New West Network

My Page: Emily Esterson

The Final Richardson Grok

To most of us locals, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's announcement today that he's out of the presidential campaign isn't a big surprise. It started last week, after Iowa. Some paid campaign staff lost their jobs and returned home. The buzz in the journalism world was that he'd announce his decision right after New Hampshire.

I was chatting with an acquaintance in Massachusetts the other day, the day of the New Hampshire primary, in fact, and she said, "We love your governor," to which I responded, he's never had a snowball's chance in hell of winning. It's a shame, really, because Richardson does look good on paper. But why did he fail to break through? What was missing from Big Bill's campaign, resume, presentation skills, that kept him in solid fourth place from day 1? Here's my take on it in no particular order: [more]

Media and Politics

Here's a question for you: Does Ronald Reagan represent Western politics? Yes or no?
Is he a true cowboy, or did he just play one on TV? And what relevance does Reagan hold in today's political environment?

These are the questions that stumped me last week, when my comp subscription of American Cowboy Magazine arrived in the mail. Now, granted, I am not their target demographic. I got on their mailing list because I happened to share a trade show booth with them last year and someone picked up my card and put me on the mailing list. Mostly I look at the magazine to see the fashions.

It's big on celebrity covers--from Tom Selleck to Toby Keith to Sam Elliot, you get the idea. This issue came with Ronald Reagan, holding a cowboy hat, dressed in red-white-and-blue cowboy decor, looking young and healthy and not at all senile or dead. "Who Speaks for the West?" the coverline asked me.

From a Western politics standpoint, Reagan helped to push forward policy in the West that would, in short, bring much of the West's vast public land holdings back into private hands. His appointment of the James Watt as Secretary of the Interior in 1981, while meant to shore up support for the so-called Sagebrush Rebellion, which put control of lands back into the hands of commercial interests, only served to polarize ranchers and environmentalists. The National Resources Defense Council called Watt one of the most "intensely controversial and blatantly anti-environmental political appointees" in American history. [more]

Richardson Grok

Campaign overdrive: In just a few short weeks, Iowa hosts the first official presidential caucus and the media is all agog over the statistical dead heat between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. So just where does that leave our man Bill Richardson? In Iowa, of course, with quite a few members of his Santa Fe staff manning the phones, walking the streets, talking to voters. Despite his efforts to the contrary, experts are noting that Richardson hasn't really differentiated himself on the important issues—the war in Iraq, health care and immigration. "At present, no, there really isn't any issue where he stands out," University of Iowa sociology professor Kevin Leicht told Kate Nash of the Albuquerque Tribune. "That's where I think if he said more about immigration in the next three weeks, he could stand out," Leicht said. Yes, he's still an underdog, and likely to remain so as Richardson trails the other candidates in fund raising and in the polls—a potentially deadly combination.

The power of intentions: Perhaps that's what Richardson is betting on. Even with his solid and never-changing fourth place ranking, Richardson told the Des Moines Register yesterday, "I know I can win." Richardson told about 100 people at an event at Briar Cliff University that, "Iowans like underdogs" and that he was counting on them to help him break out of fourth place. [more]

Kneading a Little Dough

A couple of weeks ago, my husband asked me what I needed from the supermarket. He had to pick up a few things. If you're a regular NewWest.Net reader you may be familiar with my obsession with bread baking, and particularly lately, multi-day starters and ferments and so forth. Horrifyingly, I'd run out of flour. My husband knows how snobby I can be about ingredients, so he asked me what brand to get: "Ideally, King Arthur bread flour, but they don't carry it, so just get something better than store brand."

In case you're not familiar with King Arthur Flour, it's grown and milled in the U.S., and doesn't contain any icky things like bromate or other additives. It's natural. The company is based in Norwich, Vermont, not far from where I spent both my college years and many summers. I first learned about King Arthur from my sister, who lives in New England and is sanctimoniously organic about nearly everything. She bought me a gift certificate to King Arthur's baking catalog last Christmas. It is full of delightful goodies like pie shields and dough whisks and razor blades made for scoring baguettes. Definitely at the top of my catalog porn pile. [more]

Richardson Grok

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. [more]

Richardson Grok

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is in the midst of an Iowa barnstorm, visiting 95 of Iowa's 99 counties. He seems to have something for everyone: a pro-gun westerner that woos rural Iowans with his farm policies and urban Iowans with his Iraq withdrawal plan, writes the Washington Post's The Trail blog. Richardson told the blog that he believes Iowa Democrats are fickle, so you have to work the campaign until the last day.

The Wall Street Journal noted that Richardson continues to try to moderate the mudslinging between the front runners, Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. "Let's keep the mud where it belongs," he told an Iowa audience as he began explaining his farm policy. Richardson's farm plan is meant to increase competition for farmers' products. "I'm going to put a hard cap of $250,000 on direct subsidy payments to farmers and close loopholes. There needs to be full funding and expansion of conservation programs to reduce soil erosion for cleaner water," he added. [more]

La Vida Politica

Call me a traditionalist, but bring back the bell. The buzzer. The 90 second response.

That's my overall thesis for last night's CNN Democratic presidential candidates' debate. Whatever producer decided it was a good idea to "free-form" the format, allowing the candidates to answer questions out of order and to wave their hands madly like the second grader in the back of the classroom who knows the right answer but never gets called on (who's name was likely Dennis Kucinich), was dead wrong. If you're interested in the politics of the debate, or "who won" the debate, stay with me for just a moment while I engage in a little media criticism.

Another imaginary behind the scenes discussion may have been about "firing them up." First question, Wolf Blitzer throws the steak to the the Hillary-Obama attack dogs. Hillary volleys, Obama shouts, and the ever smiling Edwards tries to get a word in edgewise. Forget the other guys. Chris who? Bill who? Hillary gets a laugh saying she is wearing an "asbestos pantsuit," just one of several very good Hillary moments (more on that later). The way the pre-game show was scripted, it was almost as if Wolf Blitzer had been directed to get Obama and Hillary going after each other. Unpleasant to watch, and more importantly, completely uninformative. Between the shouting back and forth and the interrupting, who really cared what the candidates were saying? It was almost enough to make me shirk my responsibilities to New West readers and turn the darn thing off ("doesn't 'The Office' start right about now?) [more]

Richardson Grok

Bill who? At least that's what New Mexicans are wondering these past few weeks, as the presidential candidate's home state has become obsessed with potential congressional and senate candidates. The state is getting unusual national political attention, as bloggers comment on who's likely to run for all the open seats in New Mexico. The local paper wrote only this little blurb about the fact that it's Bill Richardson's birthday today (he's 60), oh, and by the way, he was nominated for a fifth time for the Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination doesn't mean much, writes the Associated Press—after all, two previous nominees include Joseph Stalin and Benito Mussolini. [more]

Supermarkets on the Wane?

Oh, woe to the traditional American supermarket: You know, the Albertson's, Safeway, King Soopers, Krogers, Whatever It's Called in Your Neighborhood. From an economics standpoint, the supermarket, and what's happened to it over the years, makes for an interesting study. Ready to eat, organic food, Wal-Mart, it all changed the supermarket landscape. And made it even harder to compete. And, if you happen to live in a poor neighborhood, your choices are limited. At the same time, if you live in a wealthy neighborhood, chances are you'll have a supermarket at every major intersection. Everyone wants a piece of your food dollar.

So what of today's news that Tesco, Britain's largest supermarket chain, plans to enter the U.S. in a big way, starting today? The company certainly has the power to give both Wal-Mart and the Albertson's of the world a run for their grocery money. As of this morning, Tesco opened (all at once) five Fresh and Easy stores in California. A week ago it opened one store in the retirement community of Hemet. And, get this: It plans to open 120 by the end of February. That's right, 120 stores in the space of four months. By 2009, the grocer will have 200 outlets in the western U.S. [more]

La Vida Politica

Now we know who won't be running for retiring Senator Pete Domenici's seat: New Mexico Lt. Gov. Diane Denish. In a letter to supporters today, Denish said I am flattered and honored by everyone's interest in my considering the Senate race. I appreciate the encouragement of everyone I've heard from in Washington, but most of all I appreciate the support, counsel and friendship of people like you ... For all the progress we've made, keeping that progress going is a fight I can't leave now. My heart and soul are in New Mexico. Therefore, it's clear to me that I best serve New Mexico by continuing as Lieutenant Governor, and I hope one day as your Governor. In the meantime, I'll be working hard to elect a Democratic Senator and President in 2008.
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