Betty Ethridge, a 59-year-old Democrat wearing a denim jacket with military and POW commemorative patches, said after listening to McCain in Albuquerque that she simply trusted him more than she did Obama.
Ethridge said she objected to Obama's "Muslim upbringing." Reminded that Obama was a Christian, Ethridge said: "Now he is.
"His statements lead me more to believe he's more Muslim than he is Christian," she said. "He wants to change America."
Obama's voting record is among the most liberal in the Senate, and he has taken positions on gun control that gun-rights groups plan to target.
"The question is, Can it be packaged to portray Barack Obama as your typical Beltway or urban liberal who is elitist and insensitive to our Western values?" said Floyd Ciruli, an independent pollster in Colorado. "That will be critical."
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maeve.reston@latimes.com
noam.levey@latimes.com
scott.martelle@latimes.com
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Reston reported from Albuquerque, Levey from Washington and Martelle from Las Cruces.
