Before Obama-mania and back in the days when Hillary R. Clinton was just as inexperienced a U.S. senator as she now claims Barack Obama to be, I was wondering just who the Democrats would come up with to try to succeed W.
My first instincts were to look toward New Mexico. I came into this election cycle seriously inclined to back the presidential dreams of Bill Richardson.
So when the Richardson campaign acknowledged that he had done poorly enough in Iowa and New Hampshire to bring the presidential charade to an end (a formal announcement is expected Thursday), I felt a touch of sadness. I am compelled to have a moment of silence for the now-deceased Richardson campaign.
…….. Shhhhhh! ……… Okay, the moment is over.
Just where did it go wrong for Richardson, the Irish/Mexican-American who was raised as a child in the U.S. expatriate community that exists in Mexico City and went on to be a member of Congress and a key advisor to former President Bill Clinton as Energy Secretary, before returning to his adopted home state and winning two terms as governor?
I can already hear the Richardson camp followers saying the only thing that went wrong with Bill’s campaign was poor timing. He had to go up against the dueling “historic nature” campaigns that have defined this year’s Democratic presidential primary.
Will 2008 be the year the United States gets its first woman as president, or will it be the year that an African-American person assumes the role of Leader of the Free World. (For those who hate having to acknowledge racial angles – even when completely relevant – think of Obama as the first Hawaiian to run for president).
Compared to those standards, Richardson’s campaign was downright boring, even though we’re talking about a man whose childhood was spent in Mexico and who knows firsthand what it is like for a Mexican to have to suddenly adjust to life “en los Estados Unidos.” His family had some wealth, and he was sent to the U.S. for prep school and college.
This may sound juvenile, but Richardson’s ethnic ties were part of the reason I was initially attracted to his campaign.
In today’s political climate where some people obsess over illegal immigration and have downright un-American ideas about who should be forbidden to become a U.S. citizen, it would have irritated them so much to have a U.S. president who technically still could claim Mexican citizenship (Mexico allows dual citizenship under certain circumstances), even though he was born in Sacramento, Calif., and formally chose U.S. citizenship when he turned 18.
I would have found it amusing to hear people like conservative pundit Ann Coulter rant and rave about a “foreigner” being elected president. Think I’m kidding? I have heard her try to tag Obama as not really American because his father came from Kenya.
More important though, I am a person who is impressed by substantial government experience.
On paper, the Richardson campaign should have blown away all challengers. He should have been able to clobber Hillary, Barack, John Edwards and all others.
I was particularly impressed with the idea that Richardson is a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He represented U.S. interests in negotiating international deals opposing international terrorist and the spread of biological weapons. He also supported measures meant to increase the status of women in Afghanistan and several African nations.
As a member of Congress, he was a part of U.S. delegations that won release of hostages and other prisoners in places such as North Korea, Iraq and Cuba.
Obama may be able to make an argument that his experience with international issues is not significantly less than Clinton. He cannot make that argument against Richardson. On international affairs, Bill leaves Barack and Hillary in the dust.
So what went wrong? It didn’t help that Richardson could be dreary and dull on the campaign trail, bringing little buzz among the public. When combined with the lack of serious fund-raising efforts on his behalf, it became all too easy for Richardson to drown in the political sea of Obama and Clinton.
He also tried at times to engage in double-talk, sinking himself deeper with his attempts to avoid making controversial statements. Take his appearance on the long-running NBC program “Meet the Press” back in May 2007, where he sounded indecisive on so many issues.
It may have been host Tim Russert’s attempt to end the show with a “softball” question about baseball that was the “knockdown” pitch for the Richardson campaign.
Richardson, who went to prep school and college in Massachusetts but rooted for New York Yankees center fielder Mickey Mantle as a kid, claimed to be a fan of both the Yankees AND the Boston Red Sox.
To non-baseball fans, Richardson came off as indecisive. To baseball fans, he became a prevaricator of the highest grade, since the hard-core fans of those two teams have developed a hatred of each other that often prevents rational though from taking place.
To this day, Richardson gets mocked on baseball-related Internet sites, particularly because he also exaggerated about having been a prep school baseball star on the verge of signing a contract to play ball for the old Kansas City Athletics.
That was when I quit paying serious attention to Richardson. While I still respect his resume, my attention is on trying to figure out Clinton, Edwards and Obama.
Some people think that whoever wins the Democratic nomination for president would do well to pick Richardson as a vice presidential running mate. Some conspiracy theorists, including a blog writer for the New Republic’s website, hint of some covert deal by which Richardson’s departure from the race was meant to boost Hillary’s chances of taking the Hispanic vote in upcoming primaries.
I don’t know if I buy that theory, although I think any Democrat would be bolstered by Richardson’s presence and experience.
At the very least, a Clinton/Richardson ticket would give baseball fans a field day for sarcastic criticism. Richardson is the Red Sox fan who tries to claim Yankees fan allegiance in the same way that Hillary is a life-long Chicago Cubs fan who says she really likes the Bronx Bombers as well.
That much sap about baseball is almost enough to make me think of voting Republican. At least with Rudy Giuliani, we know his Yankees fan status is legitimate.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Albuquerque Tribune would like to see their hometown politico become vice president (http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2008/jan/09/bill-richardson-would-make-good-vice-president-new/) in the same way the Chicago Argus wouldn’t object to Obama or Clinton winning a four-year residency or two in the White House.
Here’s a transcript of the “Meet the Press” appearance that sank the Richardson campaign. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18818527/page/6/
Photographs provided by New Mexico governor's office
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