Guard to "donate" a flyover during his grand opening "ceremonies" (said 2-minute flyover, occurring at a time when the news was full of reports of U.S. soldiers in Iraq dying for lack of up-armored HumVees and adequate weaponry, costing the NM taxpayers $20,000).

Krumland, Linda Chavez:  Wife of Tom Krumland, above, and fellow traveler among Roswell’s rabid Rethugs.  During the 2004 election, Chavez Krumland launched a supposed nonprofit (without appropriate registration and reporting) called New Mexicans for Honest Courts, which apparently consisted solely of Chavez Krumland herself and worked to destroy judicial independence in the state.

Pat Rogers:  Albuquerque Rethug lawyer tight with the AoE; reportedly wants Iglesias’s job; long-time whiner about nonexistent voter fraud, nonexistent activist judges, etc, and author of recent ABQ Journal hit piece on Iglesias.

Weh, Allan:  Current executive director of the NM GOP (although maybe not for long, after putting his foot in it a couple of weeks ago); rent boy for the AoE and Dendahl.

Wilson, Heather:  U.S. Representative from NM’s 1st CD; in 2006, beat Democratic challenger Patricia Madrid by a mere (and suspect) 800 votes.  Wilson previously got into trouble as head of state’s division of Children, Youth, and Families when she physically removed a file from the office’s archives that allegedly documented an incident of child abuse by her husband.

I’ll update this with links later, and I’ll also add information about the players in future posts.  This should get you started for now.