[August 24, 2008]

D.C. Group Targets Udall: Club's Ads Attacked Wilson in Primary

(Albuquerque Journal (NM) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 24--They're back.

An outside special interest group lambasted by New Mexico's senior senator for attacking Republican Rep. Heather Wilson in the primary election now is taking aim at Democratic Rep. Tom Udall.

The Club for Growth spent more than $836,000 to help Rep. Steve Pearce win the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate seat opening up because of the retirement of Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.

Now, t he Wash i ng ton, D.C.-based group is devoting $150,000 for an anti-Udall television ad that chides him for voting against bills that support offshore oil drilling while voting to give the government power to take private property.

"We hope the people in New Mexico will see Tom Udall's poor record on property," said Club for Growth.Net President Pat Toomey in a news release.

In May, Domenici came out publicly against the group, calling them "out-of-state people who were having a great influence on who will win the election."

Domenici's statements came as the Club for Growth was spending nearly $562,000 for ads criticizing Wilson, who lost the June primary to Pearce by a narrow margin.

Domenici, who last week endorsed Pearce in the general election, didn't respond directly to Journal questions about the Udall ad. He was participating in a symposium Thursday and Friday at New Mexico State University recognizing his nearly four decades of work in Congress.

A Domenici spokeswoman said, "The influence of outside money and groups has been an ongoing concern for him not just in the case of Heather Wilson versus Steve Pearce but just overall."

Pearce is among nearly 20 candidates around the country endorsed this year by the Club for Growth, which advocates lower taxes and limited government.

Spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik said it was likely the club will run more ads on Pearce's behalf in the future, but said she couldn't say how much the group will devote to the New Mexico race.

Pearce said last week of the ad, "Freedom of speech is freedom of speech. I have no problem with what Club for Growth is saying unless it's not true. What I do have a problem with is what Tom Udall is saying because it's untrue."

Udall told the Journal the commercial misrepresents his views in that he supports drilling as part of an overall plan to achieve energy independence.

He too decried the involvement of an out-of-state group.

"It's part of the process now," Udall said. "In a very real sense, candidates have lost control of their message because there's so much special interest money out there."

The ad spurred Udall's campaign to release its own commercial earlier this week "to set the record straight."

Club for Growth's second largest contributor, Texas billionaire developer Bob Perry, was the chief backer of the ads for the so-called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in the 2004 presidential race.

Udall's ad says he does not support lifting all bans on offshore drilling but wouldn't put himself in a category in which he would oppose all future oil and gas development.

What got Domenici to come out publicly against the group was its ad during the primary campaign that put Wilson in the same category as Democrats Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi on the issue of the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Saying it was "over the top," Domenici urged Pearce at the time to demand the out-of-state group pull the TV spot.

To see more of the Albuquerque Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.abqjournal.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
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