Richardson raises $2 million for '08 bid

[oberliner]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson raised at least $2 million for his presidential campaign, a tally that puts him in good standing in the race for the Democratic nomination.

Almost 1,000 people attended the event Thursday night at a New Mexico resort, Amanda Cooper, Richardson's deputy campaign manager, said Friday. Individual contributors gave $2,300 — the maximum individual donation allowed under federal law for the primary election — and became "Friends of Bill." For $1,000, donors were dubbed "Supporters of Bill."

"We had a key group of 50 to 60 people committed to raising $25,000 each," said Cooper, who added that the campaign received some bundled checks with $25 contributions.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070216/ap_on_el_pr/on_the2008_trail;_ylt=AlXKzkPBDnCly0xE3eEJGOnMWM0F

[Skink]

1. Be nice to run a Governor this time.

[skipos]

2. Yes. Only 3 senators have become president since Lincoln.

Richardson is extrememly experienced (congressman, US ambassador to UN, Sec of Energy, and he was just re-elected NM Gov by the widest margin ever). He really loves diplomacy (earned 4 nobel peace prize nominations for his negotiations), so he would be a good person to undo all of the damage Bush has done to our worldwide reputation.

People feel he didn't do enough for the 2004 election, but he has done a lot for secure voting since then. More than most other governors...

January 12th, 2006
SANTA FE - Governor Bill Richardson today announced that he will work with the Legislature to provide $11 million over two years to purchase new voting machines for all New Mexico counties. The Governor will propose a uniform system of machines with a paper trail that allow voters to verify how they voted."

http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.php?id=5829

If Richardson won the same states as Kerry (252 electoral votes) and added NM's 5 (a guarantee) he would only need 13 more to be President. He would put Colorado and Nevada in play, and those have been trending blue lately anyway.

There are some senators I like, but seems pretty obvious they will always have a tougher time in the general elections.

[brook]

4. So far

I'm very much in the 'undecided' column on who I could most enthusiastically endorse. I like quite a bit of what I read about Richardson - but wonder if he's pretty much 'bulletproof'. Do you know any negatives that might be dragged up by the right?

After what was done to Gore and Kerry (and Clinton) - it's a concern I can't ignore. And, yes. I'm aware that any candidate of ours will be attacked without any regard to the truth of the attacks.

[skipos]

6. Well

most of the complaints on DU stem fron the 2004 NM voting problems, and the belief that Richardson didn't do enough. As I mentioned above, he has done a lot for secure voting since then.

There was this issue... http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/36605.html Remember when rumors starting floating around about some scandalous Kerry affair? I would think if there was any merit to it, more stories would come out now that he is running for pres.

Those seem to be the big two. As with any candidate I am sure there are other stories.

Some people think that being hispanic would be a challenge since everyone is so big on illegal immigration right now. I think it would actually be an asset. If Kerry would have gotten 12% more of the hispanic vote in NV, he would have won the state. I am not saying that RIchardson would automatically get a bump in the hispanic vote, but if he works for it he he should. And whereas some dipshits might be scared by Barack Obama's funny sounding name, the name "Bill RIchardson" isn't going to scare anyone.

[laureloak]

10. I read on another board that he was unelectable.

Something about him being over Energy during the Los Alamos ...

Sorry, I'm not familiar with this incident. But I'd like to be filled in if anyone can explain.

[skipos]

14. Not in my opinion

There are probably going to be DUers who claim "I will NEVER vote for Hillary because of IWR" or "I will NEVER vote for Kucinich because he has supported anti-flag burning amendments" so I am sure there are some here who will "NEVER" vote for Richardson because of this rumor. But I highly doubt he is unelectable because of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wen_Ho_Lee

"Former Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, who had oversight of Los Alamos National Laboratory at the time and effectively ordered Lee's firing, IS CONSIDERED, BY SOME, likely to have been the mysterious source who leaked Lee's name to reporters."

Interesting commentary...
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/29852.html

I think many people will consider his experience (congressman, Sec. of Enery, US Ambassador to UN, extremely popular Governor) and the fact that he would be a GREAT person to undo the damage Bush has done to our foreign relations (RIchardson loves diplomacy, has maintained foreign relationships even though he is just a governor, recently negotiated a ceasefire in Darfur, has been nominated 4 times for the Nobel Peace Prize for his foreign negotiations) over rumors like this.

Some might make the argument that a hispanic is unelectable, but I think if Richardson is able to connect with hispanics in states like NV, CO, FL, like he has with them in NM, he could win those states. He obviously would win NM, which means, if he keeps the Kerrys states, he only has 13 electoral votes to go.

[Orangepeel]

18. somewhere you'll read everyone is unelectable

When he was secretary of Energy under Bill Clinton, the Justice Department accused a man named Wen Ho Lee of stealing secrets from Los Alamos. Richardson fired him. The Justice Department kept him locked up for a long time and then admitted that they really didn't have much evidence against him.

Lee plead guilty of something like "mishandling information," they let him out and the court apologized.

Richardson was accused by some people of leaking stories about Wen Ho Lee to the press, although there's never been any evidence that he did. (I generally take smears against high ranking Clinton officials with a grain of salt).

So, in a nutshell, as Secretary of Energy, Richardson fired someone that the Justice Department accused of being a Chinese spy, but it later turned out that he almost certainly wasn't. To me, it seems like the Justice Department on the hook for that one.

[wyldwolf]

3. Impressive.

[fuzzyball]

5. If HRC does not win, Richardson would be my 2nd choice for nominee

He has a far superior resume compared to newbie Obama
and Johnny E.

[bigdarryl]

7. WOW!! two million thats good proves Hillary isn't the only one getting big money

[Clarkie1]

8. Good. Richardson is one of the better choices. nt

[Colobo]

9. I see Richardson

As an excellent VP candidate...

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

11. how much did hannity give?

they're friends, after all

[skipos]

15. OMG! I heard Kucinich is friends with Bush too!

I won't vote for anyone who talks to or is friends with a Repub!

Just kidding.

[snowbear]

12. Richardson says NH his early top priority

By JOHN DISTASO
Senior Political Reporter
Union Leader - New Hampshire
2 hours, 45 minutes ago


MANCHESTER – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson says he will focus more time, staff and resources to New Hampshire than to any other early primary or caucus state.

In an interview yesterday as he began a two-day swing through the first-primary state, the Democratic Presidential candidate said he will participate in a debate scheduled for April 5, to be sponsored by CNN, WMUR and the New Hampshire Union Leader.

He said that as a Westerner, he "must do well" in Nevada, where the Democratic National Committee has scheduled a new caucus after Iowa's traditional lead-off event but before the New Hampshire primary.

Continued ~ http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Richardson+says+NH+his+early+top+priority&articleId=d19e6ff4-18ca-40a3-8ec4-da6b3afccb76

[rhino47]

13. Good news.

Good to see him getting a good head start.

[election_2004]

16. Go Richardson!

If Clark gets into the race, I'm going to have a difficult time choosing between them (and will make my choice by the fall, after seeing several of the debates).

[thatsrightimirish]

17. good

It would be a horrible idea to nominate a senator.