Richardson Says Nominee will be Chosen Early

By Emily Esterson, 3-05-07

It will all be over by the end of next January, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson told an audience in Des Moines, Iowa, over the weekend.
Boston.com reported on the governor’s Iowa swing, which included house parties, meetings with bloggers and party leaders in the key early caucus state. In January 2008, four caucuses are scheduled, including Iowa, and Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina.  The governor told the press that the small group, grassroots meetings are indicative of the type of campaign he plans to run; with possibly less funding than the other, more high-profile candidates, Richardson plans to spend a great deal of time with issues, debates and local campaigning. He told the audience, “I’m the kind of governor that gets things done.”

Well, maybe, maybe not. Today’s Albuquerque Journal reports that New Mexico has fallen from No. 25 in the Marion Ewing Kauffman Foundation’s New Economy Index, to No. 33. The index measures the degree to which states’ economies are knowledge- and innovation-based, entrepreneurial, and information technology-driven as the nation’s economy drifts away from manufacturing and economic development shifts from “smokestack chasing” and toward job creation and retention, writes the Journal. Richardson has been touting his administration’s job creation record over the past few years; truth is New Mexico is still economically rooted in ten years ago. Note the statistics for Internet usage, fast growing companies, and foreign direct investment: 46, 48 and 48 out of 50 respectively.  As usual the state ranks very high for number of Ph.ds per capita, but unfortunately they seem to be sequestered in their government jobs rather than building high-growth nanotechnology companies.

The Santa Fe New Mexican weighed in on Sunday with an editorial about Richardson’s make-nice campaign policy; while not quite fawning, the New Mexican seemed genuinely proud of New Mexico’s governor. During a meeting in Carson City, Nevada, the first negative flares were fired in what promises to be an exceptionally long campaign season—Richardson responded by asking candidates to sign a pledge to keep it positive. Here the diplomat is showing his stuff; Richardson is an undeniably optimistic politician--from the very start he’s tried to drag a state mired in mediocrity and poor self-image into a place of national regard. The New Mexican’s editorial questions whether Richardson can stick with his Mr. Nice Guy approach, or, whether he’ll be forced to fire back when the mud really starts hitting. In the meantime, though, New Mexicans can enjoy seeing his smiling face around the country, and take pride in his statesmanlike mien.