Letters to the Editor
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Don Quixote Indeed
I think a more pertinent question than how Bill Richardson, who looks so good on a paper has managed to come off so poorly in person, is how one who has committed gaff after gaff publicly could have actually have filled all of those positions competently. After years of watching cronyism is action under Bush, I am not inclined to give a pass to someone like Richardson who at times has comes across as clueless as a typical Bush appointee.
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Applause at the end of the NH debate
Did anyone notice that at the end of the debate when the candidates were asked what they'd do in their first 100 days that Bill Richardson said something about restoring civil rights or Constitutional Rights and it got the most applause? Did I remember that right? Seems like he is on to something. The audience certainly responded. Maybe restoring Habeas Corpus is a real issue among concerned Democrats. Anybody else notice this or was I dreaming?
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Bill Richardson Deserves More Attention
I can't believe my weary eyes. An article about a candidate other that the Milquetoast 3! I appreciate the opportunity to learn anything about any of these candidates, but I am hoping to learn more facts than opinion when I read your editorials. Unfortunately, it felt as though you had it in for the Governor -- a few lines almost dismissing his impressive experience then criticism and gloom and doom about his recent personal appearances throughout the rest. If you were to list the waffling or gaffe's by Clinton, Obama or Edwards, the list would be much longer, even though the Governor's experience in politics exceeds any of the three.
It is fair and I think important to point out the problems with his campaign and his bumbled appearances. In fact, I appreciate learning as much as possible about ALL of the candidates. Perhaps you could have balanced your article with more information so that we can make our own decisions, e.g. what did he accomplish in some of those impressive positions in which he served? I wouldn't say this article attacked him, but the focus was anything but unbiased and fair.
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Ambushed
Tim Russert's grilling of Richardson was ruthless...granted, it exposed some big chinks in his armor, but still I seriously doubt that Rudy or John McPain would ever get the scrutiny Richardson did...with an excellent resume, Richardson should be batting it out of the ballpark. Sad.
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Bill Richardson does not get my handle!
So there!
/silly
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Richardson
Historically front runners are never first to finish the presidential campaign marathon, so I don't think it's a good idea to dismiss Richardson out of hand just because he hasn't been groomed for the national stage.
I just can't get excited about Hillary. In the end, I think she's WAY too divisive a figure for the DNC to actually put her out there as The One. Obama's got charisma but so did (does) Howard Dean, and he was dead-in-the-water after actually having the nerve to show some emotion last election cycle. Obama may be too slick for such an amateurish blunder, but I can't help but think somehow he's going to be derailed. He's not that experienced and the American public is fickle, as we know all too well. As for Edwards? Well he's got that small issue with his wife's health, which I suspect will be the ultimate death nail for them.
Pragmatism is a double-edged sword...
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A Cloudy Image
Bill Richardson simply doesn't have it, and he won't listen to people who might want to help him. I remember getting a letter from former Johnson-era Secretary of the Interior, Stuart Udall, endorsing Richardson. This brought up all the memories of the so-called "Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute," which we now thank a Republican, John McCain, for finally driving a stake through the heart of. The Southwest United States is fast turning into a political hotspot, and Richardson is coming off as a regal, business-as-usual type of guy. In a nutshell: that's the wrong image at the wrong time.
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STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE; SUBSTANCE OVER STYLE
Poor Bill Richardson. He seems to please no one or hardly anyone at all. He gets less respect than the iconic Rodney Dangerfield. Most pundits seem to enjoy seeing Mr. Richardson in a "gotcha" moment, a faux pas here and a stumble there. And, that's a shame; he deserves much more. I fault both the media at large and the Governor himself for the virtual dearth of positive press.
The press, who seem more fixated on and entranced at the latest Paris Hilton non-news event, are hell-bent on "exposing" Mr. Richardson's grammatical errata or his occasional venture into darkest non-sequituria. (Note: America elected George Bush...who can barely utter a simple declarative sentence without crib notes on the podium.)
For his part, Mr. Richardson's own political ads seem to treat him as some sort of "Everyman". That's nice if you're auditioning to be the new Maytag Repairman, but, not for the Presidency. If he can't take himself seriously, why should we?
Blame, like manure, needs to be spread evenly to be believed. And, in politics, there's a substantial supply of manure with which to work.
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Richardson will need more than Sancho Panza to bail him out
As media scrutiny of candidates intensifies, even among the lackluster MNM hacks who stared blankley as Monica Goodline "explained" voter caging, how long will it be before Richardson's extremely cozy relationship with influence-buying GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut Corrections) comes under the microscope?
Richardson has taken $75,000 from these characters, shilled for a new pen in remote Clayton, NM, and installed a former GEO warden, Joe Williams, as head of his corrections department.
(GEO is very bipartisan. In Kansas they gave 98% of their campaign contributions to Republicans as they sought to have excluding statutes repealed. In California they gave Schwartzenegger $90,000, the last $30,000 while they were negotiating contracts with him. They go directly to power.)
Manny Aragon, another NM pol with similar GEO ties who is the former Speaker ProTem of the NM Senate, was recently indicted.
While Richardson's professed goals sound terrific, rapid withdrawal from Iraq in particular, why should voters believe anything he says?
And then there's the little matter of Wen Ho Lee.
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Richardson
I believe Richardson was treated unfairly by Russert. Some of the things Russert brought up didn't really matter to me. For example, some dispute with the mother of the dead soldier isn't as important as whether Richardson got payments increased for families of dead soldiers nationwide. That is a significant accomplishment, if true. Russert of course was too lazy to find out if it was true or not and let us know about it.
I don't know how Wen Ho Lee fits in to questions Russert asked. Why didn't Russert frame his questions with some background? He was too busy playing "gotcha" to supposedly entertain, rather than inform, us.
Let's see if Thompson, for example, gets this treatment, say regarding how he road around in an old red pickup truck campaigning for Senate, portraying himself as a real down-home guy, but really being a highly-paid lobbyist. Inauthentic.