21 July 2008
Presidential Candidates Briefly Visit New Mexico District
New Mexico politicians from both parties call for lower gasoline prices
Washington -- New Mexico, considered a battleground state in the upcoming November election, is getting attention from the presidential candidates. In recent weeks both Barack Obama and John McCain paid quick visits to the state’s 1st Congressional District, holding events in Albuquerque, the state’s largest city.
Obama, now the presumed Democratic nominee, also visited the district in his primary campaign.
In June, Obama held a meeting with working women to discuss ways to improve benefits for working families. In an interview with the Albuquerque Journal newspaper, he discussed his plans for reaching out to Hispanics, who heavily favored Hillary Clinton in the primaries. About 40 percent of New Mexico voters are Hispanic.
Obama said that even though Hispanics might not know him well, “I’m not new to the issues that are important to the Latino community.”
The newspaper also asked a question on the minds of many New Mexicans: Would Obama consider making Governor Bill Richardson his running mate?
“I promised that I would not talk about the vice president selection process until I announce the vice president. … But I can tell you that Bill Richardson is one of the finest public servants in the country,” Obama said. (See “Vice Presidential Candidate a Political and Personal Decision.”)
Presumed Republican nominee John McCain, during a two-day visit to the state in mid-July, held a town hall meeting in Albuquerque and attended a private fundraising event.
As he landed at the Albuquerque airport July 14, McCain told reporters, “My message to rural New Mexico is, if you want someone who’s going to raise your taxes, I’m not your candidate.”
McCain, a senator from the neighboring state of Arizona, touted his knowledge of border security issues. He also discussed his vision to expand the missions of two major state employers, the Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories, in developing alternative energy sources.
Voters in the New Mexico 1st also are learning about the candidates from the television advertisements that likely will appear regularly from now until Election Day.
One of McCain’s first ads reaches out to the state’s Hispanic population, praising them for military service and calling for immigration reform. Noting that some of the Hispanics serving in the military are not yet U.S. citizens, McCain says, “Let’s from time to time remember that these [immigrants] are God's children” and notes that immigrants enrich American culture.
Obama’s messages have hit the airwaves as well. In a new ad airing in 18 states including New Mexico, Obama discusses his foreign policy goals. Showing clips from past campaign events, the ad says Obama has worked in a bipartisan manner to help make nuclear weapons more secure.
New Mexico voters who have not caught a presidential candidate’s event probably will get another chance. New Mexico is a “battleground state,” the Albuquerque Journal reported McCain saying. “I’ll be back a lot.”
HIGH GAS PRICES CONCERN NEW MEXICO VOTERS
When Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992, his staff made famous the slogan “It’s the economy, stupid” as economic issues dominated the campaign.
New Mexico 1st congressional candidate Darren White recently unveiled his own update: “It’s gas prices, stupid!”
The Republican seems to believe that even though the war in Iraq, immigration and the environment matter to New Mexico citizens, voters currently might be most concerned about rising gas prices.
White said he supports developing new clean energy sources, increasing American production of oil, encouraging conservation, increasing fuel efficiency standards for automobiles and providing more oversight of speculators.
White, currently Bernalillo County sheriff, faces a close race with former Albuquerque Councilor Martin Heinrich. Heinrich supports new initiatives for developing alternative energy sources and is opposed to oil drilling in Alaska.
The district’s current representative, Heather Wilson, gave up a reelection bid to run instead for the U.S. Senate. She lost in the primary.
New Mexico’s Senate candidates also are talking about gas prices. In a recently released ad, Democratic candidate Tom Udall, speaking at a gas station, says, “Record profits for big oil companies, while we pay record prices for gas, is wrong.” Udall says he would get oil companies to build cleaner refineries and stop hedge-fund speculators.
Republican Senate candidate Steve Pearce has criticized Udall’s proposals, saying they “will drive the price of gas even higher, damage our economy and cost New Mexico jobs.” Pearce supports oil drilling off U.S. shores and has called for increasing use of nuclear energy.
The average price of gas is Albuquerque is currently $3.97 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association.
This article is part of America.gov’s continuing coverage of seven of the 435 U.S. congressional districts during the 2008 campaign. Each offers a different prism though which to view U.S. politics. For more information, see U.S Elections - State and Local.
