The New Mexico governor self-destructs on Meet the Press

[oberliner]

During the course of Bill Richardson's Meet the Press appearance Sunday, the New Mexico governor was on the defensive. Permanently. He tried to explain away his state's low rankings on high-school dropout rates, poverty, and crime during his tenure, his bold statements as energy secretary that turned out not to be true, his 72-hour change of mind on the immigration bill, his stance on guns, the stock he once owned in an oil company, his brief support of Alberto Gonzales, his résumé padding on his baseball career, and the story he tells on the stump about a dead soldier whose mother has asked him to stop telling it. Richardson is a world-famous hostage negotiator, so it was poignant to watch him fail to rescue himself from his own hostage crisis. By the end of the hour, he wasn't answering questions so much as swatting at them. "I'm not perfect," he said.

No one television interview should weigh too heavily on anyone's career. Talking-head TV is a highly formalized performance art in which you're doused in itchy makeup, forced to sit awkwardly under hot lights, and desperate to produce winning, accurate, concise answers without pausing to reflect. Anyone can slip up, invert words, or confuse facts. This is true of debates, too, where Richardson had a lackluster first performance.

Still, on Sunday, Richardson was bad.

http://www.slate.com/id/2167195/

[StudentsMustUniteNow]

1. It was awful

I thought diplomats were adept at speaking smoothly and convincingly. Guess I was wrong.

[NMDemDist2]

2. I've seen him speak several times now, and have never been impressed

although good speaking isn't the only thing I'll consider, it's hard to make much traction if you can't get people fired up

[StudentsMustUniteNow]

3. His agenda isn't great

Free trade and all.

[NMDemDist2]

5. welcome to DU SMUN!!

:hi:

yeah, I live in NM and am not planning on working for him. :shrug:

[StudentsMustUniteNow]

7. Thank you sir! n/t EDIT: or madam?

[NMDemDist2]

8. Ms. works or

you can just call me AZDD :hi:

[FrenchieCat]

4. His "lost nuclear secrets" statement was the worse!

Said something to the effect, well we found them behind the copy machine a week or a bit after that.... and did the :shrug:

I'm was thinking (and I'm sure I'm not the only one), well dude, how long do you think it could take for a spy to copy some secrets on that copy machine and stash them behind that copy machine to be found later?.....Doh!

In otherwords, whatever happened, he didn't make those listening to him feel the better for it. :eyes:

[Colobo]

6. The Red Sox-Yankees thing was hillarious... well, pathetic as well.

[Lord Helmet]

9. dayum he was pretty conservative-sounding

and that's being nice

[Disturbed]

10. He should drop out and try to become a better Governor.

He is wasting tax payer's money by staying in the Pres. race.

[nolabels]

11. Addition by subtraction?

I kind of figured something was up with the guy when our local right wing fish-wrap started showcasing him as the most supported Democratic contender in our area :shrug:

[gratuitous]

12. Isn't it strange?

Richardson goes on Meet the Press, and they trip him up in real time, on the spot, with all sorts of information and facts not generally known to the public (Richardson had a baseball career? What's the dead soldier story the man's mother asked him to stop telling?).

But when Dick Cheney goes on, bloviating and belching all sorts of misinformation, misleading statements, and outright lies, Russert can't rouse himself to ask even the most obvious question that might show Cheney to be peddling a pile of bullshit. Facts? Heck, anyone can get confused about this or that, and if the vice president says something, it's just bad manners to intimate that he's talking out his generously upholstered five deferments ass.

I wonder why one guest gets the grill treatment and another gets the kid gloves?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

13. Marine story

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/05/20/mother_of_fallen_marine_says_richardson_misrepresented_conversation_with_her/

My big problem with Bill is letting Bush steal New Mexico from Kerry. And after the loss- he prevented a recount!

[loyalsister]

14. I think he is a unique and valuable statesman

but not presidential material. I have seen footage of him on CSPAN doing a meet and greet and he is awesome when he is one on one with voters. I can see his skills as an ambassador transfer may well to diplomatic needs or opportunities.

But, he is not so good up front and center. I noticed on meet the press his face seemed to lack expression. I don't think I saw him smile. It is as if he has not developed a comfort level outside of the friendly in-state atmospere. I am not sure that he has time to cultivate that.