{"id":3281,"date":"2008-05-26T18:42:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-27T00:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/05\/obama-holds-town-hall-with-veterans-in-las-cruces\/"},"modified":"2008-05-26T18:42:00","modified_gmt":"2008-05-27T00:42:00","slug":"obama-holds-town-hall-with-veterans-in-las-cruces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/05\/obama-holds-town-hall-with-veterans-in-las-cruces\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama holds town hall with veterans in Las Cruces"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama<\/a> focused on veterans during a Memorial Day event in Las Cruces<\/st1:city> that appeared to be designed more to get attention from the national media than it was to earn him support in southern New Mexico<\/st1:place>. <\/p>\n

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Obama addressed a wide range of topics in response to questions asked during the town-hall meeting at the Farm and Ranch<\/st1:placename> Heritage<\/st1:placename> Museum<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>, but his preceding speech was focused entirely on those who have served in the military.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe all, every one of us, hold in reverence those who have given this country the ultimate measure of devotion,\u201d Obama said. \u201c\u2026 This sense of service is what America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s video of Obama\u2019s speech, courtesy of his campaign:<\/p>\n

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<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

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You can also listen to audio of Obama\u2019s speech by clicking here<\/a> and of the question-and-answer session by clicking here<\/a>, courtesy of KSNM-AM 570 News.<\/p>\n

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

Designed for a national audience<\/span><\/p>\n

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

The picturesque event was held in the courtyard at the state\u2019s Western-themed museum. Obama appeared with Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a>, arguably his most high-profile Western and Hispanic supporter. He spoke to a crowd of decorated veterans with the Organ<\/st1:placename> Mountains<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> as his backdrop. A Fox News blogger noted at the top of her posting about the event<\/a> that Obama was \u201cstanding alongside Governor Bill Richardson in front of the spectacular Organ Mountain Range in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.\u201d <\/p>\n

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

Though the Obama campaign originally announced that the event would be public, it later decided to close it, keeping out all southern New Mexicans except those who were personally invited. Event organizers said fewer than 300 people \u2013 including members of the local and national media \u2013 were in attendance.<\/p>\n

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

Obama also held at least one other Las Cruces<\/st1:city> event that was previously unannounced to the local media or public, a wreath-laying event with Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> at Veteran\u2019s Park. While the public was excluded, traveling reporters from the national media had full access to that event, as did a handful of local reporters the campaign invited to ride along at the last minute.<\/p>\n

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After that event, the local reporters were left behind at the park to find their own transportation back to the Farm and Ranch<\/st1:placename> Museum<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>, while the bus carrying Obama, his team and the national media traveled on. It wasn\u2019t clear whether they were headed to another event in the area.<\/p>\n

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\n

Meanwhile, Republican presidential nominee John McCain<\/a> was in Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> today for a public event honoring veterans that was attended by about 1,000 people. Click here<\/a> to read about it from the Associated Press.<\/p>\n

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

Coming back to Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>?<\/span><\/p>\n

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

State Rep. Joseph Cervantes<\/a>, a prominent Obama supporter who attended the Farm and Ranch event, said many southern New Mexicans worry they may have missed their chance to see Obama and don\u2019t understand why the event was closed. The Obama campaign hasn\u2019t explained why it announced the event as open and later closed it, and has not released dates of any additional New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> appearances, though such events are often not announced until days beforehand.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWe need him to come back. This shouldn\u2019t be the one and only event, because if it is, it is going to be disappointing to people,\u201d Cervantes said.<\/p>\n

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Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima<\/a> said he\u2019s confident Obama, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, will be back before the November election.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI feel very confident that Sen. Obama will be back here in a different venue,\u201d Miyagishima said in an interview before the start of the Farm and Ranch event. \u201cBut this was an opportunity to do a special event for veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

State Rep. Al Park<\/a>, an Obama supporter who traveled from Albuquerque to see Obama at the Farm and Ranch event, said he believes, because New Mexico is a battleground state, Obama will return to southern New Mexico before the November election. He said today\u2019s event was probably kept small to show respect and honor veterans.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI think if you\u2019d done an 8,000-person event (on Memorial Day), it might have been a little over-the-top,\u201d Park said.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>The governor<\/span><\/p>\n

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

The national media did some speculating today \u2013 including this report from CNN<\/a> \u2013 about whether Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> would be Obama\u2019s running mate in the general election. Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, while introducing Obama, focused almost exclusively on something often mentioned as his own strength \u2013 a deep understanding of foreign policy. He called Obama \u201ca patriot who loves this country with all his heart\u201d and who \u201cwill bring us together as a nation so that we can face urgent global challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Richardson<\/st1:city> also took advantage of the opportunity, on Memorial Day and in front of the national media, to promote his own successful push to make New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> \u201cthe first state in the nation to provide life insurance for all active-duty military.\u201d Many believe Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> is angling for a job in a potential Obama administration.<\/p>\n

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Obama, after hugging the governor, thanked him for his support and said \u201cthere are few people in America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> who have served their country in more capacities and with more sustained excellence than Gov. Bill Richardson.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI am so grateful to have his support,\u201d Obama said.<\/p>\n

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

State Rep. Nate Cote<\/a>, in an interview before the Farm and Ranch event, said Obama should consider making Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> his vice president or secretary of state.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cHe would be on my short list for vice president,\u201d Cote<\/st1:place> said.<\/p>\n

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Update, 11:40 p.m.<\/p>\n

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Here are some more photos from today\u2019s event. Remember, photos published on this site are copyrighted. If you\u2019re interested in purchasing them, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Update, 11:50 p.m.<\/p>\n

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

Here\u2019s video of an interview McCain gave today to KRQE News 13<\/a> in Albuquerque<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>:<\/p>\n

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Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama focused on veterans during a Memorial Day event in Las Cruces that appeared to be designed more to get attention from the national media than it was to earn him support in southern New Mexico. Obama addressed a wide range of topics in response to questions asked during the town-hall […]<\/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-3281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3281","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=3281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3281\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}