The Richardson Solution

3 Things That Matter

Ok, I'm tired of this "Hillary has it" meme.  As a former Dean supporter, I've seen front-runners take wild turns.

Three Things Caught My Eye today:

First, Bill Richardson is the least rejectable candidate by all voters.  The LEAST.  More than half would never vote for Hillary - 70% would consider voting for Richardson.

Second, Bill Richardson is the Democrat MOST Republicans could most likely work across the aisle with.  That matters if you want progressive legislation (which any Dem wants).

Third, veteran political scientist Larry Sabato says that Richardson is UNBEATABLE and that his GOP friends privately tell him that if we nominate Richardson they know they will lose.

These are CRITICAL factors to the race.  More critical to any other issue - Richardson has more electorally viable than any other candidate and he can achieve as President.

The campaign should start screaming this from the rooftops.

"As Senators compromise, soldiers die."

Quite a powerful line.  Pretty much sums up how most of this country is thinking - why the heck is our majority party (elected to take stop this war) now thinking of compromising with this president and the GOP?

I took that line from Richardson -

"The time for deal-making is long past. We need real leadership in Washington to end this war and bring all of our troops home. The American people elected this Congress to create change and get us out of Iraq, and yet it still has not happened.

"Small concessions and Beltway brokered deals will only allow the bloodshed to continue. As Senators compromise, soldiers die.

"The longer our troops remain in Iraq, the longer we remain an excuse for the different groups in Iraq to avoid finding a political and diplomatic solution to the war.

"Our brave military has accomplished its mission. There is nothing more for them to do but to serve as targets for insurgents.

"I am the only major candidate who believes we should leave no residual forces in Iraq- zero. My opponents would leave behind an indeterminate number of residual forces.

"Only with a complete U.S. troop withdrawal -- supported by an all-Muslim U.N. peacekeeping force, aggressive regional diplomacy, and an Iraqi Reconciliation Conference to bring the different factions together -- can Iraq begin down the road toward security and stability."

Pay attention, netroots.  There is a Governor in the race, who, among countless domestic and foreign accomplishments may be one of the best grassroots campaigners this party has seen. (I'll cite the Guinness Book of World Records for that).  He also happens to be the most clearly in line with the American people on this war.  While Clinton and Obama wrestle endlessly with their Senate votes and Chris Dodd parlays his low-second tier status into positioning (and by the way -I AM NOT TRYING TO ELECT ANOTHER NORTHEASTERN LIBERAL AS PRESIDENT...so sorry Dodd lovers). 

Richardson is there.  He has the experience.  He makes jokes (sometimes bad ones, but more often funny) and is a real human being who has done great things for his home state.  I know I'm pretty biased, but damn.  It's pretty clear.

 

Richardson's Thoughtful Green Interview

Richardson gave an interview with Salon recently and it focusing almost exclusively on the Governor's record and plans for energy independence.

Read the whole thing here.  I've included a favorite snippet:

You've dubbed yourself the "energy president." Why did you choose that moniker?

Right now, the most important domestic and national-security issues involve America becoming energy independent and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. I believe it's going to take an "energy president" who will lead this country toward these goals by asking all Americans to sacrifice for the common good and be more energy-efficient and promote a green style of living.

Many of the candidates are trying to paint themselves as the green candidate. What makes your platform stronger than the others'?

On energy, both the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters have stated that my plan is the most aggressive, with the strongest timetables.

But what differentiates myself from other candidates is I've actually done it. I've done it as energy secretary in the Clinton administration by tightening air-conditioning energy-use standards by 30 percent, building a strong portfolio of renewable energy, and promoting 100-mile-per-gallon vehicles through a fuel-efficiency initiative with the auto companies.

Then, as governor of New Mexico, I believe we have the most clean-energy initiatives of any state. We have a renewable portfolio standard going to 20 percent by 2020. Our state is on track to observe the Kyoto treaty. We have no taxes on hybrid vehicles. We're the first in the country to export wind energy. We also have a number of incentives for solar, wind, biomass, biodiesel and distributed-generation fuel cells.

I was also probably one of the most active pro-environment congressmen. I pursued and made law a number of national parks, wilderness areas, river protections and air-quality standards. When I was on the committee [overseeing the] Interior [Department], I worked on bills including the Jemez National Recreation Area and the South San Juan Wilderness.

You've vowed as president to mandate a 90 percent greenhouse-gas emission reduction by 2050 --

I've also proposed a strong standard in the short term: 20 percent reductions by 2020.

These goals are even stronger than some environmental groups are calling for. Why such dramatic targets?

Because we can't wait. It's a matter of necessity. It's important because it involves our national security. Our energy dependence on foreign oil is so unhealthy -- we could be vulnerable to an oil price shock, to $5-per-gallon gasoline prices, to long lines at the pumps. What I'm also advocating is a dramatic shift in mass transit, like I've done here in New Mexico with the Rail Runner. But we'd have, nationally, transportation policies that promote sensible land use -- not just proposing highway funding bills, but bills to establish light rail and bullet trains and more energy-efficient transportation. Also, land-use policies that advocate open space. This is for a better quality of life for all our people.

Hispanic Vote Analysis - Straight from the GOP Chairman

With the launch of Mi Familia Con Richardson, I've been meaning to get back into discussions about the hispanic vote and what it means for a Richardson candidacy. 

But, after I found this quote from the International Herald Tribune, I thought I'd let Mel Martinez (GOP Chairman) speak on it himself:

The more basic considerations are cause for gloom. The fastest-growing major ethnic voters in America are Hispanics. Several years ago, there was Republican optimism that the party's promotion of a can-do entrepreneurial spirit and fealty to old-fashioned values were winners with these voters; in the last presidential election, George W. Bush got 40 percent of the Hispanic vote, a significant increase from earlier contests.

The ugly fight over immigration, with prominent Republicans leading the bashing, has set back these hopes, perhaps for years. In the midterm elections last November, the Republican Latino vote dropped to 30 percent.

"If we get the same type of Hispanic support in the next election cycle that we did in the last, there is no way we could elect a Republican president," said Senator Mel Martinez of Florida, chairman of the national Republican Party. (my emphasis added)

Now, I think this is pretty clear analysis.  If a Richardson candidacy can hold the Hispanic vote to what it was in the last election (30%), key battleground states fall for the Democrats.  Now imagine, that the mega inspirational and outreach apparatus from a Richardson candidacy pushes the Hispanic vote to Democrats up to 80% (given the GOP 20%).

I think there is a clearer phrase to sum all that up: electoral landslide.

Chew on that.

All-time unemployment low in NM?

Say it ain't so.  Can't because it is the truth?  Heck yeah.

SANTA FE – Governor Bill Richardson today announced that New Mexico has hit an all time record low unemployment rate. In June the unemployment rate fell to 3.2 percent. The previous record of 3.5 percent was set in February 2007.

"Another drop in our unemployment rate means our policies are helping put more New Mexicans to work," said Governor Bill Richardson. "By keeping our taxes low, by providing incentives to attract high-wage jobs, and by building a better skilled workforce New Mexico's economy continues to grow and our unemployment rate continues to drop."

The national unemployment rate is 4.5 percent.

Take that Senators.  Feels good to be back.

Great Iraq Debate Montage

This is great.  For awhile, I've been waiting for the Governor to hit his debate stride. I knew he had it in him - and we got to see it on display this Sunday.

This is a great Iraq debate montage - it shows the Governor (in the words of his Iowa Director) practically moderating the session.  The question:  How will the residual forces protect themselves?  That is a killer line and probably one we'll hear a few more times.

 

HRC Forum In Retrospect

  It's funny - initially I had really wild thoughts about Richardson's "gaffe" at the HRC forum recently.

This was the moment were he said being gay was a choice, backtracked and then flustered about how he was not a scientist and equality was for everyone.  I have to admit, it had me puzzled.  And then, thanks to Stephen Cassidy and his amazing internet work, I came upon this post from the Nation:

RK: What did you all think about the way Bill Richardson answered the question, posed by Melissa Etheridge, about whether you are born gay or choose to be gay?

AS: I thought Richardson's failure to grasp that question was one of the most poignant moments of the entire forum. It honestly didn't matter to him. It just wasn't computing. Why would it matter? Why would protection from discrimination be appropriate for people who were born Jewish but not for people who converted to Judaism? It makes no logical sense whatsoever, and I think that's why it wasn't computing with him, and I found that kind of endearing and also heartening.

LD: I think it was the inadvertent best moment in the whole forum because his answer was basically so good. He said it doesn't matter, that equality isn't a matter of choice or biology. It's when he said, "I don't want to characterize people according to some standards of science that I don't understand."

AS: It was his least political, most direct answer. You could really see him processing the question and trying to think it through because for once, he didn't have a prepared answer. It was very naked and honest--and right-on.

LD: They pushed him on it over and over again. Margaret Carlson followed up and explained to him that saying you are born gay is the ground on which equality can be claimed. But he was clearly, absolutely resisting the language of choice versus biology. It's not clear to me why he was, but he was.

TN: That marks a certain political shift. I thought it was a positive sign.

It made me think - that his answer is the right one right?  Because equality is for all.  Whether or not someone chooses to be a certain way or is born, that is still them and their choices.

In many ways, it is the most post-modern yet old school answer one could have offered.

 

Ask Bill...well anything

This is exciting.

I have to admit, I enjoyed the YouTube debate.  It was entertaining, lively and directly cut out "moderators" (AKA hack jobs...cough cough) from the discourse.

Now Richardson has gone ahead (kudos to the web team, by the way) and made this process direct for his campaign.

Check it out here.

Veteran's Issues

I've said it before, I'll say it again - Richardson stands above all other candidate on veteran's issues.

Give me something concrete Obama, Clinton or Edwards has done for veterans.  ....nothing?  Ok well, check this out:

I think I'll let that ad speak for itself.

Richardson moves into New Hampshire top-tier, watch the video for details

Some of you may have heard about the Governor moving past Edwards in New Hampshire.  The question on everyone's mind is how?  How did this Governor from a little known state now break into the top tier of the party's choices? 

Here is why:

If everyone in the primaries watched this, the Governor would be a shoe in. This race is far from over folks. In fact, a western governor with the best resume? The electoral chaos it would produce for the GOP is unthinkable. New Hampshire Dems seem to be on the right track. update: Again, my girlfriend watched this video and remind me agaim: his jokes are actually funny and well-intentioned.