If anyone questioned the connection between the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the scientific effort to develop medical isotope technology, the social rights leader provided the answer Wednesday night in Kennewick.

"Trying to figure out some way to cure diseases, to extend and expand our lives -- what a great moral mission," he said.

He made the comments during a speech to about 200 people at the Three Rivers Convention Center during a dinner sponsored by Citizens for Medical Isotopes.

Jackson tied the medical science to themes of his public service, such as social justice, peace and education. He spoke to both Republicans and Democrats who were lured by the promise of medical isotopes to cure diseases such as cancer and HIV-AIDS.

"This here is the moral imperative of our time," he said. "This truth's gonna rise. We're going to find a cure for cancer. We're going to find a cure for AIDS. And we're going to make this a more perfect union because we want to."

At times, his message revealed his own ideology. He didn't hold back from criticism of Bush administration policies.

Questioning the administration's commitment to research that can save lives, he contrasted the toll of 4,000 American deaths in Iraq over five years to the 500,000 Americans who die annually from cancer.

"Save us that we might be protected from the terrorists? Cancer is terror. It's in your body," Jackson said.

He questioned national priorities of building first-class jails but second-class schools, of fighting insurgents in Iraq but allowing the proliferation of guns on the streets of home.

But he made the case that people who disagree on some things can come together to support medical isotope research -- a concept he said he will take on the road to other parts of the country.

"What makes the lamb and the lion find common ground?" he asked. He said it's when neither one wants the forest to catch fire.

When Jackson went to Syria, Cuba, Iraq and Yugoslavia to negotiate with American enemies for the release of U.S. captives, he appealed to common ground, he said.

Jackson worked the crowd, raising his voice at times, as if giving a sermon. Other times, he charmed them with jokes.

Dr. Jack Singer of Seattle-based Cell Therapeutics preceded him by telling about the technical aspects of medical isotopes and how radiation is used to program antibodies to more precisely combat cancer and HIV-AIDS.

When Jackson came to the podium, he said, "I don't understand a thing he said. And I believe all of it," getting a laugh from the crowd.

He poked fun at the Tri-Cities, saying nobody just happens to pass through here, but he meant to come here. He described the community as being "in the middle of nowhere" and said there isn't much else to do here than to think.

But he also built up the Tri-Cities for being the place that can export the technology of medical isotopes to the rest of the world.

"In a real sense, God has done great things to small towns with dedicated people," he said, citing examples such as Bethlehem and Selma, Ala., where he marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Some in the audience were skeptical of Jackson's positions.

"I've never been a fan," said John Clement of Kennewick, who said his political views differ from Jackson's. But he commended Jackson for coming to town to support medical isotope research.

"It's great that he's coming to support this. I didn't know he had anything to do with this until about four days ago," Clement said.

Others, such as Dr. Mary Jarvis of Richland, are longtime supporters of Jackson.

"I was just so inspired. ... He's such a moral individual, and he has tried to bring races together," she said.

Jackson spoke at the convention center in the evening after appearing earlier in the day at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Advanced Medical Isotope Corp. in Kennewick.