ALBUQUERQUE — Republican presidential nominee John McCain was introduced Saturday night by Hollywood actor and Oscar winner Robert Duvall at the Albuquerque Convention Center. But Duvall wasn’t the biggest surprise of the night.

That came in the way McCain entered the convention center: in an entrance worthy of any rock star, the Straight Talk Express drove straight into the convention center, emerging from a smokescreen to ignite thousands of supporters.

“We must win New Mexico,” McCain said to the crowd after his introduction. “There is no doubt we are going to win New Mexico,” he added to a cheering crowd that waved McCain/Palin signs and small American flags in the air.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who joined McCain in his latest visit to New Mexico, received a rock star’s welcome as well, fresh off her performance at the Republican National Convention. The crowd chanted “Palin! Palin! Palin!” numerous times during the rally – even when she wasn’t speaking. Palin also continued her role as the “pit bull with lipstick” in attacking Sen. Barack Obama.

“There are those candidates who use change to promote their careers,” Palin told the crowd. “And then there are candidates like John McCain who use their careers to promote change.”
Obama, John McCain’s Democratic opponent, is using the slogan “Change you can believe in” in his bid to become the next president with Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate.

Sarah Palin speaking to a corwd of supporters at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Photo by Matthew Reichbach She praised McCain by saying, “He’s the only man in this race who’s got what it takes to lead this country” and “There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you.”

The two, who headlined the night, spoke for little more than 30 minutes combined.

McCain’s visit to New Mexico, his fourth since Memorial Day, signaled once again to New Mexicans that they will be heavily courted by both presidential campaigns as Nov. 4 nears. As if on cue this week, the Obama campaign announced that he is scheduled to visit northern New Mexico Sept. 18, which is his fifth visit to the state, his campaign said.

Before McCain and Palin spoke Saturday, several prominent New Mexico Republicans got to speak in front of what may be the largest crowd of their careers.

Senate candidate and U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce gave the invocation and gave way to Larry Larranaga and Justine Fox-Young who led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. Pearce did not make a campaign speech, but the candidate he defeated in the Senate primary, Heather Wilson, did receive a plum speaking spot.

U.S. House candidate Darren White also spoke to the crowd and accused his opponent Martin Heinrich of being a “lobbyist.”

Wilson differed from the rest of the speakers by taking the microphone off the stand and walking around with it, talking to all sides of the crowd (the stage was in the middle). She said she was glad to have a hockey mom on the ticket, saying if Vladimir Putin of Russia got out of hand, Palin could “check him into the boards.”

Much of the event seemed dedicated to introducing Palin to New Mexico. Alaska, it appears, is suddenly a much more popular state than it was two weeks ago in the Land of Enchantment, with one person holding an “Alaskans for Palin” sign in the air before the event.

Palin also repeated some of her more controversial claims. She mentioned she put the former state jet “on eBay” because she thought it wasn’t practical. Radar reported it was placed on eBay, but didn’t sell. Instead, Alaska needed a broker to sell the plane.

She also repeated her line that she said, “Thanks, but no thanks” to Congress for money earmarked for the so-called “Bridge to Nowhere.”

She actually supported the bridge before she was against it.

The crowd didn’t mind. They interrupted Palin’s speech with cheers dozens of times and clearly had energy – even after some waited for hours in the hot sun just to see McCain and Palin speak.

And they were clearly happy to see Palin. One teenage fan beamed as she showed off Palin’s autograph on her hand.