Gov. Bill Richardson will announce Sunday that he is taking the initial step toward seeking the Democratic Party’s 2008 presidential nomination.
Richardson plans to announce that he will soon file paperwork creating an exploratory committee, the first step toward a run for president and the same step taken earlier this week by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
One source told me this afternoon about the planned Sunday announcement. Shortly after that, the Associated Press reported that several sources had confirmed it.
Richardson is scheduled to appear on This Week with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday morning, and will likely make the announcement there. According to the show’s Web site, he plans to discuss whether he’ll run and how he can “combat the star power of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.”
This Week with George Stephanopoulos airs at 9 a.m. on Sunday on ABC, which in Las Cruces is Channel 7. It’s also Channel 7 in the Albuquerque television market.
Richardson and Stephanopoulos worked together in former President Bill Clinton’s administration. Stephanopoulos was a senior political adviser to Clinton’s 1992 U.S. presidential campaign later became Clinton’s communications director.
The description for Richardson’s book, Between Worlds, states that the governor is “the man George Stephanopoulos once called the Red Adair of diplomacy in homage to his ability to put out international fires.”
Many have speculated that Richardson is modeling his presidential run in many ways after that of Clinton, who was also a small-state governor. Like Clinton, Richardson is gifted and personable. Clinton faced allegations of indiscretions during his campaign. Rumors about Richardson have persisted for years, but concrete allegations have never been made publicly.
One recent comment on the Internet on that topic was made by Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, the administrator of the immensely popular liberal blog Daily Kos. He had this to say today in critiquing Richardson:
“And his private life is the subject of – how should I delicately put it? – Clintonian rumors,” Zúniga wrote.
And Wonkette referred to Richardson’s “unspecified bimbo-itis.”
Those who say such rumors might derail Richardson’s White House run should remember that Clinton overcame the allegations to become a two-term president.
The point is that Richardson has a long relationship with Stephanopoulos. In deciding how to announce his presidential run, he might want to create nostalgia for the Clinton days – if not by talking about them with Stephanopoulos, at least by being in the same room with him while announcing his run for president.
Update, 4:20 p.m.
Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos made this statement:
“The governor will announce his intentions before the end of the month, and we have no further comment beyond that.”
Gov. Bill Richardson will announce Sunday that he is taking the initial step toward seeking the Democratic Party’s 2008 presidential nomination.