Bill Richardson is going to run for president.

[Placebo]

It's pretty darn obvious he is, at least. And reporters who talk to his people all say he's going to run.

Watching him on Meet the Press right now.

What do we know about him?

[Wilms]

1. One thing we know about him...

He got in the way of a recount in NM during the 2K4 election.


But, ya know, Kerry winning the election would have complicated Richardson's aspiration.


Now that Kerry has been successfully run out of the WH, Richardson is all for paper trails.

[Placebo]

2. Hmm, how convenient.

And fair.

Not.

[Karenca]

16. I remember that, and I remember how angry I was him.

I really liked Richardson before that.

What a piece of crap he turned out to be.

[nmliberal]

26. Not true. Not true

Our Democratic Secretary of State, Rebecca Vigil-Giron and her Director of Elections, Denise Lamb (who happened to be President of the National Association of State Election Directors NASED) both insisted the #%&@### machines could be trusted to record the votes. As Governor, Richardson had to believe/support his Secretary of State. That is how that chain of command works.

We in New Mexico fought to have voter verified, auditable ballots for the future and we won that fight.

[LittleClarkie]

31. Sometimes I wonder if Dems didn't get more excited about the fraud

because they really didn't want Kerry in there as an incumbent for 2008. It's like some Dems took 2004 off, reckoning 2008 would be their year with the likes of Hillary and such.

[bobbolink]

32. That was my big turnoff--not supporting honest elections!

New Mexico is my home state, so I'm aware that many defend him on this, but it's indefensible.

Also, the guy has many character issues. We all know the RW will attack everyone, but why give them fresh meat? Check into Richardson's DUI record, for example. THere are other issues.

We really do have a lot of good and qualified Dems. Why settle for less?

[snowbear]

3. I like Governor Richardson...

But I'm not sold that he's running...

What was it that gave you the impression he was tossing his hat in? He's not one of the Democrats who have a PAC or a campaign committee.. http://www.gwu.edu/%7Eaction/2008/web2008/wdems08.html
(Just a re-election site for Governor of NM)

[Placebo]

5. I've read it a few times...

in articles where they've talked to people in his campaign. And also, he continues to rule out not running for president if he's re-elected.

[Zorro]

4. And he cannot win

He'll be wasting his time.

He does not have the national name recognition, and although he's a competent politician, he doesn't have what it takes to win the presidency -- competency isn't the primary requirement.

[NNadir]

6. From what I know of him, I like him.

He was Clinton's Secretary of Energy. He thus had his finger on the pulse of an important issue. I think he did a credible job in that area.

I know he's Hispanic and the few times I've seen him, he was well spoken and seems bright.

I'm really, really hoping for another shot at Al Gore, but I would give Richardson a fair look.

[napi21]

7. I figured he was running a long time ago. This is not surprise.

I don't think he will win the nomination though. I like Bill, but I'm not sure he would be a great Prez!

[snowbear]

9. After what we've been through the past 6 years...

Elmo would make a president than what we have now!

[Monkeyman]

8. HE MIGHT BE ON THE TICKET AS VP

[Sam Odom]

10. Insiders said he was going to be Gore's VP in 2000

but the Wen Ho Lee thing derailed him (i think?)

[Monkeyman]

11. Yep

Wes Clark an him are getting close just a headsup it looks like a VP run with Clark or Hillary just hearing that over grape vine you know how that works 80% bull

[infogirl]

12. Almost Kerry's VP

but he is DLC and I don't trust them for 06 or 08

FRAUD is everywhere...in the vote...in the DLC!

[skipos]

13. If he is running, he better start running, or get a treadmill or something

This country hasn't elected a chubby president in about 100 years.

[Pushed To The Left]

20. President Clinton was heavy when he was in office

He has trimmed down since then.

[Bethany Rockafella]

38. Imo, Clinton wasn't that heavy.

[Darkhawk32]

14. He will not win. He's too fat and not good looking.

I'm sorry, just the truth.

It could be Jesus with an MBA, but if he's fat and ugly, he ain't winnin'.

[snowbear]

15. Yeah, like the dude in there now is good looking!

[Monkeyman]

17. Hey Bush your in a picture in the jungle oops you made it to Nam

Oh hell just a dream

[bpeale]

18. stop with the rumors

bill richardson is running for a second term as governor. he is not running for president. i should know. i'm here in new mexico & i am a member of the democratic party of new mexico.

[Gloria]

19. I'm not impressed with him here in New Mexico....

That vote recount business really pissed me off....

On the other hand, he's trying to stop drilling in the Otero Mesa....

Mixed bag, don't really trust him.

[Douglas Carpenter]

21. he does have foreign policy credentials and he might be a steady hand

as former U.N. Ambassador. As someone who is focused on foreign policy. I feel that Gov. Richardson might be a voice of reason or at least unlikely to be swayed by the forever war crazies who dominate the Republican Party and are trying to gain influence in the Democratic Party.

I found this interesting blog:

http://billrichardsonblog.com/
and these comments particularly interesting:

Richardson wants a withdrawal date Posted on Wednesday 22 March 2006

link: http://billrichardsonblog.com/?p=112

You know you’ve hit the bigtime when the ABC News “AfterNote” podcast is about you. Gov. Richardson’s call for a pullout date got top billing on the inside-baseball podcast yesterday, for good reason.

Note that the rationale is quite different:
“The time has come for a withdrawal,” Richardson told a group of Democrats gathered at a private home. America should use diplomacy to bring the different political factions together while it completes the training of Iraqi forces, he said.

“Our obsession with Iraq has caused us to glaringly miss some of our real challenges,” he said, pointing at Iran, North Korea and al-Qaida.


Meditations on the Iraq War Posted on Sunday 28 May 2006

link: http://billrichardsonblog.com/?p=132

As the Iraq war drags on, it seems like the only Democrats with a chance in hell in the primary are those that didn’t vote to authorize force. This means we’re basically looking at a three-way race: Warner, Feingold, and Richardson.

Troops will probably still be in Iraq in late 2007 and early 2008, and I doubt Democrats are going to fall in love with the conflict in the next 18 months. Richardson has stated that he’s in favor of getting out of Iraq, which is looking more and more sensible as the conflict drags on. Even if you don’t think it’s sensible, Democratic primary voters are going to, which is very interesting.



North Korea missile test and Richardson Posted on Wednesday 5 July 2006

link: http://billrichardsonblog.com/?p=153

"So far, he’s shared some thoughts with ABC News on the topic:

Governor Richardson is a North Korea expert. It is safe to say that he has some thoughts on the recent missile launches. How much he’ll get on network TV to share those thoughts is anyone’s guess. He’s a busy guy, after all–he’s got a state to run, a re-election campaign to win, and as chair of the DGA, he can always fill his time with other governor’s races.

But my guess is you can expect some holdings-forth. The Note has made the obvious connection that he will be highly sought-after on this issue, and he should discuss it. He’s too much of a subject-matter expert not to. He’s one of the very few Americans who has actually been to Pyongyang, and the Democrats need someone with experience on the topic front-and-center. ! "

and this interview from the Today Show:

link: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/02/06/1345971.htm

MR. LAUER: Well, let me ask you this. If you were the United
States, talked face to face with Iran, the Iranians say they are going
to resume their nuclear program. They also say they're willing to
negotiate. We don't have diplomatic relations with them; haven't
since the late 1970s. Is it time to change that?

GOV. RICHARDSON: I would talk directly to them, but I would do
what we are doing, I believe, following a correct policy, getting the
Europeans out front, the International Atomic Energy Agency; 27-3
votes shows international support for our position to not allow them
to have nuclear weapons. But also, use diplomacy. Don't talk about
the axis of evil. Also in America, a huge, huge program of energy
independence, because Iran may use the oil weapon. We don't want $100
barrel oil and huge disruption to our economy.

MR. LAUER: Right. Quickly, though --

GOV. RICHARDSON: So I would take those steps.

MR. LAUER: Quickly, though, Governor, it is striking. Four
years ago we were talking about Iraq, saying they may have been trying
to seek nuclear weapons. We thought they were sponsoring terrorism.
So we went to war. Here we've got a country that's saying right to
our face they are going forward with a nuclear program. We've proven
that they've sponsored terrorism, and they have a president who says
he wants to wipe one of our key allies off the map. And we're
treating them differently, aren't we?

GOV. RICHARDSON: We are. But diplomacy really is our only
option. And what we need to do is continue pursuing the U.N. Security
Council potential sanctions, but use diplomacy. Use the International
Atomic Energy Agency. Get Russia and China. Especially a potential
solution is Russia processing the uranium outside of Iran, making sure
that it's for peaceful purposes.

But it's a real powder keg out there. And our obsession with
Iraq and not concentrating on these other parts of the world, dealing
with Hamas, which could disrupt the Middle East peace process -- right
now I think we have to engage substantially than we have.

[sandnsea]

22. Rationale is different?

How so? I don't get how diplomacy in Iraq, getting the Iraqis trained and refocusing on terrorism and real problems is different.

[Douglas Carpenter]

23. sorry, that was actually a quote from the blog article..I should have used

the quotation marks. That was my mistake. The full statement from this blog article is actually something that I doubt that I really agree with : "Most Democrats tend to phrase Iraqi pullout arguments as “Iraq has failed, let’s just get the hell out of there” or “a lot of people are dying, let’s bring them home.” I’m sympathetic to both of those arguments, even though I am skeptical of Iraqi pullout for various reasons. I’m pleased that Gov. Richardson, for his part, appears to have tied the pullout to the completion of training Iraqi forces, which comes closest of any of the pullout positions to being ethically responsible." "

link: http://billrichardsonblog.com/?p=59

[Totally Committed]

24. Another DLC weak-ass hack...

He's as exciting as day-old oatmeal, and has all the prerequisite pro-corporate, pro-war leanings and values. It's like we're being over-run.

Oh, joy. :sarcasm:

TC

[lonehalf]

25. And wasn't there a little football problem?

The R/W (and R/W press)will have him laughed at.

You can't get away with lying on your resume.

[seabeyond]

27. wont support him until he answers why he stopped recount in nm

in 2004 election. there were obvious problems in that vote in his state and he did all he could to wipe out records of vote before a recount could be done

wont support this dem (and so far the only one, beyond clinton, biden and other non favs, ) for anything until i get an answer

[Totally Committed]

28. Exactamundo!

He has never said WHY he did this, and until he does, he shouldn't be looking to run for POTUS, imo...

TC

[Juffo Wup]

29. He'll lose. Badly.

In the primaries, that is. If he even makes it that far.

[maryallen]

30. Save you money, Bill!

Don't run:

I still remember NM Dems trying to get a re-count in '04 and our boy, Bill, stopped it.

What's that about?
A DLC thing? A subliminal Repub-lite thing?

Who do you really work for, Billy boy?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

33. Sweet Lord, Mother of Mary, no!

[FrenchieCat]

34. Won't happen!

Too much dirt; too chubby; too hispanic (currently out of favor in the U.S.); and too much of a fence sitter.

Plus there is the Wen Ho Lee Case, which gave enough bad ink on Richardson in 1999-2000 that Gore, who reportetly was thinking of choosing Richardson as a running mate picked Lieberman instead. This will definitely be revisited by the GOP and it's media....and it won't leave Richardson looking very good. Just call the newly formed group the "Lee/Chinese secrets swiftbooters"...cause they will be there.....and the media was not divided on the stinging wrath they layed at Richardson's doorstep at the time.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0872860.html
Bill Richardson, energy secretary, lost virtually any chance to become Vice President Al Gore's running mate when two computer drives containing nuclear secrets were reported missing from the Los Alamos weapons laboratory in June. The drives were recovered behind a copy machine in a secure area of the lab. The incident is the second security breach in less than a year. Los Alamos nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee was arrested last year on security violations charges after he allegedly copied top-secret files onto an unsecure computer.

In other words, Richardson is too tainted for the top slot.....and the taint is based on a National Security issue, as well as a Human Rights issue....therefore tainted on both sides of the aisle (New Mexico recount debacle aside).


And in addition, to be perfectly frank.....someone of Hispanic ancestry with foreign policy credentials could have worked on an '04 ticket, but based on the "immigration" issue currently shoved to the forefront, '08 won't be the "time" for Richardson.

The above paragraph sounds racist I know....and so it is......but since the United States overall, in general, contains enough racists in it to make a difference, don't let it surprise you.

[bobbolink]

35. "sounding racist"

"Some would say" that Richardson's treatment of Wen Ho Lee was racist.

He certainly wouldn't get Los Alamos votes!

[nickshepDEM]

36. wrong place

[nickshepDEM]

37. He's without a doubt the most qualified candidate.

Former...
Congressman
United States Ambassador to the United Nations
U.S. Secretary of Energy

Current Governor of a swing state (NM) in a part of the country that is going to be very important in the 2008 general election. He automatically pulls in New Mexico.

Nevada, Colorado, and possibly Arizona become battle ground states.

He has some baggage, but he's definitely worth looking into.