Congressional candidate Martin Heinrich is counting on the Albuquerque community to help in his grassroots campaign as Election Day nears.
Heinrich said he is running for the sake of UNM students and young people in particular, because they will feel the effects of this race for decades to come.
"When I ran for the city council, it was about my desire to have a positive impact in my community and my neighborhood," he said. "In terms of running for Congress, it really was my kids that motivated me. The more my wife and I thought about it, the more unsure we were about the future they were inheriting after the last eight years of what, in my opinion, is grossly mismanaged government policy."
Heinrich will help make college more affordable for the average student through tax credits.
He said he also plans to regulate student loans in order to protect the average student from higher annual interest rates.
"A lot of students get stuck in student loans that they could handle if the loan was at a low interest rate that the government helps with, but what they are left with is a large interest rate that they spend years paying off instead of their actual college loans," he said.
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Heinrich said he will also encourage Congress to invest more resources in education.
"Any time that you can make education more accessible to people, you are really investing into the economy as well," he said.
Heinrich said pulling out of Iraq will help jolt America's slumping economy.
"The time has come to stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq and start spending those resources here," Heinrich said. "If we can't begin responsibly ending this conflict at this time, when Iraq has a $70 billion surplus, you have to ask yourself if they are serious about ever ending this."
Heinrich said he'll push for an "Apollo Project" to bolster clean energy.
"I say 'Apollo Project' because when Kennedy was in office, he said he was going to put a man on the moon, and many people thought that he was crazy for that, but he did it," Heinrich said. "He didn't take no for an answer, and he did what it took to solve the problems that were ahead, and I want to do the same when it comes to clean energy."
Melanie Wood, the campus coordinator for the New Mexico Campaign for Change, said she would vote for Martin Heinrich because he represents change.
"I typically vote Democratic anyways and follow that party line, but I really do not like how Darren White is a staunch Bush supporter," Wood said. "I especially don't like him because he wasted the tax payers' money on the costs of flying out George W. Bush to Albuquerque to raise money for his own campaign."
Junior Stephen Dinkel, president of the Lobo Conservatives club, said he plans to vote for White because he better understands what the government needs to do to help Americans.
"I actually know Darren White on a personal level, and he is a great guy, but I am also voting for him because I think, when it comes to the issues, that he has the right answers," Dinkel said. "Issues like military spending, the economy and energy are serious ones, and I think that Darren White has the answer."
Heinrich said it is important to be active in this election, especially for younger people in the community, because the vote is in their hands.
"I really think that the future of the country is dependent on what young people do," Heinrich said. "I encourage them to get involved, not just by voting, but by picking out a candidate that they like and volunteering."
