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Kerry Proposes government research to develop alternative fuels at Los Alamos
by Mary Dalrymple, October 11, 2004
Associated Press

SANTA FE- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry promised to work for the middle class and energy independence, as he landed in this closely divided southwestern state to prepare for the last presidential debate.

Setting the stage for his third and final face-to-face meeting with President Bush on Wednesday, focusing on domestic issues, Kerry told a small crowd in Albuquerque on Sunday that Bush worked for the special interests, not their interests.

"The president makes his choices," Kerry said. "The president's chosen the oil companies and the power companies. He's chosen the drug companies over you.

"When I'm president, I'm fighting for the middle class in America."

Speaking to voters in a state that supports major government research labs in Sandia and Los Alamos, Kerry said he would push those scientists to develop alternative fuels.

"We're going to get them moving to get us into alternative, renewable energy. We're going to start making America energy-independent," the Massachusetts senator said.

Kerry, who spent part of last week preparing for the St. Louis debate in Colorado - where Bush is campaigning this week - plans to take some time out from debate preparation to deliver a speech Monday hitting the president's energy policies.

The Bush-Cheney campaign has criticized Kerry for working in the Senate against the president's proposals to decrease the nation's dependence on foreign oil and develop renewable energy.

Kerry said he came to New Mexico "to get some clean New Mexico air, get some of that good mountain inspiration" for the debate with Bush in Tempe, Ariz.

The visit also shores up support in a state where a poll taken after the first debate showed the Democrat virtually tied with the Republican incumbent.

"Here I am in the state of New Mexico. George Bush is still in the state of denial," Kerry told the supportive crowd Sunday.

"New Mexico has five electoral votes. The state of denial has none. I like my chances," Kerry said.

Bush was scheduled to attend a fund-raiser for a GOP Senate candidate as well as a campaign rally of his own Monday in the Denver area. He planned to hold a rally Tuesday in Colorado Springs before traveling to Arizona for Wednesday's final debate.

Meanwhile, Kerry's daughter, Alex, 30, was in Colorado on Monday to campaign on behalf of her father. She was to join several other Democrats in the Denver suburb of Golden for a news conference about Bush's record on energy and the environment.

Later, she was scheduled to host question-and-answer sessions with students on two college campuses, one in Denver and another in Boulder.

Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards was also scheduled to hold a town hall rally Tuesday in Commerce City, Colo., just north of Denver.

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