McCain talks about wilderness, economy, immigration

Though he wasn’t speaking specifically about the wilderness battle that is raging in Doña Ana County, Republican presidential candidate John McCain said in an interview today that it can take years of bipartisan work to get any wilderness proposal through Congress.

McCain said he “philosophically, strongly” supports “permanent preservation of pristine areas.” In Arizona he worked with former U.S. Rep. Morris “Mo” Udall, a liberal Democrat, to preserve millions of acres of land.

“We had to get consensus. You can’t do it without getting everybody on board. And we had to make compromise,” McCain said, adding that it took years to get environmental organizations, the business community and ranching groups to compromise.

Doña Ana County is currently divided over what to do with about 300,000 acres of land including the Organ Mountains. One proposal would give the land a permanent wilderness designation; a competing proposal would give it new, untested designations some say would be less restrictive, and would also mandate the sale of about 65,000 acres of federal land.

McCain granted an approximately 25-minute interview today to five New Mexico reporters — including me — who rode with him on the Straight Talk Express, his campaign bus, from the Albuquerque International Airport to a campaign fundraiser at the Hilton Albuquerque.

The reporters and McCain huddled in a circle in the back of the bus, with only one campaign staffer present. A television was set to the FOX News channel, and McCain checked the TV several times during the interview as he discussed the day’s news and issues in the campaign.

Udall was an uncle of U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in New Mexico. During the interview, McCain had kind words for the Udall family. He said he developed a close relationship with Mo Udall because of their bipartisan work representing New Mexico’s neighboring state in Congress. Their relationship was recently documented in a Newsweek article.

“I love and revere the Udall family. Mo was very good to me, and Mark (Tom’s cousin) and Tom are good friends,” McCain said. He added that he has a “great appreciation” for former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, Tom Udall’s father and Mo Udall’s brother.

That doesn’t mean McCain supports Tom Udall in his race against Republican Steve Pearce.

“I want him elected,” McCain said of Pearce. “It’s just a matter of philosophy. We’re both conservative Republicans.”

Pearce isn’t on the side of those who want a permanent wilderness designation for the land in Doña Ana County. He has backed the other proposal by introducing it as a bill in the U.S. House.

The economy, the labs

McCain is in New Mexico to talk about the economy, not wilderness. He said he has a message for rural New Mexicans: “If you want someone who’s going to raise your taxes, I’m not your candidate.”

McCain said his plan for rural New Mexico includes “jobs, jobs, jobs,” a gas-tax holiday, more offshore drilling and keeping taxes low.

He also talked about the importance of Los Alamos National Laboratory and the nation’s other labs. He said he wants to expand the mission of the labs to include increased alternative-energy research but doesn’t want that to come at the expense of weapons research.

That puts him in opposition to Tom Udall’s previous vote to cut LANL funding — and jobs — as a way to force the lab to shift its focus. U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici has been on the other side of that fight, taking essentially the same position as McCain.

“We’re facing a national security crisis,” McCain said about his opposition to cuts in the weapons program.

Hispanics

Polls have shown that McCain’s Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, has the edge among Hispanics. But McCain has been working to earn their support with radio and television ads in New Mexico and other battleground states.

McCain said in the interview that Hispanics should choose him because he has a strong record on and knowledge of border issues and is pro-life, pro-business and pro-military. He said he has taken risks in an attempt to seek comprehensive immigration reform, while Obama’s votes were designed to kill reform.

McCain was an architect last year of a bipartisan proposal that would have overhauled the immigration system. Heavy pressure from the right led to the bill’s failure. McCain said members of Congress on the left and right introduced “killer amendments” that wouldn’t have the support to lead to the bill’s passage. Obama supported some of those amendments, while McCain said he tried to seek compromise.

McCain said he now supports beginning with a plan to secure the borders and later seeking additional reforms. He said he would seek comprehensive reform again if he believed it could pass, but it currently won’t.

‘I’ll be back’

McCain also had kind words during the interview for U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, who lost to Pearce in the Senate primary. Some have suggested she would make a strong running mate for McCain.

“I like her very much. I admire her very much,” he said.

And he had a promise for New Mexicans:

“Battleground state. I’ll be back. A lot,” McCain said.