Miles Nelson realizes the odds of being elected to Congress are against him.
He said, though, that the United States is in such disarray that he has to try.
"We are living in a very dangerous time," said the Albuquerque resident at a Democratic rally on campus Wednesday. "It is not dangerous because of the threat of terrorism, as the current government administration would lead us to believe, but because of the radical right-wing ideology of the Bush administration and people like Heather Wilson."
Nelson, a UNM alumnus and emergency room doctor at Albuquerque's St. Vincent Hospital, has his sights set on unseating Rep. Wilson, a Republican, and being elected to Congress in the June, 2004 elections.
"It's time the Democrats put up someone who can beat Wilson," he said. "I'm the one who can do that because I'm the one who will challenge her on her record of letting the people of this state down and I'm the one who offers a real alternative."
Nelson said his first order of business if elected would be to change the nation's health care system, which he said leaves the poor "holding the short end of the stick."
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According to the American Heart Association, there are 44 million Americans without health care.
Nelson said that number is sure to increase unless the nation adopts a single-payer health care system that would make insurance companies more accountable.
"Most Americans are one health emergency away from economic devastation," Nelson said, likening the state of the U.S. health care system to a sinking ship.
He said he decided to run for Congress because of the number of uninsured patients he sees every day in the emergency room at St. Vincent.
Wednesday's rally, which drew a lackluster crowd of less than 20, is evidence of American's apathy toward the state of affairs in the country, Nelson said.
"The time for complacency is gone," he said. "It's time to be courageous and take our country back."
Nelson said he couldn't beat Wilson by outspending her on the campaign trail. He said the only way he can pull it off - and for the Democratic Party to take control of the country's government - is by unifying disgruntled Americans.
"We need to come together and brow beat people until they go to the polls and vote the right way," he said.
Not everyone in attendance agreed with Nelson's claims, or his campaign platform.
Seth Heath, secretary of the Republican Party of New Mexico, said he attended the event with an open mind, but Nelson's speech was full of empty rhetoric that lacked any realistic solutions.
"Most New Mexicans don't agree with the policies he (Nelson) wants to impose," Heath said. "Most Americans don't see the Bush administration as an evil regime, like he wants people to believe."
Heath said some Americans don't believe Bush is making the right decisions, but he has the right people in the right positions to lead the country into the future.
"It is going to take more than a few rogue individuals to change the system," he said.
