CLAYTON — Three Democratic candidates met Thursday with residents from the towns of Alexandria, Orleans, Cape Vincent and Clayton to share their visions for the future and air their opinions on issues concerning townships on the St. Lawrence River.

State Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, Cape Vincent, Madison County attorney Michael P. Oot and Jefferson County Legislator Addie J. Russell, Theresa, attended the evening event at the Knights of Columbus Hall.

"Everywhere you put your feet on in the entire government there is a problem," said Mr. Oot, a candidate for the 11-county 23rd Congressional District seat now held by U.S. Rep. John McHugh, R-Pierrepont Manor. "You look at the war, the economy, health care, energy, everything. The good news is that it is our job as Americans to fix those problems and we have the right to fix those problems."

Mr. Oot said he wants to end the war in Iraq as soon as possible and hunt down Osama bin Laden.

"We don't have to be in an unnecessary war in Iraq; 71 percent of the American people think that war should come to an end and that it is a distraction from the real war that needs to be fought in Afghanistan," Mr. Oot said.

He also said the American people are in need of an affordable, universal health care system.

"We don't have to have a nation where 41 million people are uninsured and without health care. And the rest of us, the truth is, are underinsured," he said. "We don't have to have a health care system where life-and-death decisions of ourselves and our loved ones are made by major corporations."

Mr. Oot said he also would work to create more local jobs and to reinstate a reasonable tax cap.

All three candidates agreed that Plan B+, one of three flow management protocols laid out after a five-year study by the International Joint Commission, best served the interest of New Yorkers and the environment of the St. Lawrence River.

"B+ is the number one plan," Sen. Aubertine said.

Supporters of Plan B+ say it will improve the environment of wetlands by mimicking a more natural fluctuation of water levels.

"We are the ones on the shorelines. We should be proactive," said Mrs. Russell, a candidate for the 118th Assembly District seat.

She said she will work with Sen. Aubertine to promote the environmentally friendly plan.

Mrs. Russell is running against Republican Robert W. "Bobby" Cantwell III, a Clayton town councilman, and independent Donald J. Lucas, Massena.

The event was hosted by the River Town Democrats, a relatively new organization consisting of Democrats from the towns of Orleans, Cape Vincent, Clayton and Alexandria.