{"id":2577,"date":"2007-11-29T13:12:00","date_gmt":"2007-11-29T19:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/11\/udall-says-he-wont-respond-to-negative-attacks\/"},"modified":"2007-11-29T13:12:00","modified_gmt":"2007-11-29T19:12:00","slug":"udall-says-he-wont-respond-to-negative-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/11\/udall-says-he-wont-respond-to-negative-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Udall says he won’t respond to negative attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>U.S. Rep. Tom Udall<\/a> said today he won\u2019t respond to negative attacks that are coming at him from all sides as he formally begins his campaign for Senate. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Udall made the comment during a phone interview today with New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> bloggers. He\u2019s been under attack from the other Democrats in the race – Albuquerque Mayor Martin Ch\u00e1vez<\/a> says he\u2019s too liberal and has betrayed New Mexicans in supporting cuts at the state\u2019s <\/span>national laboratories, and alternative media publisher and editor Leland Lehrman<\/a> says he lacks the courage and willingness to represent the state\u2019s Democrats because he won\u2019t support impeachment of the president and vice president.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Republicans in the race \u2013 U.S. Reps. Steve Pearce<\/a> and Heather Wilson<\/a> \u2013 have also been highly critical of the proposed lab cuts.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are going to be people in this race who pander and play to politics,\u201d Udall said when I asked about the attacks. \u201c\u2026 I don\u2019t think New Mexicans like those kinds of campaigns and those candidates are going to lose, so I\u2019m going to stay positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Udall began his campaign today with a formal announcement at the National<\/st1:placename> Hispanic<\/st1:placename> Cultural<\/st1:placename> Center<\/st1:placetype> in Ch\u00e1vez\u2019s hometown, and many of his stops in the next three days are in Hispanic Democratic strongholds, including Las Cruces<\/st1:city>, Las Vegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, Los Lunas and Mora. Still, Udall said his announcement tour wasn\u2019t designed to reach areas where Ch\u00e1vez is strongest.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to cover as much of New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> as possible in those three days,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 There was an attempt here to put together a good, solid schedule that hit east, west, north and south.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Lab cuts, Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>, immigration<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Udall fielded questions from other bloggers about topics including the proposed lab cuts, Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> and immigration.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He defended the lab cuts, which would hit the lab in Los Alamos much harder than Sandia in Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, by saying the labs need to \u201creorient\u201d to focus less on nuclear weapons and more on helping \u201csolve challenges in energy and global warming.\u201d He said Sandia has, to some degree, done that, so the proposed cuts won\u2019t hit it as hard.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Los Alamos<\/st1:place>, he said, has not done that, though he and others have been pushing for years.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been happening, and so we\u2019re on to tough times now,\u201d he said. \u201cMy vote was a (vote) for the future of Los Alamos<\/st1:place>\u2026 to do everything I can to push the viability and the vibrancy of the lab.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

On Iraq<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place>, Udall said the current troop surge may be reducing the number of American solider deaths, but he understands that it\u2019s not reducing violence among Iraqis. He supports, and recently voted for, a bill that tied war funding to a withdrawal that would begin 30 days after the bill was approved and have a goal of being complete by Dec. 15, 2008.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The reason, he said, is that the situation is a civil war, and Iraqis, not Americans, need to police the streets and end the war. A withdrawal over a year allows time to turn the situation over to the Iraqi government in such a manner that it has a chance to succeed.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

On immigration, Udall said he supports comprehensive reform that begins with securing the borders through hiring more agents and focusing on technology to create a \u201cvirtual wall.\u201d The second step, he said, is cracking down on employers who knowingly hire undocumented immigrants, and creating a \u201ctamper-proof\u201d work permit card so employers can know with certainty whether someone they want to hire is in the United States legally.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Reform must also include deporting undocumented immigrants who have committed other crimes, but giving \u201ca process of legalization\u201d to those who \u201care part of our economic fabric.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Frustration with the Senate<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Udall said one reason for his decision to seek the Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici<\/a> was his frustration with watching legislation the House passed die in the Senate. He said the Senate is not in line with the will of the American people.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cMe being in the Senate makes one more vote,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 I think you\u2019re going to see me, when I get elected, speaking on these issues and many other issues people want.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Also today, Jim Hannan<\/a>, who had been running for Senate even before Domenici announced his coming retirement, officially dropped out of the race and endorsed Udall. He had already said he would do so.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cTom Udall has proven to be a strong fighter for the issues that matter most to working people,\u201d Hannan said. \u201cHe will join U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman in providing New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> the type of representation that we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Update, 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

You can watch a video report of Udall\u2019s Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> announcement by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Ch\u00e1vez released a statement welcoming Udall to the race, and the state\u2019s GOP released one attacking him.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI welcome Tom to this historic race for the U.S. Senate,\u201d Ch\u00e1vez said. \u201cBut to fix the problems in Washington<\/st1:State>, New Mexicans need to make a change in who\u2019s representing us (in) Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:State>. We can\u2019t change Washington<\/st1:State> with those same Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:State> politicians who have resisted change. \u2026 It takes strong leadership to produce results. Our next U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> senator needs to stand up for what\u2019s right. That\u2019s what I\u2019ve done as mayor and that is what I will do in representing us in Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:State>.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The GOP said Udall is \u201ctoo liberal.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cTo put it bluntly, Tom Udall has been an ineffective member of the U.S. House, and we should expect the same from him if he is elected to the Senate,\u201d the GOP statement read. \u201cJust this year, Udall put partisan politics ahead of the interests of New Mexico<\/st1:State> by voting for intense funding cuts at Los Alamos<\/st1:place> and Sandia national laboratories. Because of his lack of leadership, thousands of New Mexicans could lose their jobs and the economy of northern and central New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:State> could take a significant hit. New Mexicans will certainly realize the danger in voting for someone who so easily bent to the misplaced priorities of Washington Democrats at the expense of New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:State> and our nation\u2019s security.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Rep. Tom Udall said today he won\u2019t respond to negative attacks that are coming at him from all sides as he formally begins his campaign for Senate. Udall made the comment during a phone interview today with New Mexico bloggers. He\u2019s been under attack from the other Democrats in the race – Albuquerque Mayor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}