Both of New Mexico's Senate hopefuls (who both also currently reside in the House as State Representatives) voted against the bailout plan.

Democrat Tom Udall basing his objection on the fact that the bailout measure (which passed the House last Friday) "is going to end up giving taxpayer money to CEO's with golden parachutes."

Pearce disagreed with the new bailout plan because he fears "We are either going to see tax increases or we are going to see inflation. We'll definitely see the weakening of the dollar because we are going to either have inflation, debt or tax increases."

Their shared objection to the bailout is one hot-button issue over which the New Mexico Senate candidates find their most significant overlap.

The only minor divergence perhaps between the two lies in their alternative plans that they think would have helped the economy.

Udall preserves government influence, though redirects federal initiative away from the mortgage giants and financial markets: "We should have done an economic stimulus package. We should have extended unemployment. We should have done the things that would start picking the economy up again."

Udall, in contrast, opts for less government intervention: ""There are a lot of things that we could have done that are similar to the savings and loans crisis several years ago. I think we should have learned the lessons from there, tried more free market solutions,"* Pearce maintains.