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Richardson Grok

Is the Bill Richardson for President campaign off to a rocky start in Iowa? Apparently so: Vandals threw rocks at the second story windows of an office the Richardson campaign is using in Des Moines, according to the Des Moines Register. Police didn't find evidence of break in. “It is unknown if the crime was directed at presidential candidate, Bill Richardson, or just random,” according to the police report. There were no witnesses.

Perhaps fellow candidates, mad because Richardson accused them of being soft on the Iraq pullout this morning, threw the stones. Richardson said, in a statement, "With all due respect to my outstanding Democratic colleagues - Senators Clinton, Obama, Dodd and Biden - they all voted for timeline legislation that had loopholes. Those loopholes allow this president, or any president, to leave an undetermined number of troops in Iraq indefinitely. And this is the same legislation that former Senator Edwards says we should send back and back to the president over and over again until he signs it." The Associated Press reports Richardson has launched a website, www.notroopsleftbehind.com, for supporters of his total pullout strategy to sign a petition. [more]

Richardson Grok

The latest CNN poll, released late Monday night, showed Bill Richardson has gained significant points since the June 3 debate in New Hampshire. According to CNN, the poll involved telephone interviews with 309 New Hampshire adults who plan to vote in the Democratic primary January 22, 2008. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 6 percentage points. While Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama also gained points, John Edwards has lost support. He's now at 12 percent, with Richardson close behind at 10 percent. CNN notes that Richardson may have gained support during the debate because voters perceived him as decisive. CNN also wrote that 57 percent of New Hampshire Democrats noted the war in Iraq as a key deciding point.

If that's the case, then Richardson's his strong statement on Iraq Sunday night could have won over more voters. The El Paso Times, among other newspapers, picked up the Associated Press report of Richardson's statement: "I would leave no troops in Iraq whatsoever. The difference between me and the other candidates is, they would leave troops there indefinitely, and I would not," Richardson told the report on Late Edition on CNN.
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Richardson Grok

It was a stormy night at Newark Airport in New Jersey. Our plane to Albuquerque was delayed. And everyone was watching last night's debate on airport TV sets tuned to CNN. There he was: our governor, doing his debating thing. There was some palpable wincing as the governor made a bad joke about Clinton (Bill, not Hil), and a few visible grimaces during portions of the debate. If you're a New Mexican in New York (or New Jersey), everyone wants to know what you think of Bill Richardson. Everyone.

I've been deferring these questions with a shrug and a lot of caveats. I've noted he's made progress in New Mexico, but I've always thought he was a lousy public speaker. I don't like how he treats women (he's a minor groper). I know too many people who have actually worked for Richardson to comment on how he'd be as a boss (not so great--okay, I guess that was a comment). And of course, he keeps reminding us of his darn resume. So I leave it to the pundits to make the calls. I'm not saying one way or another what I think of Richardson (other than the above oft-repeated comments).

For its part, CNN called Joe Biden the clear winner in the post-event debate analysis. Ariana Huffington, of the Huffington Post, noted, "We kept counting how many times Gov. Richardson would remind us he was a governor, and actually walk us through his resume. He had to actually be able to stand up for what he was doing right there on the stage rather than constantly presenting us with his resume." Standing contrary to Huffington and CNN's characterization of Richardson's performance as "weak," Lynn Sweet
of the Chicago Sun Times actually thought Richardson, along with Biden, were strongest on what to do in Darfur (not surprisingly, since Richardson has been there multiple times and Biden was just there). Kate Nash of the Albuquerque Tribune said Richardson's "not too bad" isn't good enough anymore. [more]

Richardson Grok

New Mexico Bill Richardson is big as life, and we're not talking about his weight (which appears to be a fascination with the New Mexico, national press and blogger corps). We're talking about his stories. You know, those little yarns he tells over and over that somehow become perceived as truth? First there was the baseball tale: Last November he admitted that the claim that he was a pick of the Kansas City A's in 1966 was untrue. Now he's decided that he's no longer going to tell the story about Lance Corporal Aaron Austin, who was killed in action in 2004. When Richardson told the tale, he added that he met Austin's mother and had a conversation with her about her son's $11,000 death benefit, which spurred him to go to the legislature, where he lobbied for a much more generous one. But lately Richardson's decided to stop using Austin's name after Austin's mother noted she remembers no such conversation. [more]

Richardson Grok

"With pride, I hope to be the first Hispanic American president of the United States." That's how the candidate William Blaine Richardson officially tossed his hat into the ring of candidacy. Richardson's Latino credentials have been surfacing more and more in the past few weeks as he ramped up for the big announcement: That he's running for president. Officially. Although the announcement made news in 569 newspapers around the world, we weren't exactly stunned. He's already running TV ads in two primary states.

The Los Angeles Times writes that Richardson, lags far behind rivals Obama and Clinton in fundraising. Playing to his roots in the Latino communities of majority-minority states like California, New Mexico, and Texas, is a key campaign strategy. [more]

Richardson Grok

Maybe all that hob-nobbery with Hollywood is paying off: New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's first TV ads are winning three and four stars from everyone from the Albuquerque Journal's Jim Belshaw to bloggers. Belshaw, whose column was reprinted on Hispanicbusiness.com, notes that comedy is pretty hard for a politician, but Richardson's ads are pretty darn funny. The ads are only playing locally in Iowa and New Hampshire. And YouTube, of course.



Some pundits, writes Belshaw, have noted that Richardson doesn't look quite presidential enough; others say the tactic is perfect in a time when the American public surely wants a little levity in its leadership. [more]

Riding off into the sunset

Almost exactly two years ago, I did something I'd been contemplating for quite some time. I quit my safe, very well paying, relatively easy, but-oh-so-boring job.

Part of what gave me the guts to quit after seven years, at leave five of them spent thinking about doing other things, was a chance encounter with Jonathan Weber, who had a not-yet-hatched plan for this Rocky Mountain regional online media project. Not only was I intrigued, I wanted Jonathan to offer me a job.

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Rocky Mountain Real Estate Grok

It's one of the most stunning, iconic views in all of North America, and a group of citizens are in a last minute effort to save the Telluride valley floor. The group is $1.5 million short of raising $50 million purchase price to obtain the 600 acre parcel from a California industrialist. According to USA Today, 1600 people from 45 states have made contributions to the fund, including one for $5 million. The group hoping to preserve the land has until tomorrow to raise the money. Neal Blue owns the land (his company makes the Drone aircraft). He's floated numerous proposals for the parcel, from condos to lakes to golf courses. The town of Telluride condemned the land in 2001 but lost on appeal when a judge revoked the law that allowed towns to condemn lands for open space. Among Telluride residents determined to save the parcel are former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke ("I'm an absolutist about the valley floor," he told USA Today) and actor Daryl Hannah, both of whom are part time residents of the area. A compromise project, which involved preserving 91 percent of the land and developing 64 acres, was summarily rejected by voters a couple of years ago.
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Richardson Grok

Bill Richardson seems to really love New Hampshire. He's been traipsing here and there visiting with locals, touting renewable energy power plants, and charming newspaper reporters and bloggers in the Live Free or Die state. Richardson visited a renewable energy plant in Portsmouth. He told seacoastonline.com that if elected, he'd want out of Iraq, and fast, and he'd work on getting all Americans health insurance. He stopped by a local house party down in Salem, Mass., where he apparently faced some tough questions from the crowd of about 50 people gathered in the home. The participants included teachers, doctors and the elderly, who peppered the presidential candidate with questions about health care policy, the No Child Left Behind Act, and the future of social security.

Richardson also appeared at the Rockingham County Clambake, where the topic was science and technology. One of his goals for the Democrats is to become the party of science and technology. Not sure what that means, exactly, but it sounds suspiciously like his entire gubernatorial tenure in New Mexico (including that little 'ol stip-o-asphalt, the New Mexico Spaceport.) [more]

Whining

Remember when birthdays were a big deal? Like 17 (driver's license), 18 (drink (back then) and vote), 21 (trust fund kicks in for some), 30 (I'm getting old), 40 (I'm really getting old). Somewhere after 40 we really stop paying attention, stop expecting birthday parties or big surprises or even greeting cards.

My mother turns 80 in a couple of weeks— a milestone worth celebrating—so my sister and I are planning a catered shindig with tents and rental chairs and canapes. Mom deserves it. In the past two years she's survived stomach cancer (remission), a heart attack that lead to a head-on collision with an oak tree off the Saw Mill Parkway, which in turn lead to the installation of a pacemaker, sepsis (from a tiny paper cut obtained while she and her pal Dorothy were gallivanting around Mexico) and knee replacement surgery. So mom deserves a big-ass party with expensive booze and a chocolate cake. I told her recently that if I'd survived what she had, I'd be smoking cigarettes and eating bon bons with glee.




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