Richardson Grok
Richardson Clambakes in New Hampshire
By Emily Esterson, 5-07-07
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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.)
Estoy Latino, Really I Am! There’s an old, kinda not-so-nice joke in New Mexico that if you want to get elected to public office here you need to have a Hispanic last name. Richardson seems to be facing the national version of this dilemma. A recent poll shows that a majority of Latinos are unaware that Richardson is one of them, or at least half of one of them. Nonetheless, the Hispanic and Spanish language media has fully embraced Richardson, even if he has that really white last name. Richardson claims he’s not running as an Hispanic but as someone who is proud of his Hispanic heritage. He’s given radio interviews in Spanish and been interviewed by several major Hispanic media outlets. Still, writes the Santa Fe New Mexican, according to a poll of 1000 voters in March by Lake Research Partners, more than half of Latino voters in 23 states said no Latino was running for president. Only a quarter recognized Richardson as a Hispanic in the race. It found Hillary Clinton to be the favored Democratic candidate among Latino voters, with 60 percent saying they would vote for her while 9 percent favored Richardson.
Besides his Hispanic heritage, New Mexicans have had a long fascination with Richardson’s weight fluctuations. Now he confesses: Gone are the protein drinks and in are, well, whatever he gets set in front of him. So will we see Richardson’s weight creep up again? And how will that affect his poll numbers?
Another thing candidate Richardson can’t seem to resist is the opportunity to hob-nob with Hollywood, even if it is a sort of potentially maybe anti-semitic Hollywood (which seems a bit of an oxymoron). The Governor sat down with Mel Gibson last week, in Santa Fe for “personal reasons” to visit with him about the film industry. The two chatted for about 20 minutes. The State of New Mexico provided an interest free loan for Icon Production’s Seraphim Falls, which was partially shot in Lordsburg (of all places) New Mexico.
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Comments
There is also not a homogeneous culture in "Latin" America or in any one of its countries. So what is a Latino? Someone from Latin? Oh right, that's not a place but an antiquated language whose geographical center was modern day Italy. So why are Italian Americans lumped into the "white people" genera when Spain and Portugal are further from the old center of Latin speakers. Yes Spanish and Portuguese have Latin as a foundation as does French, but the French are also deemed "white people".
The Roman Empire is world renown for its great power so causing the world to identify a group of countries as Latinos can be used as a cultural marketing tool to reinvent a group of third world countries and their peoples. Coming to the United States, you no longer have to be from a poor country like El Salvador or Mexico. You are now Latino! You are a Hispanic and a minority at that, who can command special funding and services from America's government. If you are ever denied or anyone should question this status, then certainly it could only be because they're racist or at least that's how the power is maintained. Demanding silence to any questions or debate using the 'R' word is ironic because it is America that has granted many freedoms like the freedom of speech, but to gain power for one's Raza even freedom of speech must be put aside.
The terms Hispanic and Latino are as ridiculous as if there were a special word like Englishian for someone whose ancestors once came from an English speaking country like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the U.K. or the U.S. before migrating to a Spanish speaking country.