Not long ago, I wrote about how I was going to miss Bill Richardson after he dropped out of the Democratic primary race. Man, it was good to see him this morning as he endorsed Barack Obama. This guy is fantastic. Everything from his style -- love that goatee thing -- to his self-deprecating sense of humor, to his realness. The guy is a gem. The best part was when he plainly and convincing said that above all else he came to see what a good guy Obama is while they were both on the circuit. Most endearing was the story he related about how during one of the debates he was engaged in conversation with Obaman and missed a question directed to him and Obama whispered the topic, Katrina, in his ear, allowing Richardson to answer the question and save face. That's one of the things that rings true about Obama, he seems like a good guy. Richardson, too. This is a plain-sense, man-in-full, who doesn't take himself too seriously while taking the challenges that we face entirely seriously. I'm not sure his endorsement amounts to much with the voters, but it's still refreshing to see two real people involved in trying to change the direction of our politics from the bogus direction its taken (the passport breaches are the latest example of the kind of politicization of governmental agencies that is more symptomatic of fascism than democracy) to something meaningful and true.
I hope whoever wins the Democratic nomination, and, please God, wins the presidential race, finds a place for Richardson high up in the cabinet. Secretary of State, or even Veep would be nice.
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There are 2 comments posted for this article.
Bill Richardson is a basically honest politico, and would serve well in any Democratic administration. Regrettably, he's an "open borders" believer, who thinks we have endless amounts of resources for third world poverty. The corporate types will try to play him off as a "useful idiot", and take advantage of his idealism.
I'm also concerned that he's not backing Hillary for President. The Clintons have been supporters. Obama has no chance of winning in November--his defense of his association with a racist and his inexperience in running a substantive campaign will continue to hurt him. The goal should be to elect a Democrat, and Hillary is our best chance.
Posted on March 22, 2008 6:13 AM by Tom
I don't know that I agree with Tom's point of view on this, that Obama has no chance of winning in November. I think actually it might be more the opposite.
I read a recent article about independent voters and how Obama has garnered 52% of the support from Independent voters vs. 29% for McCain. Meanwhile McCain garnered support from 53% of Independent voters vs. 28% for Clinton.
Why is this important? Well the neighborhood where I live in Colorado we have 81,000 registered Republican, 32,000 registered Democrat and 50, 900 Unaffiliated. We certainly need the majority of those unaffiliated voters to side with our Democratic Candidate if we are to have any hope of winning Colorado in November. Colorado is definitely very much a "purple" State these days and very much up for grabs.
For what it is worth Obama won the State of Colorado by a 3-1 margin and a 4-1 margin in my neighborhood. I know we don't have as many electoral votes as the State of California, but I guarantee you that Obama has a far better chance of beating McCain here than does Clinton.
Posted on March 22, 2008 4:41 PM by Sean