Richardson Grok
Richardson’s Sowing Seeds of Grassroots Campaign
By Emily Esterson, 4-30-07
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson seems to be making good on his promise to run a very grassroots campaign. After the recent debate, Richardson was hanging out with bloggers in California. The California Majority Report writes about the western shift from red to, well, purple in its politics, and Richardson’s explanation of that shift: Richardson said Western “leave me alone” libertarians feel out of place in today’s Republican party. And rising support for alternative energy and the environment have given rise to new grassroots activity.. The blog also noted Richardson’s unpolished speaking style and, on a positive note, his focus on ideals rather than talking points, left a favorable impression on the ten or so young people in the meeting.
On a more mainstream note, Richardson still dreams of baseball, according to Fox News, reporting on an Associated Press interview which asked 14 presidential candidates from both parties to describe their alternate lives. Richardson hearkened back to his days as a right handed pitcher for Tufts University, where he was not recruited by the Kansas City A’s in 1966. He did, however, play for the Cape Cod League’s Cotuit (Mass.) Kettleers in the summer of 1967.
In the obscure websites that suddenly appear on our radar category, the Buckeye Firearms Association has an interesting blog post about Richardson’s take on gun rights. Titled “Pro-gun Democrats Should Look West to Find Hope in the Presidential Primary,” blogger Chad Baus whole-heartedly endorsed Richardson as one of the only pro-gun-rights democrats running today. Much as was the case with Republican primary field before Fred Thompson’s name popped up, pro-gun Democrat primary voters have little to be excited about with Clinton, Obama and Edwards. But in Bill Richardson, pro-gun Democrats will find a candidate that has a proven record of advocacy for the right that protects all others.
On a more left-leaning note,Richardson’s post debate chat with NY Times blogger Jeff Zeleny included much of the usual post-mortem: Richardson did okay, not great; Richardson’s resume stands out among the candidates; he is ideologically different from the others, in that he stands up for gun rights and yet advocates a complete pullout from Iraq. Zeleney offers no real insight into Richardson’s character, but does paint him as someone you’d like to sit down for a cup of coffee with. That’s an increasingly popular description of Richardson—unpolished but friendly, with a more, what, libertarian, agenda from hard line democrats.
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