McCain And Obama Campaign in New Mexico

Candidates Court Veterans, Hispanics

ALBUQUERQUE, May 26 -- The two leading candidates for president made Memorial Day pilgrimages on Monday to this critical swing state, where a closely divided electorate may help determine the outcome of the 2008 battle for the White House.

The presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), used the backdrop of the state's veterans memorial in Albuquerque to pledge his fealty to the military and to once again make clear his determination to achieve victory in the Iraq war. The Democratic front-runner, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), went to Las Cruces and praised the "spirit" of America's diverse fighting corps, which he called the source of the military's true strength.

Each is eager to tilt the state to his their column after a decade in which New Mexico voters have made the state one of the most closely watched in presidential elections. Democrat Al Gore won the state in 2000, edging George W. Bush by a little more than 300 votes. Bush won in 2004 over John F. Kerry by barely a percentage point. Now both Obama and McCain see the state's five electoral votes as part of their strategy.

Neither candidate used the solemn day to launch political attacks, despite the increasingly sharp-edged comments from both camps about foreign policy experience and the competing veterans benefits bills working their way through Congress.

Before several hundred veterans and military families at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial, McCain asserted that the new GI Bill sponsored by Sen. James Webb (D-Va.) and supported by Obama will drive soldiers out of the armed services at a time when the country is trying to expand the size of the military.

McCain said the bill, which would increase benefits for veterans after they serve one tour of duty, is a way of offering the nation's "deep appreciation" for those who have served. But the Vietnam War veteran and former prisoner of war predicted that Webb's bill would reduce the military's retention rate by 16 percent.

"Encouraging people to choose to not become noncommissioned officers would hurt the military and our country very badly," McCain said.

The two presidential contenders have clashed repeatedly about the GI Bill, with Obama criticizing McCain for supporting a less-generous alternative to Webb's measure. McCain has fired back over the past several days, calling into question Obama's experience and credibility on the issue, though he did not criticize Obama directly on Monday.

In a speech delivered before an invitation-only town hall meeting at a ranching museum, Obama did not mention McCain or Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), who campaigned in Puerto Rico ahead of a Democratic primary there on Sunday. But in a nearly hour-long speech largely about improving benefits for veterans, he made clear his support for Webb's bill and said Congress would override a threatened veto by President Bush.

Obama, who did not serve in the military, told the nearly 200 former service members who flanked him that he spoke before them "with deep humility."

"My grandfather marched in Patton's Army, but I cannot know what it is to walk into battle like so many of you," he said. "My grandmother worked on a bomber assembly line, but I cannot know what it is for a family to sacrifice like so many of yours have. I am the father of two young girls, and I cannot imagine what it is to lose a child."

Obama was introduced by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who endorsed Obama earlier this year after ending his bid to become the nation's first Hispanic president. "A once-in-a-generation leader," Richardson called Obama before taking a seat on a stool, where he remained perched beside the candidate.

Richardson's presence underscored the importance of the Latino vote in the state, which has half a million Hispanics among its registered voters. Obama has struggled to gain the support of Hispanics in his primary battle against Clinton, and his ability to win over the group by November is likely to determine whether he can capture Western states with large Latino populations, such as New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada, where Obama will campaign Tuesday.

"These are going to be important battleground states," Obama said. "I think we can win in the West. I think that Governor Richardson has offered a model in New Mexico that is applicable in Nevada, is applicable to Colorado."

McCain's history of promoting immigration reform is expected to serve him well in states with significant Latino populations, though the Arizonan may suffer from the hard-line stand many in his party have taken toward illegal immigrants.

McCain released a Web ad aimed at Hispanic veterans on Monday in which the senator says that Latinos fought in Vietnam and are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that some "love this country so much that they're willing to risk their lives in its service in order to accelerate their path to citizenship."

Vick reported from Las Cruces.