MESILLA, N.M., — John McCain and Barack Obama brought their dueling presidential campaigns to the mesas and mountains of New Mexico on Saturday, trading mocking jibes and sharp new attacks in the hotly contested state.
With Obama also campaigning in Nevada, it was a rare day in which both candidates paid heed to the West instead of the more populous battleground states, such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, that have drawn the most attention and resources this year.
McCain, the four-term senator from neighboring Arizona, should have enjoyed a home court advantage. But despite crisp, clear skies on a weekend morning, fewer than 1,000 supporters came out to cheer the Republican nominee in a rally at the New Mexico State Fair Grounds in Albuquerque.
Later, McCain spent two hours driving through desolate, dry ranchland along the Mexican border to address a similar-size crowd on the Old West plaza in Mesilla, near Las Cruces. Not far away, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) drew about 2,600 people to a rally for Obama in Sunland Park, according to local police.
Obama rejoined the campaign trail after taking Friday off to visit his grandmother, who is gravely ill, in Hawaii.
Speaking to 11,000 people at the University of Nevada, Reno, the Illinois senator sharpened his usual critique of McCain, comparing him to President Bush in unflattering terms nearly two dozen times. At times, Obama laughed as he described McCain's efforts to distance himself from the unpopular president.
"John McCain is so opposed to George Bush's policies that he voted with him 90% of the time for the first eight years," Obama said. "That's right, he decided to really stick it to George Bush -- 10% of the time."
"Well, let's be clear," Obama added. "John McCain attacking George Bush for his out-of-hand economic policy is like Dick Cheney attacking George Bush for his go-it-alone foreign policy. . . . It's like Tonto getting mad at the Lone Ranger."
McCain, speaking in sun-washed Mesilla, derided Obama's lack of appreciation for Latino concerns.
"My friends, Sen. Obama has never been south of our border," McCain said. "He doesn't know these issues. I know them. . . . I'm proud to be a senator from the West."
Wrong, said Tommy Vietor, an Obama spokesman. The Democrat visited Mexico while in college, he said.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will visit Nevada today to help Obama's campaign reach out to Latino voters, a fast-growing and heavily Democratic group that also may help decide New Mexico and Colorado.
