Richardson Grok

Fairness and Civility Hallmarks of Richardson Campaign

By Emily Esterson, 12-06-07

Civility is his middle name: Perhaps that’s what makes New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson such a good diplomat and presidential campaigner. The Christian Science Monitor led off today’s google news search with the headline, “Faith, Fairness and the Common Good,” —not bad for a governor who’s known in his home state as a bully. But when it comes to presidential politics, Richardson is all about diplomacy; reminding potential voters of his ability to negotiate with some of the world’s worst, well, bullies. The Monitor’s currently running a series about faith and values, and today’s story highlights Richardson’s feelings about going to church, his stand on abortion (personally opposed but believes in personal choice), and his penchant for making even the most intimidating dictators laugh (Saddam Hussein, for one). The Monitor also notes that Richardson’s bossy nature allowed him to get things done in New Mexico, a state mired in corruption and political handouts.

In New Hampshire, they’re writing about Richardson as a peacemaker of a different sort. By staying out of the Obama-Clinton-Edwards war of words, he’s positioning himself as the “civil” candidate. “Ultimately we are seeing the three top candidates sniping at one another and making personal attacks. My message has been positive from day one and I think the voters in New Hampshire will respond favorably to that,’’ said the New Mexico governor during a telephone interview with The Nashua, New Hampshire Telegraph on Wednesday. Richardson is hoping for a top-three finish in New Hampshire, but polls currently place him fourth with 10 percent of the vote. He’s spending most of his time in Iowa these days, which holds its caucus on January 3.

Back in Iowa, where Richardson has reportedly visited all 99 of the state’s counties, Richardson took the opportunity to criticize Bush’s Iran policy, and Hillary Clinton’s “saber rattling” when the New York senator voted for declaring the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. “That was a bad vote and Sen. Clinton was wrong for voting for it,” he said. Richardson’s criticism of Clinton might have been meant to deter the seeming love fest between the two, and speculation that Richardson will be on the Clinton ticket as VP. Speculation has been rampant since the last debate, when and exchange between the two sounded an awful lot like a job offer.

The Washington Post released its latest poll numbers yesterday. The poll was conducted by telephone November 29-December 3, 2007, among a random sample of 592 New Hampshire adults likely to vote in the Democratic primary. Results show Richardson at 10 percent and Edwards at 17 percent.  However, in the question that asked who has the best experience to be president, Richardson scored second after Clinton, with Obama and Edwards third and fourth respectively. Richardson also scored third on immigration issues, but in every other poll number, he was a solid fourth place finisher. 

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