Bill Richardson to form presidential exploratory committee

[Roon]

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON, D-NEW MEXICO, TO FORM A PRESIDENTIAL EXPLORATORY
COMMITTEE, SOURCES TELL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Breaking on http://abcnews.go.com/?CMP=EMC-1396

[NMDemDist2]

1. yeah, rotsa ruck with that one Bill

but he will be a good voice to add to the debate, the more the merrier IMO

[applegrove]

3. I agree. The Democratic Primary will be quite the slate with all

these people on it. The debate may even break out of "politics" and become quite intelligent. Which is something Americans are hungry for having been starved of it for 6 years.

[Captain Hilts]

2. Good! He's a smart guy. nt

[zanne]

4. Why do they run when they know they can't win?

Richardson has to know he's not going to win; why put himself and his family through all the work, the scrutiny and the fund raising? I don't get it. Why do marginal candidates bother to run?

[Graybeard]

5. Yeah, they kept asking Jimmy Carter the same thing. n/t

[Nashyra]

6. WhooooHooooo

Richdardson is a guest at our Turn Nevada Blue Dinner on the 27th of January. As a chair of the Central Committee I have to remain nuetral until someone I know throws his hat in the ring. I have been working with the Richardson folks and I have to say there is a large group of our central committee that are looking forward to meeting Governor Bill Richardson. I say good lucj

[Graybeard]

8. He's looking good, lost weight...

...his foreign policy creds and latin-american roots set him apart in the field.

[janx]

14. He is a VERY personable guy. n/t

[Orangepeel]

7. why is he a marginal candidate?

A governor with incredible foreign policy experience from a western swing state, with the added bonus of being Hispanic?

Why is he more of a long shot than anyone else?

[zanne]

17. Okay--I'll rephrase the question.

Sheesh. My new question is: Why would "anyone" run for president if they didn't think they had a chance of winning? For instance, why did Alan Keyes run for president? What's the point?

[Orangepeel]

22. well, Alan Keyes is a lunatic...

but some people run because they want to highlight an important issue, because they want to position themselves for VP, or because they expect to run again later and want to build some name recognition now.

Others DO think they have a chance to win. Again, Richardson is a governor with lots of foreign policy experience from a Western swing state. Why is he more of a longshot than Dean or Edwards was?

[Robbien]

18. Because the media noise machine only has room for two or three candidates

The media noise machine has already picked the three Dems it will allow to be highlighted. (Clinton, Obama & Edwards) Anyone else running will only get leftover media.

[Orangepeel]

21. it is still really early

Kerry, Edwards, Dean, Clark, Gephardt, and Lieberman all got plenty of press in 2004. Kucinich, Graham, Mosley-Braun and Sharpton got less, but they still made an impact.

The reason we have staggered primaries is so less well known candidates have a chance to get well known in smaller areas.

[maryallen]

25. Maybe because when the votes were "funky" in NM ...

during the 04 Presidential election, Billy Boy did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to help the folks on the ground who wanted an accurate count.

[duhneece]

28. Bill did the only thing he could

With a Democratic Secretary of State, Rebecca Vigil-Giron telling everyone that the electronic machines were absolutely trustworthy because HER Election Bureau Director, Denise Lamb bought into the machines manufacturers' (including software) false assurances convinced heropinions. Denise became the president of the National Association of State Election Bureau Directors and made the huge mistake of believing Sequoia and ESS...the way the political machine is set up, Bill could not have dismissed Rebecca and Denise's opinions. I know, 'cause I fought Rebecca and Denise for several years. In our conservative county, we had many progressive, loyal Democrats who trusted the machines. Fortunately, our state was among the first to demand a voter verified paper ballot before the last election Bill DID help to bring that about and he spoke to other states' governors strongly suggesting they demand the same....

[Telly Savalas]

15. Not that I'm gonna back the guy

But with a large field like we've got, all sorts of unpredictable things can happen.

[iamjoy]

23. Yeah, Let's Just Skip The Primary

and declare Hillary our nominee. She's probably going to win anyway.

Richardson is the first GOVERNOR to throw his hat into the ring on the Democratic side. Have we forgotten that statistically speaking state executives tend to do better than legislators?

[Township75]

9. AWESOME!

I like him alot! I hope it gives it a shot.

[mdmc]

10. Go BILL

:kick:

[Eugene]

11. Story link: Richardson to Launch Presidential Bid (AP)

Richardson to Launch Presidential Bid
Gov. Bill Richardson Plans to Take First Step Toward White House Run

By NEDRA PICKLER

WASHINGTON Jan 19, 2007 (AP)— New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson intends to take
the initial step toward the Democratic nomination, hoping his extensive resume
will fuel an insurgent campaign to become the first Hispanic president.

Richardson plans to announce on Sunday that he will soon file the papers to create
a presidential exploratory committee, several officials with knowledge of his plans
said Friday. The governor is scheduled to appear on ABC's "This Week."

His entry would make the Democratic race the most diverse presidential contest
in history. Beside Richardson's bid to be the first Hispanic chief executive, Sen.
Barack Obama would be the first black president and likely candidate Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton would be the first female president.

Richardson, 59, is a former congressman, U.N. ambassador and Energy Department
secretary. He brings a wealth of experience in international affairs that has extended
even into his governorship of a small but politically important swing state.

-snip-

Full article: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2808824

[hollowdweller]

12. Richardson has some tremendous positives

I worry about him being too DLC-ish, but he really has a good resume for snagging Dem leaning voters and a lot of gov't and foreign policy experience which I think will be really needed after Bush. We are gonna need a president that other countries leaders know and trust after the way Bush has used our allies.

[BeyondGeography]

13. Vice Presidential exploratory committee is probably more like it

It wouldn't surprise me if Richardson had his eye on the #2 spot as much as he does the nomination. He's definitely going to be in that conversation, especially if he plays well in the primaries before his campaign funds dry up.

[rodeodance]

16. AP story

Richardson to launch presidential bid

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 5 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - After years of freelancing his diplomatic skills from the unlikely position as governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson is taking the first step toward a bid to become president and put his skills to work in the White House.

Richardson plans to announce Sunday that he will soon file papers to create a presidential exploratory committee, several officials with knowledge of his plans said Friday. The governor is scheduled to appear Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

His entry would make the Democratic race among the most diverse presidential contests in history. Besides Richardson's bid to be the first Hispanic chief executive, Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) of Illinois would be the first black president and likely candidate Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York would be the first female president.

Richardson, 59, is a former congressman, U.N. ambassador and Energy Department secretary. He brings a wealth of experience in international affairs that has extended even into his governorship of a sparsely populated but politically important swing state.

He has hosted talks on
North Korea's nuclear program in New Mexico and most recently traveled to Sudan to meet with the country's president to press him for an end to the bloodshed in Darfur..........

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070120/ap_on_el_pr/richardson2008

[skipos]

19. The more NON-SENATORS from flippable red states, the better. nt

[dethl]

20. Richardson could heal our foreign relations better than most....

He's got the experience to do it. Not to mention that he'll easily carry the latino vote. If he doesn't get elected in the primaries I think the winner should seriously consider him for VP.

[goforit]

29. Yep! He's outstanding.

[Heidi]

24. Kick.

:kick:

[dmallind]

26. Great!

He's my guy, always has been. Glad he made it official.

Like it or not moderates swing elections. Richardson can appeal to moderates. He will handle any debate opponent with ease (although he could do with some work on stats/numbers - he tends to speak in generalities a bit much and real numbers are powerful). He is personable, articulate, and has governed a swing state with many challenges yet commendable results. Where are all the people who said Obama lacked experience? Where are all the people who said Hilary was too polarizing? This guy solves both those issues. He will sell well to the center, and without the center we lose.

Only issue with Richardson is the primaries - dominated by dedicated but usually not all that moderate partisans. There I think Obama is positioned better - he will lose the die hard pseudo-greens to Kucinich and the DLC fans to HRC, but pick up the "better than the others" from far more people than Bill will because of name recognition.

If Richardson can raise enough money so people know who he is and what his positions are he could triangulate that far left vs. DLC well. Obama does't sound bad by any means but I would much prefer the experienced and proven capable. So to that end I've sent him some $$$ to help get the word out. Hope it works, because if he does somehow - and I know it's a long shot - get out of the primary, the general is a gimme. Clinton did it out of nowhere. Let's see if it can happen again :-)

[mvd]

27. We need to expand on our gains in the interior West, and I think..

Richardson at least being in the race is a good thing.

[IronScorpio5]

30. Dems could do a lot worse

i could vote for him.