?Underdog’ Off and Running
By Steve Terrell, The Santa Fe New Mexican
Jan. 22–Bill Richardson on Sunday launched his long-shot campaign for president.
As expected, Richardson announced his candidacy in a nationally televised interview with fellow Clinton administration veteran George Stephanopoulos.
He said he’s formed a presidential campaign exploratory committee, papers for which he’s expected to file today.
Though an official announcement probably will come in the spring, Richardson confirmed Sunday that he is running.
“The next president must be able to make us energy-independent, must be able to make schools better, create jobs, give the American people, every American, a fair shot,” Richardson said on ABC’s This Week. “To get that done, you need real-life experience.
All I’m saying is, a lot of these folks can make speeches about all these things. I’ve actually done it.”
The interview was recorded last week at the governor’s mansion in Santa Fe at a time when he still was refusing to confirm his plans with New Mexico reporters.
Richardson’s long-expected announcement came one day after that of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton and less than a week after Sen. Barak Obama’s announcement. Both Clinton and Obama are considered frontrunners for the Democratic nomination and lead most polls. Another candidate considered top-tier, former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate in 2004, announced last month.
In a campaign video on his new campaign Web site, Richardson proudly embraces his “underdog” status. He is the only New Mexico official
“I know the Middle East well, and it’s clear that our presence in Iraq isn’t helping any longer.”
BILL RICHARDSON
New Mexico governor believes next president must withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq
ever to make a bid for a major-party presidential nomination. He also is the only Hispanic in the race and the only Westerner.
In last year’s re-election campaign, as well as his recent State of the State address, Richardson spoke of “Western values” such as “hard work and self-reliance, our respect for our land and water, our bonds of family and community, and our insistence on responsibility.”
Democrats in recent years have made gains in the West in governorships and other offices. Richardson described the region as “a new area that’s fertile for the Democratic Party.”
In a written statement, Richardson said, “I am taking this step because we have to repair the damage that’s been done to our country over the last six years. Our reputation in the world is diminished, our economy has languished, and civility and common decency in government has perished.”
He promised to work in a bipartisan manner if elected.
“I can bring this country together,” he told Stephanopoulos. “I’m a negotiator.”
Although he initially supported the Iraq war and as recently as last year publicly opposed setting deadlines for withdrawing troops, on Sunday he was sounding more dovish.
“The next president of the United States must get our troops out of Iraq without delay,” he said in his statement.
“Before I became governor of New Mex-ico, I served as ambassador to the United Nations and as secretary of energy. I know the Middle East well, and it’s clear that our presence in Iraq isn’t helping any longer.”
He told Stephanopoulos that he now would support a phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq to be completed this calendar year. Troops now in Iraq should be redeployed to Afghanistan, he said.
Richardson flatly denied speculation that he’s actually positioning himself for the vice-presidential nomination next year. “I’m not interested in being vice president,” he told Stephanopoulos. “I’ve got a better job as governor of New Mex-ico. If I don’t get the nomination, I’ll come back and be governor.”
Stephanopoulos asked Richardson about his “frat boy” image, which some pundits have said damage his chances at being taken seriously.
“I’m an open person; I love to campaign,” he said, reminding Stephanopoulos that he holds the record in the Guinness Book of World Records for number of hands shaken in a campaign. “I love people. I love parades. I’m friendly. I was in a frat, I was president of my fraternity.
But I tried to lead it in a more socially conscious direction.”
“I’ve never had any scandals in my life,” he said.
Lona Atkinson, a political-science professor at The University of New Mexico, said Richardson is wise to cast himself as the underdog. “First of all, it’s accurate,” she said, noting Richardson’s single-digit standing in polls of Democrats in primary or caucus states. “You set yourself up as the underdog, and if you start getting lots of money or start doing better in the polls, it looks like you’re moving.”
Polls at this early stage are “useless,” she said. “Most primary voters aren’t tuned in a year-plus before the election,” she said.
Atkinson said Richardson is wise to stress his experience. “His resume is the main thing he’s got going for him.” But, she said, that’s often difficult to get across to voters.
“Richardson has an extraordinary public career,” she said. “But he’s never really broken into people’s living rooms.”
The first New Mexico politician to issue an official response to Richardson’s run was U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, a Republican.
“Gov. Richardson will certainly bring a new perspective to the Democratic race, and I expect he will be as dynamic and dogged in this campaign as he is with everything else he endeavors,” Domenici said in a written statement. “A Richardson candidacy will certainly bring new attention to New Mexico and the work he had done in our state. I wish him luck in the Democratic Primary.”
Richardson has opened a Santa Fe campaign headquarters on San Mateo Street.
Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.
—–
Copyright (c) 2007, The Santa Fe New Mexican
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.