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McCain Can Try to Reinvent Himself, But New Mexicans Aren’t Buying It

Albuquerque, NM –This morning, John McCain launched his effort to reinvent himself for the general election with a week of speeches and began airing television ads in New Mexico. 

After running as a so-called "maverick" and "outsider" in his failed 2000 campaign, John
McCain cast aside his principles and morphed into a Bush Republican for this year's primaries.   Now, after embracing the President's budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy, abandoning his own immigration reform plan to cozy up to the right wing of his party, and
turning his back on the campaign finance and lobbying reforms he once championed, McCain is trying to reinvent himself yet again.

But John McCain has already shown how out of touch he is with the problems New Mexico’s families face.  He has adopted President Bush's failed health care plan, and marched in lockstep with President Bush's failed Iraq strategy that 35 brave troops from New Mexico have lost their lives for.  He has supported President Bush's plan to privatize
social Security and refused to offer a plan to help homeowners struggling to confront the mortgage crisis, including 11,492 families in New Mexico who were delinquent on their mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2007.

“John McCain can try to reinvent himself, but New Mexico’s voters aren’t buying it,” said New Mexico Democratic Party Chair Brian Colón.“The fact is, McCain is out of touch with the challenges facing New Mexico’s families and won’t provide the leadership we need to end the war in Iraq, help working families gain access to health care, and fix the economy.  And while we honor McCain’s service to our country, nothing can change the fact that he offers a third term of George W.Bush, and that’s the last thing New Mexicans need.”###

Figures from Iraq Coalition Casualty Count (http://www.icasualties.org/ ) Current numbers from Joint Economic Committee’s calculations of Mortgage Bankers Association data.  Comprised of 6981 delinquent prime mortgages and 4511 delinquent subprime mortgages.