Upcoming McCain Event Will Test Appeal to Indies, Conservative Democrats and GOP Base’s Enthusiasm

John McCain will be back in NM for a private fundraising event next month.

Joe Monohan reports in his June 12 blog post that:

GOP warhorse Ken Zangara is back in the saddle and preparing to host a July 14th ABQ fundraiser for the man he hopes will be the next President. The well-known ABQ auto dealer, who has raised big dollars for Bush, has started shaking the money tree for soon-to-be GOP presidential nominee John McCain. Zangara has been named McCain’s state finance chair and we’ve confirmed that his first big money raising effort will be a McCain fundraiser at Zangara’s ABQ NE Heights home. The invitation lists several suggested giving levels:

Event Co-Chairman: Raise/Contribute $25,000; Name listed on invitation; Private Dinner with Senator McCain; Photo opportunity with Senator McCain; 2 tickets to general reception

Event Host: Raise $10,000 / or Contribute $4,600 per couple; Name listed on invitation; Photo opportunity for 2 with Senator McCain; 2 tickets to general reception

Individual Ticket: Contribute $1,000; one ticket to the General Reception

(SNIP)

With the economy shaky and the demand for campaign contributions high because of all the open congressional seats, Zangara will have his job cut out for him raising money for McCain. The July 14th fundraiser may offer the first clues on how enthusiastic the GOP base is for McCain who also banks on his appeal to independents and conservative Dems.

ALERT! Local Paper Actually Allows Vets to Say Something Not Fawning about Obama Visit!

…but offers enough other comments to offset their impact…a few Obama clone comments, anti-Clinton, pro-Clinton comments, too. (Of course, my comment would never be printed since I nailed the paper for complicity…)

Here we go!

I am insulted. Mr. Obama and Gov. Richardson both came here to pander votes. I am a veteran, Navy, 1963 to 1966. I wasn’t invited to the speechmaking. To hear that Richardson compared Obama to President John F. Kennedy is the ultimate insult. Neither of them served. For Richardson to make such a comparison insults President Kennedy, a Navy veteran.

(The) Sen. Obama … event was limited to veterans by invitation only. I am a veteran of World War II. I am also a registered Democrat. I am active in community affairs. Did I get an invitation? No! Guess who I am going to vote for. Nobody! None of the candidates is good enough to be my president and commander-in-chief. What a sorry state our political system is in.

UPDATE 3: Video of Memorial Day NM Obama Visit Up…Local Press TOTALLY & SHAMELESSLY COMPLICIT in Boosting Obama

Wow, I’m totally stunned by what’s going on in the local press. I knew the press would be complicit, since no one but they and the Obama supporters knew about the town hall rally.

I have never seen VIDEO of an entire political event put up for any candidate before. I’ve attend events for Kucinich, Edwards, Gore, Kerry and Clark in the recent past, but never have I seen such a push for a candidate.

Click here for all videos which show the entire event. (These are OFFICIAL “Las Cruces Sun-News” videos, too, not just links to video that someone posted on their own.) The banner on the page I chose is titled “Reaction to Sen. Barack Obama’s speech to veterans at Farm and Ranch” and the true believers are on tape and ready for a campaign ad. I’m not sure, but I guess that’s a flag pin on Obama’s suit today…

I am utterly disgusted by how this has been handled…the secrecy, cutting out the public, Richardson, and, of course, the total COMPLICITY of the press. On a day when we’re supposed to be “honoring those who have fought for our freedoms” we see a re-enactment of a BUSH-ROVE type of event, barring the public and a press corps that is not asking any questions. Hey, “progressive bloggers”–you now like a candidate who packages events like the old Soviet Union??

NOTE: I am all blogged out this weekend…so I may be off for a day or two as I catch up on things I need to do!! I also have to recover from hearing Richardson describe Obama’s IMPECCABLE CHARACTER and his being a man of PRINCIPLE and a “ONCE IN A GENERATION LEADER” who is a PATRIOT and who loves this country with ALL HIS HEART. He ends by speaking in Spanish, but works in JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY in plain English. Oh, please…

UPDATE 2 on Obama in New Mexico, Memorial Day–Nothing Like an “UNBIASED” Press…

Obama has left the rally. He shook hands for about 15 minutes before leaving at around 2:20 pm local. He apparently did take a few questions from the audience, which was not exclusively VETS. I am guessing that they had to combine the “Vets Only Town Hall” with the “few other stops” as reported originally so that they could create a big enough media event. The blogger in his first post reported only about 100 vets out of a total of about 300 people.

The event is “reported” over a series of 10 short posts. A couple of them are devoted to Obama’s speech, which is quoted. One has to wonder if it is really transcribed or if it was handed out to the media before the event–because, after all, ONLY THE PRESS and the SELECT AUDIENCE was told of the venue ahead of time! I would guess the blogger plugged it into the report verbatim from a text handed to him.

Overall, It sounds like pretty typical campaign stuff on military issues, tied into thanking the military.

“I speak to you today with deep humility,” Obama said. “I don’t know what it is like to march into battle, as many of you do. … I am the father of two young girls, and I cannot fathom what it is like to lose a child.”

“Our sadness today is mixed with pride” for our veterans who gave their lives.

(I hate to be snarky, but he doesn’t seem to care about what his two girls hear at church…)

The questions that were REPORTED on by the Times blogger were about the VA, Blackwater, the economy, and “ballistic missles versus language training because in our current war, we didn’t have people to speak the language of our foes or allies.” Obama apparently didn’t foul up like he has before on the language actually spoken by local translators. He kept his answer nice and generic.

Here’s the part of this report that is really questionable. This is how the blogger/apparent reporter for the El Paso Times signed off from the blog…

Obama shook hands for about 15 minutes, then left to cheers. That’s all I have for now. I’ll give you more when I return to the office.

In closing, Obamanos!

What’s that all about?? Is it supposed to be PERSONAL?? As in, we ALL love Obama?? And he’s reporting??? Or is that the secret code word for all the Obama supporters in the area? (Don’t forget, Clinton won NM…)

No reports of swooning, or if there was any, it was most likely due to heat prostration or sunstroke…

Tomorrow I will see how the local sister paper plasters this all over the front page and report on that, too.

PS–It will be interesting to see if anyone calls into the “Sound Off” line with a comment about how disrespectful it was to turn a “Veteran’s town hall meeting” into a rally on Memorial Day…especially when we are supposed to honor those who “fought for our freedoms” which apparently DOES NOT INCLUDE allowing the general public to attend!!

UPDATE 1 on Obama in New Mexico, Memorial Day

News is starting to dribble in about the Obama event here in Las Cruces. Seems that the touted “Vets Only Town Hall” wound up with fewer vets than supporters contacted via the phone-chain. And it sure isn’t all about the vets…or the general public….I guess I could go over, but I’m afraid of what the Obamatrons would do to me…and, of course, there is the HEAT!

From the El Paso TImes blog at about 12:30 pm local time:

There are about 300 people here at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum waiting for New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Although it is billed as an event for veterans, it looks like only about 100 of the folks are actually veterans.

Although most people are in their chairs, there are more and more people retreating toward the closest shady area. I’ll be curious to see how long Obama speaks in this heat. But I suppose he’s in good shape.

You bet they’re looking for shade…it’s blistering hot in the noonday sun in these parts…

Next report in about 1 pm:

The mayor of Las Cruces, Ken Miyagashima, began the festivities about 12:40 p.m. He mentioned the heat and the lovely backdrop of the Organ Mountains. After thanking the veterans in the audience, the crowd stood for the Pledge of Allegience. “I want to thank the veterans for their service to the country,” Miyagashima said. “We will never forget your service.”After a few more references to “our next president, Barack Obama,” he was done.After that, it was back to waiting. It’s about 1 p.m. now, waiting for the action to start.

I voted for Ken Miyagashima for mayor and knew him slightly from the Clark campaign. I was pretty ticked off when he personally helped open the Obama office here, just after he was elected in a very close election. As mayor, he’s been very low-key. I felt that it was inappropriate for him to be so partisan so early on. And, he’s still at it. This may not help him in the future if he decides to run again, because his original high-profile campaign office appearance, complete with picture in the paper, did miff a lot of people. He does have a nice contact list, so I’m sure lots of people at the RALLY (not the advertised TOWN HALL MEETING WITH VETS ONLY) are from that list.

By the way, I heard a national radio report on McCain’s ABQ appearance, which was at 9 am local. I guess the evening news will be full of video on Obama…

More Later…