Down in the polls nationally and in the battleground state of New Mexico, Republican presidential candidate John McCain revved up an enthusiastic crowd of about 1,500 in Mesilla Saturday, urging them not to give up on him.

While McCain and Sen. Barack Obama were virtually even in New Mexico in August, various polls show the McCain-Palin ticket began falling behind in September and is seven to 13 points behind in the state with a little more than a week to go before the election.

Texas, which has not gone to the Democrats since the 1976 election of Jimmy Carter, remains solidly behind McCain, who leads the Obama-Biden ticket by no less than 10 points.

That explains why Sen. Hillary Clinton was addressing more than 2,500 people in Sunland Park while McCain was 30 miles away on what was a busy Saturday that had him stumping in Albuquerque earlier in the day and on his way to Ohio, another toss-up state, afterward.

McCain's entrance

“We need New Mexico to win,” the Arizona senator said, touting his Southwest credentials. “I know the issues. I know water. I know Native American issues. I know public lands. I know we have to support our laboratories at White Sands and Los Alamos.

“Sen. Obama has never been south of our border. Sen. Obama does not understand these issues. I do.”

Accompanied by Republican stalwarts, Sens. Lindsey Graham and Pete Domenici, McCain stood by traditional Republican policies without referring once referred to President Bush.

He promised to take the country in a new direction but much of what he said tracked the Bush line, from victory in Iraq, to tax cuts for the middle-class and businesses.

“I intend to hold the line on taxes and cut them to make America more competitive and create jobs here at home,” McCain said. “We’re going to double the child deduction for working families. Well cut the capital gains tax. Well cut business taxes to help create jobs and keep American business in America.”

He also promised to freeze government spending on all government programs except those like defense, veterans’ care, and Social Security “until we scrub every single government program and get rid of the ones that aren’t working for the American people.”

“I will veto every single pork barrel bill that comes across my desk,” he said.

McCain hit Obama and the Democrats again and again for backing proposals to raise taxes and spending.

“He believes in redistributing the wealth, not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs,” he said. “Sen. Obama is more interested in controlling wealth than creating it.

“He’s in the far left lane of American politics. He’s the most liberal senator in the United States Senate. So it should surprise you that his goal is to redistribute money instead of spreading opportunity.”

An energized McCain brought the crowd to a cheering frenzy with a final crescendo of verbal fireworks:

”I’m an American and I chose to fight. Don’t give up! Be strong. Have courage and fight! Fight for a new direction for our country. Fight for what’s right for America! … Fight to get our our economy out of the ditch and back in the lead! Fight for the ideals and character of a free people! Fight for our children’s futures. Fight for justice and opportunity for all! Stand up and defend our country from its enemies! Stand up. Stand up! Stand up and fight! America’s worth fight for! … We never give up we never quit! … Let’s go win this election and get his country moving again.”

When it was over, those who will vote for the Republican ticket or have already done so were heartened by McCain’s 18-minute address.

Lydia Ramos, a 56-eyar old resident of La Union and a former El Pasoan who had supported Hillary Clinton, said she was thrilled he came to Mesilla.

“He’s a kind man,” she said. “He has a soul and he’s talking to all of us. That’s important and we can’t forget that. We can’t forget the experience the man has. We can’t put a man in office that doesn’t have that experience. I’m not really sure what people don’t understand about that. I’m not going to leave this country to a candidate that doesn’t have that political experience.”

She said she turned her back on the Democrats when Clinton didn’t get the nomination.

“I switched over immediately to McCain because if the Democrats are going to think that poorly of Hillary Clinton who has more experience, then I don’t need to be with that party. I belong with the Republicans, but mostly McCain.”

Darrell Gumm, a 25-year-old El Paso college student who wll be voting in his first presidential election, said he thinks McCain is the candidate who will bring change, not Obama.

“He’s the one that’s going to move our country ahead,” he said. “I also think he supports our troops. We should keep our troops in Iraq till it’s safe to get out.

“I think Obama’s going to rush thing and he might make things worse than they already are.”

To reach David Crowder, write to dcrowder@epmediagroup.com or call (915) 351-0605