Richardson Grok

Bill Richardson’s First Days as President, as Told by Bill Richardson

By Ben lkenson, 4-02-07

What Bill Richardson says he would do if elected President:

”On my first day in office, I’d end the war in Iraq.

On my second day, I’d announce a plan for achieving national energy independence.”

Richardson made these remarks during a Q-and-A after a speech he gave at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. During the speech, Richardson said that the administration, consumed by the Iraq war, had lost focus of the real threat of a “nuclear 9-11.” “It took a Manhattan project to create the bomb,” Richardson said. “We need a new Manhattan project to stop the bomb — a comprehensive program to secure all nuclear weapons and all weapons-usable material, worldwide.”

In addition to the student audience, he won the admiration of journalist Al Eisele, Editor-at-Large of The Hill, who wrote glowingly of Richardson on the Huffington Post last week:  “if he can … continue raising alarms about the terrible and very real threat of nuclear terrorism, convince voters that he’ll get us out of a disastrous war in Iraq, show us how to achieve energy independence, and inspire Americans to embrace diversity and build a more just society, he may well have a good chance of adding to his already illustrious resume.”

Heads are turning toward Richardson in Florida too. In an editorial for the St. Petersburg Times yesterday, Adam Smith sung one of Richardson’s unsung praises – namely, his potential to convert Florida into a blue state in 2008. Writes Smith: “I defy anyone to name a Democrat better equipped to take Florida than New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson…Think of it: a tax-cutting, NRA-supported progressive Democrat who can make a strong case in the conservative Panhandle; and the first Latino presidential nominee sure to energize the crucial Hispanic vote in South Florida and Central Florida.”

At home, though, it has not been smooth sailing. As we we have all heard by now, Bill Richardson has had to respond to more blemishes on the state’s reputation with the alleged misdoings of former state senator Manny Aragon and company, accused of robbing taxpayers out of more than $4 million during the construction of the Bernailillo County courthouse. Richardson may push for another special session for legislators to reconsider proposals on the creation of an ethics commission and campaign contribution limits. Neither was passed last week. Senate Republican Whip Leonard Lee Rawson remarked that his lawmaking colleagues probably won’t buy into Richardson’s plan, saying that developing an ethics commission doesn’t make someone ethical and that voters should assume some responsibility in electing ethical people.

Hmmm.

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.