My Governor, Bill Richardson, asks State workers to help with his Presidential campaign. I'll have to look into how common this is, but this is the nut of it:
Last month, the governor and his presidential campaign manager, Dave Contarino, met with a group of state workers and other supporters at a Santa Fe hotel to appeal for campaign volunteers and update them on how Richardson is faring.
State employees were invited to the lunch-hour meeting by the campaign with messages sent to private e-mail accounts and, in some cases, private cell phones.
Among those who attended was Gilbert Gallegos, communications director in the Governor's Office.
"The governor ... was very frank. He said, 'I know this time of year it might be difficult and don't worry about it if you can't go, but many of you have supported me in the past and if you are able to do so, I think it could be a big help,' '' said Gallegos, who will be in Iowa from Dec. 26 through Jan. 4.
At the meeting, "it was stressed that everybody who wanted to go would have to take time off, use their annual leave and pay their own way. The campaign would help if they wanted to make arrangements or carpool or that sort of thing," said Gallegos.
The first potential conflict I see is; how do you say no to your boss? Are people who don't gleefully join the Campaign somehow marked as "not one of us"? This just doesn't seem quite right. While not illegal or unethical it has an odd appearance.
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