The Albuquerque Journal is running an excellent five part series on New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) and what ultimately led him to announce his presidential candidacy. The first three parts were published, with remaining parts coming over the next two Sundays. Lengthy, but a good read.

Part 1: Richardson found New Mexico when he was searching for a place to be from. http://www.abqjournal.com/richardson/531607nm01-21-07.htm

Part 2: Richardson was just 35 when he was sworn in as a congressman in January 1983. He had long sideburns, a mop of wavy black hair, a tremendous energy for the work ahead and an equally large ambition. http://www.abqjournal.com/richardson/533643nm01-28-07.htm

Part 3: Richardson's good fortune began in late 1996 with an early-morning phone call from President Clinton, who tapped him to serve as ambassador to the United Nations. http://www.abqjournal.com/richardson/535538nm02-04-07.htm

Part 4: Richardson started running for president almost as soon as he became governor. (February 11)

Part 5: Despite his impressive resume, Richardson still has to prove he's a viable presidential candidate. (February 18)

Richardson really proved himself at the DNC winter meeting. He could be the big surprise of this campaign. Of course, I still don't think he will get the nomination, but he very well may fair much better than anyone thought.

Richardson's campaign manager talks about Richardson's chances in the first four states...

Campaign touts governor in front of the uninitiated

By Kate Nash (Contact)
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Smart Box
http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/feb/20/campaign-touts-governor-front-uninitiated/

SANTA FE — ... Richardson's campaign manager, Dave Contarino, acknowledges that while there are new, important locales in the primary picture, the governor must do well in traditional primary-caucus states like New Hampshire and Iowa - places where Bill Richardson is not a household name. ...

In a recent interview, Contarino outlined the lay of the land - and the governor's strategy - for a vital stretch that comes in January.

Many observers say the Early Four (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina) will separate contenders from pretenders in the Democratic race, and Richardson's camp is working hard to secure as much support as it can as the governor spends part of the spring and summer showcasing his wares to those voters.

Iowa caucus, Jan. 14:

"Iowa is a complicated state," Contarino said. "You've got a very popular, just-retired governor, (Tom Vilsack); you've got John Edwards, who practically lived there four years ago and has visited many, many, many times; you have a next-door senator (Illinois' Barack Obama) who is very popular, a Midwesterner; and you've got the favorite front-runner (Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York)."

Complications notwithstanding, Contarino said Richardson will head north in early March to get started.

"Because of the national press, (because) it's the first caucus, because of everything, you have to go there," he said. "You have to go there, but the expectations for the governor there aren't much better than fifth or sixth place at this point."

Contarino said Richardson likely will wave his r‚sum‚ at Iowans, hoping to "show people that a record like the governor's is popular."

The down-home feel of Iowa's caucus format may help the garrulous Richardson, who excels in banter.

"Iowa voters aren't just voters; they are like political consultants," Contarino said. "They are going to look at your viability, they are going to get to know Bill Richardson, and I think they'll like him."

Nevada caucus, Jan. 19:

Richardson has never made secret the fact he must do well in the West, but Contarino says the race there may be one of the biggest unknowns for everyone involved.

"I don't think anybody can tell you how the Nevada caucuses are going to unfold," Contarino said. "Clearly, we're talking to a lot of Nevada people, but even they don't know."

Richardson lobbied for an early date in Nevada as head of the Democratic Governors Association. He likely will visit both big and small towns in Nevada, which, like New Mexico, has a major urban area and many far-flung rural voters.

Richardson has already made one stop in Minden, population 3,000.

"There tends to be huge turnout in the rural areas of Nevada, but the ballgame is going to be largely won or lost in Las Vegas," Contarino said.

New Hampshire primary, Jan. 22:

Richardson is banking on the unpredictable nature of New Hampshire, which has provided its share of surprises to the Democratic Party over the years.

"New Hampshire loves underdogs," Contarino said, smiling.

The governor's campaign hopes unaffiliated voters give Richardson the support he needs.

"I think it will be very interesting, tactically, what independents do," Contarino said.

Even before announcing he was running for president, Richardson traveled frequently to New Hampshire. It was one of the first hints that he was considering a bid for the White House.

"Of course, the big riddle right now is where New Hampshire is going to end up," Contarino said. "Everyone is going to go there; everyone is going to play there."

Richardson is close to Gov. John Lynch, Contarino said, and apparently has plenty of other friends there.

During the weekend, Richardson attended several small house parties in the state.

South Carolina primary, Jan. 29:

Background and geography are not in Richardson's favor. North Carolina's Edwards is a familiar neighbor, and about half of the state's primary voters are black, which may favor Obama.

First-glance loyalties aside, Contarino said, party voters are essentially open to new faces, however.

"I think, I really do, that the voters have not in any way settled on those front-runners," he said. "I think they are willing, more than willing, to hear all candidates and what they have to say."

One of Richardson's first opportunities to reach South Carolina voters comes April 26, when South Carolina State University in Orangeburg hosts the second Democratic presidential debate.

i think he could surprise everyone. while obama and hillary get raked over the coals and get overexposed, richardson will be waiting to swoop in for the nomination. people will tire of obama hillary.

Richardson Defense on Character Raises Questions
By: Ben Smith
March 8, 2007
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0307/3054.html

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's 2008 presidential campaign has been burdened by unusually public discussion about his behavior with women.

The lieutenant governor of New Mexico, Diane Denish was quoted in the Albuquerque Journal saying she avoids standing or sitting near Richardson because of his physical manner, which she said was not improper but was "annoying." The governor, she said, "pinches my neck. He touches my hip, my thigh, sort of the side of my leg."

On repeated occasions, Richardson has been pressed by reporters or Democratic activists on whether his personal conduct can withstand public scrutiny.

Richardson, in an interview with The Politico, denied behaving inappropriately, calling the talk "mean-spirited." Still, the concerns have become enough of a headwind for Richardson's campaign that the candidate has a more substantive response -- that his personal conduct was vetted, and effectively given a seal of approval, when he was considered for the vice presidential nomination by John F. Kerry in 2004.

"The Kerry people vetted me for vice president," he told The Politico last week. He knew this, he said, because Jim Johnson, the veteran Washington lawyer and Democratic insider, "has said so."

But that line of defense may be less effective in shutting down speculation than Richardson hopes. After five days of phone calls and e-mails, and an initial refusal to comment, Johnson released a one-sentence statement saying Richardson had been "vetted" but offering no details about what that entailed.

"The Kerry campaign vetted Governor Richardson, and nothing was found that would have prevented him from being chosen as John Kerry's vice presidential candidate," Johnson said.

Three other people -- either senior Kerry aides or Democrats involved in the vice presidential search process -- said in interviews that Richardson's past was not subject to a definitive examination* aimed at determining whether his personal conduct with women was a potential political problem.

These Democrats, who declined to be quoted by name discussing a sensitive personal matter, said that Richardson withdrew from consideration by Kerry before undergoing a final round of vetting. The final round would have required delivering financial documents and other information to Johnson and his team for an intensive examination of a candidate's fitness for high office. Among those who did go through such a process were then-Sens. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and John Edwards (D-N.C.), then-House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.), then-Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark.

"He wanted to be considered because he wanted his name out there," a senior Democrat close to the vice presidential process said of Richardson. "And once his name was out there, he withdrew. So there was never a full vetting."

This Democrat said Richardson's citing of the 2004 vetting process as a rejoinder to questions about his personal behavior is "a crazy thing to go around saying."

Richardson's campaign manager, Dave Contarino, told The Politico that Johnson told him last fall that Richardson's 2004 vetting had covered allegations of "things with women," and that Johnson told him he'd made two dozen calls on the matter and been convinced "that there was no there there."

Johnson declined to discuss details of the process.

The willingness of Richardson and top aides to speak directly about speculation over his relations with women is itself an indication of how much the issue may be shaping public perceptions of his presidential prospects.

Richardson said the speculation had "no foundation." Even so, many Democrats say gossip about Richardson's personal behavior is an important factor keeping an exceptionally well-credentialed politician -- a former energy secretary and ambassador to the United Nations, who has been elected in a swing state -- from entering the top tier of 2008 candidates.

On the day in January that Richardson announced his campaign, Steve Clemons, a former Democratic staffer who is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, asked in an open letter: "Have you behaved inappropriately or not in public settings with female members of your government administration?"

The question had already been raised by the Albuquerque Journal, which in December 2005 published a front-page piece about Richardson under the headline "Hands-On Governor." Richardson told the newspaper he has an informal, physical style with both men and women that he employs to lighten the mood and connect with people.

Denish -- a Democrat who ran on the same ticket as Richardson -- said that she sometimes finds Richardson's physical style "irritating and annoying" but that he had never touched her in an improper way. Still, she said, his behavior was inappropriate in public because it could be misconstrued.

Lanny Davis, a former Clinton aide and spokesman for the White House legal counsel, also called The Politico, on the prompting of the Richardson campaign, to aver that when he vetted Richardson for a Cabinet position in 1992, Richardson passed the detailed scrutiny.

"I ended up 100 percent convinced that Bill Richardson was not a womanizer, had not had an affair, had not done anything that had embarrassed him," he said.

Richardson subsequently was appointed to high-level jobs in government, including energy secretary, and weathered two races for governor without his relations with women becoming an obstacle. Richardson's resume made him an eminently plausible contender when Kerry began looking for a running mate.

On July 15, 2004, a Washington reporter for the Albuquerque Journal reported receiving an "interesting -- and unsolicited -- phone call" from the ordinarily press-shy Johnson, who sang Richardson's praises.

"Johnson said the Kerry search team pored over everything they could find about their prospective choices, including Richardson. They looked at speeches the contenders had given, articles and books they had written, academic and public policy groups they were affiliated with, financial and medical records and 'personal issues,'" the Journal reported.

"We looked very comprehensively at all of the information available to us," Johnson said at the time.

Another Kerry aide, however, said it was inappropriate to use the vetting as a credential. "We never gave anyone a clean bill of health, or not."

Richardson chalks the rumors up to his campaign style.

"There's nothing I can do except just basically continue," he said. "I've never touched anybody inappropriately. No one's accused me of it. I shake hands a lot. I hold a handshaking record. I believe in the physical side of campaigning. I guess I hug people sometimes. That's me. That's my character."

fuck bluestar don't you think that people who give a shit about this would find this information for themselves

god