Vice President Joe Biden appeared in Albuquerque for a fundraiser for potentially vulnerable Democratic Congressmen Martin Heinrich and Harry Teague on Monday. Congressman Ben Ray Lujan was in attendance but was not a focus of the fundraising.

Biden spoke for a little more than half an hour at the Hotel Albuquerque, according to a pool report by Albuquerque Journal writer Dan Boyd. The “about 100″ attendees paid $1,000 to attend the event.

“They’re good Democrats, but they also have heads of their own and minds of their own and it seems to me that’s what you guys produce out here,” Biden said, speaking of Heinrich and Teague.

The two Democrats are a part of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Frontline Program, a program designed to help vulnerable Democratic candidates win re-election.

The state Republican party issued a statement saying that the fundraising event showed that Teague was “desperate” because Republican candidate Steve Pearce outraised Teague in the 3rd quarter of 2009. Teague still has more cash on hand.

“To the detriment of New Mexico families, Representative Teague has delivered votes that further the left-wing agenda of Nancy Pelosi and the Obama administration,” Republican Party of New Mexico executive director Ryan Cangiolosi. “Today, Vice President Biden is returning the favor by helping Mr. Teague fill his campaign coffers safely outside Teague’s district where many of these policies are unpopular.”

In a separate statement, the party noted that Heinrich had attacked his Republican opponent for not reimbursing the county for $5,000 incurred for security for a fundraising event headlined by then-President George W. Bush.

More from the pool:

Biden said both representatives are fighting to better the lives of middle-class families, and contrasted that with Republican members of Congress who he described as believers in Wall Street.

“I know what the Republicans are against,” he said. “I haven’t figured out what they’re for.”

“Change really has come to Washington,” Teague said. “But we still have a lot of work ahead of us.”

“It is incredible to have someone there who not only knows the last names of heads of state, but actually knows them,” Heinrich said of Biden. Biden served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee while a member of the Senate.

Biden also addressed the financial crisis that has been a source of concern for many Americans.

“We inherited a black hole this country had fallen into,” he said. “I don’t think anybody knew how deep this recession was at the time.”

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe, former Oklahoma senator Fred Harris, New Mexico Democratic Party Chairman Javier Gonzales and former U.S. ambassador to Spain Ed Romero were all also in attendance according to the pool report.

This wasn’t the first fundraiser for Biden, who has attended 26 fundraisers for Democratic House members so far this year according to Hotline. Tomorrow, Biden will be at a more public event — the Vice President will be on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It will be the first time a sitting Vice President has appeared on the show, though it will be Biden’s sixth appearance overall.

Biden appeared in Mesilla, New Mexico last year during the Presidential campaign.

Part of Biden’s motorcade was involved in an accident, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

“Police say a woman drove around two police units blocking the intersection and hit a car driven by a sergeant with BCSO,” the paper reported on their blog.

In 2006, a Rio Rancho police motorcycle officer that was part of a George W. Bush motorcade was involved in a fatal crash in Albuquerque.