Tom Udall Optimistic Confidence In Market Is Returning.

On Sunday, just before the final televised U.S. Senate Debate, Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich greeted a little more than 100 supporters at Udall's Albuquerque office for a mid-afternoon barbecue.

Talk about dedication, most of the folks who showed up had just spent most of Saturday night at UNM's Johnson Field waiting to hear Senator Barack Obama.

After chowing down on a few hot dogs or hamburgers and drinking their lemonade straight (no Mike's Lemonade here), they got a chance to hear from both Udall and Heinrich.

After talking to his supporters, Udall told me he's concerned some large Wall Street firms, who benefited from the economic rescue package, are planning year-end bonuses for their executives. One report indicates more than $71 billion dollars have already been allocated for these bonuses.

"I voted against the package," said Udall. "I've always wanted to protect the taxpayers."

While Udall wasn't prepared to talk about the U.S Treasury Department's second round of bailouts (for some of the nation's largest insurance companies), he was praising Governor Bill Richardson's quick response to revenue shortfalls in New Mexico.

In this interview Udall say's if he's elected he wants to serve on the Senate's Indian Affairs Committee, help veterans and work on alternative energy programs (we wonder if he'll join Sen. Bingaman on the Senate Energy Committee.)



Udall also shared details of his brief conversation with Obama the night before at the rally. Udall indicated they talked about America's energy future. Obama believes alternative energy program develop will create 5 million new jobs.

In the interview above, Udall also told me voters want their new president and 111th congress to make swift changes next January.

Udall believes if Obama is victorious next Tuesday the young president-elect will host economic, energy and other summits in November and December. Udall believes Obama wants to hit the ground running with "significant plans" already in place.

On Thursday, Udall plans to tour the San Juan College School of Energy before holding campaign events in Farmington, Gallup, and Grants.