What about Gov. Bill Richardson of N.M.?

[mtowngman]

I was just watching this week's Real Time, he seems like a decent guy but I don't know much about him. Is he electable?

[stellanoir]

1. gotta love him

he fixed the voting machines in that state.

[Warpy]

4. He killed the recount in 2004 and blocked investigations

into why 17,000+ of us had our votes ERASED in the national races but tallied in the local races for judges.

There are a couple of really nasty lawstuits grinding through the courts over that and he got SHAMED into signing the 100% paper ballot, optical scan system statewide.

[mtowngman]

10. What did he gain or maybe the better question is

who was pulling his strings? I don't doubt what your saying, as I said I know nothing about him. I just don't understand why a Dem. Gov. would help the other side.

[Warpy]

14. Nor did we

[Karenca]

17. Because there are those like Lieberman,

Zell Miller and others -- traitors that pretend they're Dems.

I lost alll respect for Richardson in 2004.

[babylonsister]

5. He wiped the voting slates; I'll never respect him after that. nt

[Warpy]

2. Great SOS, lousy choice for president

He has great negotiating skills. He's a corporatist and antilabor DLC type, though, and that is not what this country needs right now.

He won on ending the state sales tax on food. First thing he actually DID was lower income taxes on the state's multimillionaires (mostly from Hollywood). That caused a shortfall that had him going after the principal of the state emergency fund (never supposed to be done) to pay the TEACHERS.

Two years later, he ended the tax on food, but he RAISED taxes and fees on everything else, giving most of us a net tax INCREASE.

So no, this New Mexican doesn't want the man to run for president. However, I do think he'd make a great Secretary of State.

[AspenRose]

18. What Warpy said.

:thumbsup:

A little too slick for me to trust with that office.

[NMDemDist2]

3. he's a good guy and a solid Dem. was UN Ambassador so has good

foreign policy experience and has been Gov of our state and looks to be re-elected this year. in spite of the very WASP name he is of Hispanic descent

those are the pluses

the minus' that I can see is he is not a great public speaker, his speeches have mostly left me cold and I don't know about his fund raising abilities :shrug:

edit to add, Listen to Warpy, she's been a resident of NM during the entire Richardson admin and knows better than I

[Karenca]

6. Prematurely called off the Kerry/Edwards recount in NM-He's an asshole. n

[Buck Laser]

7. I've been a fan of his since he was in the House, but...

he doesn't seem to be getting much traction. He's got all the right experience--legislative, executive, and diplomatic. He's hispanic. But he doesn't seem to be charismatic enough to attract much attention. If we could choose a president on the basis of experience alone, he'd be a shoo-in. But senators get all the media exposure, and Richardson's not a senator. And he looks frumpy. It's a shame that things like that count, but they do.

[DeepModem Mom]

8. I attended a recent fundraiser for his gubernatorial campaign...

and he impressed everybody in the room. Smart, articulate, funny, and very personable. He'd done his homework, and was prepared to meet almost everybody there, recognizing their name and knowing a little about them -- this in a state outside of New Mexico. He will run, definitely.

[Captain Hilts]

9. My choice for Clark's VP. nt

[Yupster]

19. My prediction for Hillary's VP

He's taken many different jobs for the Clinton's. VP will be one more.

[Lady President]

11. Nope, two reasons

Personally, I really like Bill Richardson. I find him bright, personable, and with the right experience. Unfortunately, there are two reasons he doesn't have a chance:

1. He lied about being drafted to play professional baseball. You don't lie about sports and expect support in the mid-west. He is now saying that he thought he was drafted, but must have been mistaken. You know if you were drafted to play pro ball.

2. He likes to bend the elbow. I have no idea if he's really a big drinker, but the rumors have been around for years.

[AspenRose]

20. I forgot about the baseball thing.

I don't know about other New Mexicans, but he strikes me as someone who likes to put his name to things (e.g. the GRIP project)

http://nmgrip.com/

GRIP may be a good thing, but his putting his name on it strikes me as a self-serving "look at me and what I did" kind of thing that rubs me the wrong way. :shrug:

Apparently he's got a leadfoot, too....got caught on several occasions speeding (at least it's a hybrid SUV):

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/29401.html
http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2006/sep/07/gop-slogan-attacks-guvs-need-for-speed/
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/13/1302.asp

Again, I'm sure everyone here has been caught speeding at some time or another....it just strikes me as someone trying to be 'above the law' when it's done constantly by a state executive.

Although he's corrected himself on it, it also rubbed me the wrong way when he asked people serving on the board of regents to prewrite and sign letters of resignation:

http://www.governor.state.nm.us/press/2004/dec/121504_6.pdf


Here's from when he declared a state of emergency on the border with Mexico and signed an executive order, for what it's worth (FYI, I know this is controversial here at DU):

http://www.governor.state.nm.us/press.php?id=119

[saltpoint]

12. A good man. Blessed with being bilingual in an era when many voters

speak Spanish; a skilled diplomat and former U.N. Ambassador; very strong on energy issues; and a plus as well as a potential ticket member from well west of the Mississippi, our hoped-for new region for vote harvesting.

Serious creds.

[WillyT]

13. What About Root Canal ???

:evilgrin:

[jefferson_dem]

15. Totally unexciting to me. He may be amicable and knowledgeable

but makes me hit the snooze button when i hear him speak.

[WinkyDink]

16. Superficial, but I think it would work against him: He is out of shape.

Americans like "fit" Presidents.

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

21. He has great foreign policy creds

Having personally negotiated solutions to crisis situations with dictators. That is an unusual skills and one that sets a strong contrast against Bush's incompetant diplomacy.

[Elwood P Dowd]

22. This scumbag sold us out in 1993, and he would do it again

For starters, he jumped in bed with Newt and the repukes on NAFTA, GATT, and WTO. He is a corporate DINO who doesn't give a damn about us unless we can stuff a wad of money up his fat ass.

[Pithy Cherub]

23. Wen Ho Lee debacle is partially his

screw up as he headed the Energy Department. :puke: For not making sure no one was disenfranchised in his state a failing grade on election handling.

Other than that pretty sure he's a nice enough person with national security credentials that would do him well in another cabinet role.

[Gloria]

24. My Republican freak mother announced today that she's voting

for Richardson for gov. and that she would vote for him if he ran for President. She said that the Democrats would be making a mistake if they messed around. They should run Richardson because he has everything: Hispanic, but not completely Hispanic; experience as a gov. who will will again big; international experience; and a "charisma" that no one else has. And, she loves his dimples and says that he could make people feel happy with his energy.

I guess she's getting sick of Bush to even consider voting for a Democrat. Even if this is a Democrat that's a bit too DLC-ish for me.
Plus he stopped our recount. What's to love?

[Elwood P Dowd]

25. She can have him.

We can do better than Bill Richardson. He is one of the reasons we are in this fucking mess.

[Karenca]

26. Yes, he sided with the traitors who were against the recount.

I've HATED him ever since----to me he's the same as Rove and all the others who put the dictator in power.