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Saturday, October 25, 2008

McCain Appeals to Westerners at ABQ Rally

By Heather Clark
Associated Press
      Republican presidential candidate John McCain's promises to cut taxes for small businesses and create jobs spoke to Bill the Plumber.
    Bill Howland that is.
    Howland wore a T-shirt that read "Plumbers for McCain." He was among about 1,500 people who attended a Saturday morning rally at the New Mexico fairgrounds in Albuquerque.
    McCain appeared with his wife, Cindy, before a crowd that waved blue McCain-Palin signs and chanted, "USA, USA!"
    McCain's visit was the first of a busy day of politicking in the battleground state of New Mexico. He planned to travel to the southern New Mexico town of Mesilla on Saturday afternoon before heading to Iowa.
    His rival, Democrat Barack Obama, planned to attend a rally at the University of New Mexico on Saturday evening. And, former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was campaigning for Obama in southern New Mexico on Saturday.
    McCain told the crowd he has a fight ahead of him before Nov. 4.
    "My folks, we've got them just where we want them," he said. "We love being the underdog."
    McCain criticized Obama's tax policies, which the Republican said would take money from one group of people and give them to another.
    He promised to help people create jobs and expand their businesses.
    Howland, owner of Affordable Service of Rio Rancho, said he supports McCain because he's most concerned about Obama's tax policies that he believes would devastate small businesses and lead to massive job losses.
    He said he identifies with Joe the Plumber, an Ohioan named Joe Wurzelbacher who has become a theme in speeches by McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
    "I think Joe the Plumber speaks to the heart of the nation. It's not just Joe the Plumber. It could be Bob the Bricklayer or any other hardworking individual who aspires to own their own business and achieve some level of success or the American dream," Howland said. "It's sad that Obama wants to snatch that away."
    McCain also appealed to Western voters, saying he understands land, water and Native American issues.
    He also promised to support Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories, recognizing that they make "enormous contributions" to the nation.
    McCain said he supports an energy policy that includes domestic oil and gas drilling, nuclear power and alternative energy.
    He charged that Obama has said he would only consider nuclear power and domestic drilling to bring about energy independence.
    The crowd responded with chants of "drill, baby, drill."
    McCain said he supports wind and solar energy, as well.
    "What better places than Arizona and New Mexico for solar," he said.
    Saturday's appearances by McCain and Obama are each candidate's sixth public visit to the state this campaign season.
    With early voting already under way, both campaigns are also taking a last stab at attracting undecided voters and they are trying to energize supporters to get them to the polls.
    The campaigns are focusing on New Mexico because its voters tend to swing between favoring Democratic and GOP candidates.
    In 2000, Democrat Al Gore won New Mexico by a mere 366 votes. Four years later, President Bush took the state by nearly 6,000 votes, one of the closest margins in the country.
    McCain's Albuquerque stop is an attempt to blunt Obama in the voter-rich metropolitan area where the Democrat was backed by 51 percent of voters, according to a poll commissioned by the Albuquerque Journal.

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