"Slackers of the world unite," Michael Moore said, passing out clean underwear and Ramen noodles - "the sustenance of slackers everywhere" - to people who promise to vote on Nov. 2.
Moore's Slacker Uprising Tour brought an estimated 7,500 to the Pit on Sunday.
Sen. Richard Romero and Rep. Tom Udall introduced Moore, whipping the crowd up with jabs at President Bush.
"Seventy-thousand Democrats did not vote in the last election in this district," Romero said. "We can't beat Heather Wilson or George Bush with that kind of performance. We need you, so we can stop this war in Iraq."
Co-chairs of UNM's College Democrats Morgan Pierce and Terri Nikole Baca also introduced Moore.
Moore said America's national priorities are "screwed up."
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The congressional commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks spent about $18 million in its investigation, he said. In contrast, the independent council that investigated former President Bill Clinton in the Whitewater and Monica Lewinski investigations spent almost $80 million.
"At one point, there were 200 FBI agents assigned to one of the so-called Clinton scandals," he said. "What if those FBI agents had been doing their real job of returning phone calls to flight-training schools in Arizona and San Diego and Florida," where the 19 alleged Sept. 11 highjackers trained?
TVI student Andy Wilmsen said he was impressed by Moore's relentless effort to unseat the
president but disappointed Moore did not talk about the danger Albuquerque's nuclear weapons caches pose.
"If Kerry does get elected, 'Fahrenheit 9-11' is one of the main reasons," Wilmsen said.
Moore said Republicans, despite their faults, have made many important contributions in the past. He cited President Eisenhower's construction of the interstate highway system, refusal to aid France in its involvement in Vietnam and warning in his departing address of the danger of the military-industrial complex.
But Republicans have become unrecognizable lately, he said.
"Now they've turned into something that I don't understand - the extremist, radical nature of these people in the White House," he said.
Moore cited the Bush administration preventing investigation into background-check files of gun owners that might have contained information about the 19 alleged Sept. 11 highjackers.
"Ashcroft wanted to defend the sacred Second Amendment rights of these 19 murderers," Moore said.
Midway through his talk, Moore was interrupted when Amber O'Shea asked him why he is supporting
Kerry, a pro-war candidate.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the lone Nader voter in New Mexico," Moore said, and the crowd erupted in a mixture of applause, laughter and heckling directed at the woman.
Moore explained to the crowd that he was a primary advocate of Nader's 1996 and 2000 campaigns, but only with Nader's assurance he would not campaign in states where his candidacy would threaten Al Gore's chance for victory.
After Nader was barred from the presidential debates in 2000, he vainly pursued revenge against the Democratic Party, Moore said. He added Nader had already made the Democratic establishment more liberal and should take credit for it.
"You moved them," Moore recalled telling Nader. "Declare victory and go home."
O'Shea said if Moore "had any balls, he would have invited me onstage."
"This is the first time in history people are voting for a candidate they hope is lying," she said of Kerry.
Moore said his books are the No. 1 nonfiction request among U.S. troops overseas. He urged the crowd to distribute his documentary "Fahrenheit 9-11," which was released on DVD this month, by any means.
"You know what to do," he said. "Burn baby, burn."
