Bill Richardson--Impeccable Resume

[dtotire]

Richardson has been a Congressman, Energy Secretary, Negotiator, now Governor of a Western State. He has been an effective negotiator in many countries and has the experience to be an effective President. He would carry every Western State except Utah, plus the Northeast and North-Central States. Many people in the South and West would never vote for a Northeastener or anyone they percieve to be liberal.

[GregD]

1. what about the 2004 election challenge

and how he refused to support the people? In fact, I believe I am correct in saying he cleared out the voting machines, thus destroying the records of that election.

Why would we want to trust him?

[John Gauger]

6. I remember that he was aiding the disenfranchisement.

I read that, due to some weird circumstance of local politics, it was advantageous of him aid the GOP in throwing out Hispanic votes, supposedly enough to throw the state for Bush. Has anyone else ever heard anything about this?

[Ninja Jordan]

9. Sounds like a load of crap.

[janx]

11. It is. n/t

[John Gauger]

16. Where did you hear the story,

and what about it, or about the governor, makes you think it's crap? It seemed to make sense to me at the time. I think it was that some state representative was complaining about disenfranchisement, but she had been an opponent of his. She had pointed out something inconvenient for him, and he was trying to get rid of her, or something along those lines. Is that right? I don't really remember it exactly.

[janx]

18. It's an internet rumor that has not been substantiated.

There were allegations--lots of them--about this after the election, when tempers were flaring. The New Mexico courts ultimately made the decision not to have a recount, if I remember correctly. And I'm not sure if they would have even been able to do so.

People who blame the governor are looking in the wrong places. There were some messy problems in NM at the time, from what I've read, but they weren't huge, and the governor himself led an effort to use better voting machines with a paper trail after that election.

To me, it sounds like one of those conspiracy theories born of frustration after the 2004 election. Also, some people thought (why, I don't know) that if they could only prove "fraud" in New Mexico, then Ohio fraud would follow from there. As we now well know, that idea was completely illogical.

Verifiedvoting.org stand by him:

http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.php?id=5829

[John Gauger]

25. Thank you very much.

That was informative and helpful.

[janx]

28. You're welcome.

It's always a good idea to try and be doubly wary around here in the light of primaries.

[IdaBriggs]

38. Uh, no. It wasn't an internet rumor, because most of us weren't

talking about it publicly. But thank you for playing. It really happened. He didn't want New Mexico recounted, and his influence helped make sure that didn't happen. I haven't forgetten, but then again, I was involved at the time. He does not get my support.

[John Gauger]

42. Thank you as well.

I thought it was resolved, but now I have to do more reading to find out the truth. Thank you.

[skipos]

35. I heard that Bush is ruining the GOP to secretly help Democrats

it is just a rumor, but it makes you wonder. Hmmm....

[DaveinMD]

2. skeletons

that would make the big dog blush.

[Bucky]

3. Richardson will face the following smear...

I don't believe it; I don't disbelieve it. But here it is, for all its nonstoriness. The more important story (also at the same link) is how he stuck up for the Bolton UN nomination, long after other Democrats had been pursuaded to oppose Bolton.

[Bombtrack]

4. faulty, flawed logic start to finish

Just to start off with: as if people who would "Never vote for a northeasterner" are just gonna go apeshit to vote for a Mexican.

[janx]

5. Bill Richardson is not a Mexican. He's an American.

:shrug:

[Bombtrack]

8. Thanks for the afternoon dose of sematicism

no kidding. He's Mexican American and anybody who was looking to not bullshit wouldn't deflect with that tangent because they knew what I was talking about.

[janx]

10. Here:

Richardson is commonly referred to as the son of an Anglo father and a Mexican mother, but the mix is much richer.
Richardson's mother, Maria Luisa Lopez-Collada, was the daughter of a mother from an intellectual family from Oaxaca and a blond-haired, blue-eyed father from northern Spain.
Richardson's father, after whom he was named, was also half-Spanish. His father, an Anglo biologist from Boston working in Nicaragua, met his mother, Rosa, as she got off a boat from Spain.

http://www.abqjournal.com/richardson/531611nm01-21-07.htm?lrail

[MaineDem]

45. To start with, his father was a banker

Therefore, the rest of that quote is suspect.

[snowbear]

12. And he's a great American! Hey janx, is that your puppy?

He's soooooo cute!

[janx]

13. Yes, but he's not a puppy anymore!

You are in AK, right? My son lives there, just NE of Fairbanks. He's heavily into the dog mushing community...;-)

[Orangepeel]

14. New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, even Montana

I'll bet there are quite a few people more willing to vote for an affable, pro-gun, tax cutting Mexican American (with an Anglo surname) than for someone perceived as a stiff, elitist Northeasterner. There are all kinds of prejudices.

There are a lot of potential criticisms of Bill Richardson. Some are justified; many are bullshit. But he is the kind of guy that America would want to have a beer with.

[zulchzulu]

22. Yeah, it's a good thing the Hispanic vote doesn't matter in an election....

:sarcasm:

So a candidate that has Hispanic roots would have no creds with the American electorate? Hmmm...pass that pipe, bubba.

From his web site (http://richardsonforpresident.com/):

"California-born son of an American father and a Mexican mother"

Damn Mexican!

:sarcasm:

[snowbear]

7. I'm definitely going to watch Governor Richardson in the debates..

I'm one of the few DU'ers who actually seems to like the guy..

Then again.. I remember campaign 2004 on here (as many other DU'ers do)

When it initially began, it seemed like it was "all Dean all the time".

Later it became DEAN, CLARK, and to some degree EDWARDS.

I still remember (seriously -- I'm NOT making this up!!!) .. I remember when someone who supported Kerry logged on and said something in support of him and why they thought he would win the nomination..

DU'ers were in =shock= !!!!

One of the responses that I'll never forget was: ""OMG, Kerry has a troll!"

After the laughter subsided.. .. we all went back to our (for the most part) Dean, Clark & Edwards threads.

Of course other candidates had support -- but none as much as those three.

It wasn't until MANY months later that we realized... NONE of us knew who was eventually going to emerge as the winner!

Let's just kick back and enjoy the ride!

[Blue_In_AK]

44. I kinda like Richardson, Larissa...

A westerner would play well in Alaska.

[Orangepeel]

15. Richardson on several issues

Iraq
Our next President must be able to get us out of Iraq -- I think that it's obvious George Bush is too stubborn to face the reality that our presence in Iraq isn't helping any longer. I've served as our Ambassador to the UN, President Clinton's Special Envoy, and as Secretary of Energy. I know this region well, I've been there, I even met with Saddam Hussein and secured the release of hostages. And I know what has to be done. We need to be frank with the Iraqis that we've done our part and it's time for them to take over responsibility for their own security. We should take the lead in facilitating national reconciliation and bringing in other countries from the region to do their part, and we need to get real about helping rebuild Iraq and creating jobs for the 40 percent who are out of work. Assuming George Bush doesn't do that, and I think that's a safe assumption, I believe with my foreign policy and diplomatic experience and willingness to state a clear, unequivocal policy I'm the best candidate to get it done. And I'm confident I can make that point in the campaign.


National Security/Foreign Policy
Our next President must be able to restore our standing in the world and I believe I'm the best candidate to do that as well. As someone who has successfully negotiated with some of the world's toughest tyrants, I know face-to-face diplomacy can work. To become a respected international leader again, we need a national security policy that is tough and smart, a military second to none, a firm commitment to building diplomatic alliances, we need to defeat terrorism, and that's our number one national security challenge, we need to promote freedom, alleviate poverty, and stop global warming. The current administration has done none of those things and that means the next president must be able to get started in the first hundred days, again with a clear agenda and proven ability to get the job done.

Partisanship
Our next President must be able to bring a country together that is divided and partisan. That's the way I've operated as Governor and that's what I'll do as President. Frankly, I think Washington is broken and it's going to take a return to bipartisanship and simple respect for each other's views to get it fixed. All the public policy solutions these days are coming from Governors and state government -- on the environment, jobs and the economy, health care -- it's coming from the states. And that's because we can't be partisan or we won't get our jobs done. That's a lesson I've learned as Governor and that's what I would do as President. I just got re-elected with 69 percent of the vote-in a red state- and I got 40 percent of the Republican vote. I can bring people together to solve problems.

Environment/Energy
Our next President must be able to start reversing Global Warming and making real progress on energy independence and that means making a real commitment to renewable sources of energy. That's what I've done in New Mexico where we're requiring that 10 percent of all energy come from renewable sources and we're moving toward 20 percent, we've provided incentives for solar, wind, biofuels and other renewables, and again that's what I'll do as President. As Energy Secretary I implemented tough efficiency standards that have saved consumers billions in energy costs. Everybody talks the talk on these issues -- I've done it.

Jobs/Economy
Our next President must be able to make our economy work for the middle class and start creating good paying jobs again. In New Mexico, one of the poorest states in the nation, we've created 84,000 new jobs, many of them high tech jobs in industries like renewable energy, aerospace, and communications. We've done that with innovative approaches like a tax credit for companies who create good paying jobs, tax incentives for start up high tech businesses, and targeting job creation in rural areas. We've done it by making a real investment in public education, paying our teachers more but tying those increases to tough standards, and by using our resources more wisely, with less money for school administration and more in the classroom. And we did it with tax cuts, the right tax cuts, and with a balanced budget. Getting back to a balanced budget is a big part of sustained economic growth, too, the kind of growth that creates good jobs and actually reduces poverty. And that's what I'll do as President. We need to work with business, that's where the jobs are created after all, instead of engaging in ideological warfare, and we need the right kind of tax incentives, not just tax cuts for the wealthy and income transfers from the middle class to big corporations.

Healthcare
We must work to provide health insurance and access to quality, affordable health care, for all Americans and frankly we'd save a lot of money by doing it. We're spending hundreds of billions of dollars every year paying the costs of health care for the uninsured. In New Mexico, a poor state, we have faced huge health care challenges. However, we've extended health insurance to tens of thousands of New Mexicans -- kids, working families, and small businesses -- and we're working on a plan to cover every person. The bottom line is that people must have good coverage that works.

Immigration
As the California-born son of an American father and a Mexican mother, and as the Governor of a border state, I understand better than most the effects of immigration on our country -- legal and illegal. I declared a state of emergency on New Mexico's border to crack down on illegal activity and protect our citizens. I also believe we must pass comprehensive immigration reform to help secure our borders, protect our workers and our economy, and to be true to the ideals that have made this country great -- a country of immigrants.

http://richardsonforpresident.com/issues

[smalll]

17. Impeccable Resume, but Unfortunate Aspect -

Not to put too fine a point on it, the man is fat. Tubby might be a better word. And it shows on his face particularly. He LOOKS short: I wouldn't be surprised if he turns out to be 6'2" or something, but at least it's certain that TV makes him look short. Impeccable Resume but Unfortunate Aspect -- the very reason this accomplished governor has no chance and will get very little attention.

[snowbear]

19. Wrong, Wrong, Right, and..... How the hell do you know?

"Not to put too fine a point on it, the man is fat. Tubby might be a better word."

USED to be heavy, but has been dieting for quite some time and has lost a lot of weight.

http://www.newwest.net/index.php/topic/article/does_bill_richardson_have_the_chops_to_run/C37/L37/

"He LOOKS short"

Wrong..

"I wouldn't be surprised if he turns out to be 6'2" or something"

Righto!

Are you sure you didn't already know that? He's exactly 6'2"...

"this accomplished governor has no chance and will get very little attention"

You don't know that and either do I..

Sheesh.. Give the guy a break!

[janx]

24. Excellent link, Larissa.

Thanks!

[mainer]

20. Wen Ho Lee?

Richardson helped railroad Lee into a living nightmare. For someone who's supposedly a minority, Richardson showed no respect for the rights of a fellow minority.

[snowbear]

21. Why do all the people who diss Democrats have no profile anyway?

ERROR: No such user profile

The user has disabled his/her user profile.

Whatcha 'fraid of?

[mainer]

39. What profile am I supposed to file?

I've been posting on DU for some time. Am I supposed to tell you my name?

And fyi, I followed the Wen Ho Lee case very well. I have journalist friends who wrote about the aftermath. And as far as I'm concerned, Richardson threw Lee to the wolves, without bothering to worry about the man's rights.

Ask any Asian American who followed the case. Richardson was one of the cowards in the case. The justice department was no better. It took a courageous judge to finally put an end to the madness.

[Orangepeel]

30. What exactly did *Richardson* do wrong?

The Secretary of Energy isn't in charge of locking people up. He fired Wen Ho Lee, but what do you expect the SOE to do when the FBI says someone is a spy? I think the Justice Department is way more to blame for that.

Richardson was accused to leaking information about the Wen Ho Lee investigation to the press, but there was never any proof of that and he categorically denies it. As a high ranking official in the Clinton administration, he was sure to be the target of smears, so I don't put much stock in that.

[mainer]

40. Richardson thought to be the "leaker" in the case:

From Wikipedia:


"In his memoir, My Country Versus Me, Lee charged that his Chinese ethnicity was a primary factor behind his prosecution by the government. As evidence of such racial profiling, he cited cases of several scientists of non-Chinese ancestry who were responsible for similar security transgressions but were able to continue their careers. Former FBI Director Louis Freeh categorically denied these charges. After Mr. Lee’s sentencing, investigators at LANL were able to fully examine the evidence against Mr. Lee. This was never done by the FBI and access by LANL personnel was not allowed until the FBI investigation was complete.

Former Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, who had oversight of Los Alamos National Laboratory at the time and effectively ordered Lee's firing, is considered, by some, likely to have been the mysterious source who leaked Lee's name to reporters. Lee has sued the Energy Department, the FBI, and unnamed individuals to recover damages for harm to his reputation caused by leaks of confidential information from the espionage investigation. The success of his case hinges on knowing the identity of the leaker, and several reporters privy to this information have become embroiled in legal battles as they defy court orders to reveal their sources. Much of the case turned on whether a reporter's First-Amendment right to protect a source extends even to cases where the sources are possibly committing libel against another citizen.

On June 2, 2006, it was announced that the government and five news organizations settled the privacy lawsuit with Dr. Lee. The government agreed to pay $900,000 in legal fees and associated taxes, while the news outlets will pay $750,000. Lee quoted "We are hopeful that the agreements reached today will send the strong message that government officials and journalists must and should act responsibly in discharging their duties and be sensitive to the privacy interests afforded to every citizen of this country."

[Orangepeel]

43. "is considered by some"

Thanks for the links. Actually, I've read them both and the questions in my previous post still stand. I know that he fired Wen Ho Lee. It turned out to be a bad decision, but I tend to blame the FBI for deciding he was a spy.

I know that "some" think that he leaked information to the press but I haven't heard of any evidence. Everyone in the Clinton administration was accused of so much shit that turned out to be nothing, that I'm skeptical of any "some say" claims -- especially when they come from Wikipedia. (Hey! maybe Richardson killed Vince Foster!)

Anyway, I haven't made up my mind to support Richardson or not (I also like Edwards, and how can you not like Obama? I might even consider Clark if he gets in the race). Richardson isn't as liberal as I would like, and maybe he is a jerk. :shrug: But instead of seeing criticism of issues, I keep seeing vague "somebody thinks" stories about supposed character flaws and I don't like it.

[mainer]

41. a wrap-up of the whole sorry story

from Salon.com.

http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2000/09/21/nyt/index.html

[jen4clark]

23. From a New Mexican native

who has been politically active for many years and has a long distrust of Richardson.

Originally posted at kos:

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2007/1/19/181015/147/110#c110


I'm from NM. I'm completely underwhelmed.

SNIPPET:

John Boyd: Mr. Chairman, speaking on behalf, my name is John Boyd, and I speak on behalf of both candidates. And I'll be brief under New Mexico, or applicable New Mexico Statutes 1-1-14 ad sic, the application was timely made, and the amount of the deposit, which I believe was $114,000, has been confirmed as the appropriate amount of deposit for a statewide recheck as requested. And on the basis, and on behalf of those candidates, we would respectfully request that the board approve the application and allow the recount.

Richardson: Now I will ask for statements from representatives of other candidates. Senator Kerry...President Bush... let's see, Ralph Nader...God, now I've entered a slippery slope, there are a whole bunch of other...(laughter, unintelligible)...and any other, any other candidate...no...

I'd like to make a few comments on the motion and the application. First of all I wanna commend the Green and Libertarian Parties for their sincerity in pursuing this issue. But I have to state that I believe a recount is not necessary. I don't think the recount will change the outcome of the race. President Bush carried New Mexico, according to certified results, by almost 6,000 votes. I think in New Mexico we need to be looking forward and not back.

Yes. Instead, he wants you to look forward to Bill Richardson for President in '08! And forget about recounts that just might make Kerry a bigger winner of the Democratic Party in NM... since he knew he'd be a candidate running against Kerry.

And that's why I will be proposing a comprehensive election reform with the Secretary of State, in the next legislative session.

Really! Then why didn't he listen to many of us who tried to explain to him and his Secretary of State, prior to '04, about how our Diebold/Sequoia/Es&S Machines were easily hacked, and tried to explain about Gems Tabulators, and his Secretary of State told us it was too complicated and she didn't have time to listen, and besides, she "knew which machines to get... not to worry.".... which machines ended up being the Diebold/Sequoia/Es&S Machines! All hackable...!

I will propose uniformity in our election code so every voter in every county will play by the same rules. I want a paper trail for all machine ballots cast. I want election officials properly trained.

Richardson made sure these new paper trail machines were there for HIS re-election, and sorry, the officials I spoke with said they were never trained to look for voter fraud.

Read full transcript here:

http://www.iwantmyvote.com/lib/downloads/references/2004-12-15_nm_board_transcript.pdf (pdf)

End of story is that soon after the 2004 election he wrote this letter, all too little, too late:

http://uvotenm.org/richardsonletter.html

Any politician that doesn't uphold our Constitutional right to vote, doesn't find it necessary or convenient, monitarily or otherwise, for a recount when he knew there were problems with these machines around the country, doesn't deserve to be President of the United States!

by KayCeSF

[snowbear]

26. As far as I'm concerned.. Kerry did as much to fix the problems in Ohio as Richardson did in NM...

And I'll decide on him on what kind of candidate he is "on the trail".

[janx]

29. ALL RIGHT!!!!

Hike! :rofl:

[janx]

27. Now now...be fair. That New Mexican native is a committed Clarkie,

correct? CCN? And you posted here some days ago re the same comments, which she then backed up after coming to DU from CCN? Hmmm?

(Just checking... ;-) )

[jen4clark]

31. Correct on all counts!

She's out of town for a week or so, and let me know that she appreciates the help in alerting people that -- in her words -- Richardson needs to be very carefully vetted.

I hope that because we're Clarkies you don't think we're making things up, because neither of us are particulary fond of "smearing" other Dems. OTOH, letting people know things that our corporate press doesn't bother mentioning shouldn't be considered "smears."

And I also know KayCeSF has files and files of information on Richardson but doesn't like posting it. Maybe when she gets back she will have to start going through those files and filling in holes.

[snowbear]

33. I'm a Clarkie too.. But I'm a Richardsie, Obamee or Edwardsie if he's not running..

BTW.. General Clark will be on stage in Northern Nevada with Governor Richardson soon..

I know because I just read it on another thread.

Go Clark Go Richardson Go Edwards Go Obama

Go whoever wins!

So many choices.. ... so little time..

[jen4clark]

37. You're a peach, larissa!

and yes, I'm trying to find someone from my area who's going to Clark/Richardson! -- it's not far, but I can't drive at night and it's over the mountains from where I am. :(

[janx]

36. Understood and appreciated.

I just wanted to point out that there might be a little bias there. It's understandable. I haven't made up my mind about the primary yet, because I'm still waiting to hear about Gore and might get active in that direction. But Richardson is my governor, I admire him, and he's very popular in New Mexico.

[Imagevision]

32. Bill Richardson will be the first one to drop...

[snowbear]

34. Hey.