Richardson makes stop in Nevada; Democrat who saw him speak shares her thoughts on his candidacy

Gov. Bill Richardson made his first public presidential campaign trip this weekend, stopping in Northern Nevada and speaking to hundreds of Democrats there.

Nevada will hold the nation’s second presidential nominating event for the 2008 election – a caucus on Jan. 19. The first is in Iowa on Jan. 14.

According to the Albuquerque Tribune and Reno Gazette-Journal, Richardson sounded themes that are becoming familiar to his campaign: He’s an underdog, a moderate and a Westerner; he’ll outwork the other candidates.

“I am a westerner who supports the rugged individualism of the West,” Richardson told a group of locals in rural Minden, according to the Tribune. “Only 15 percent of America lives in rural areas, and as a candidate, I’m going to pay attention to rural areas. I know this is Republican territory, but in a primary, I’m going to campaign everywhere.”

Richardson knows that Nevada, as the only early Western primary state, is a state in which he has to compete.

“I have to do extremely well,” the Tribune quoted him as saying. “I have to do more than respectably. I’m not sure I can carry Nevada, but I’m going to try.”

Richardson, who was the first presidential candidate to hire staff in Nevada, is also the first candidate to accept invitations to two presidential forums in that state, one on Feb. 21 in Carson City and the other on March 24 in Las Vegas, the Gazette-Journal reported. Richardson announced his acceptance of invitations while speaking to Democrats at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport.

At the annual Douglas County Democrats’ Turn Nevada Blue dinner on Saturday, he spoke about being Hispanic.

“If course, I want to be the first Hispanic president,” the Tribune quoted Richardson as saying. “But I’d like to think that my story is the story of every American, of getting a chance to prove yourself no matter what your ethnic, religious or economic background, and making the most of every God-given opportunity that we have.”

Vicki Bates, a prominent Democrat in Douglas County who is active in that county’s party, was kind enough to share her thoughts after listening to Richardson speak Saturday night. My thanks to Vicki for helping give New Mexicans some perspective on what Democrats in another state think about our governor’s presidential ambitions.

Here’s what she had to say:

Richardson was impressive, but it’s still early

By Vicki Bates

Governor Richardson was warmly received by the 220 attendees at the sold-out “Turn Nevada Blue” Douglas County Democrats’ dinner. His résumé and experience really impressed us, and his concern for the issues common to us all, and us westerners in particular, is most welcome.

People here aren’t necessarily ready to jump on the bandwagon yet – it’s early and we have a lot of other candidates to hear from – but he was perhaps moved to the top of the list of contenders for many. The words I heard most often from those I talked to were “impressive” and “practical,” and no one expressed any reservations about him.

Former General Wesley Clark spoke first and gave a rousing speech that was sort of like a pep rally. At first, it almost sounded like he was endorsing Gov. Richardson, but as the speech went on, he sounded more like a candidate himself, though he’s still undeclared. He, too, was well-received.

Gov. Richardson’s style was more pleasant and conversational, though he got charged up a few times too. He not only brought up issues and concerns that need to be addressed in this country, but used practical examples of how he’s addressed such concerns in the state of New Mexico and during his diplomatic career.

His support of getting out of Iraq within the year, using more diplomacy in our foreign policy, universal health care, preservation of water and public lands, the environment, renewable energy and new technology, unions, entrepreneurship, and higher education being available to all received generous applause.

We’re also grateful for his support for not bringing nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. Yucca Mountain was not the nearly impermeable, solid piece of granite that was expected. Instead, there are numerous fissures, and water percolates through there quite rapidly. Once the casks erode, as they eventually will, it would destroy the aquifer in the area forever, and no one knows how far the damage would spread.

I’m not familiar enough with New Mexico’s situation to be able to judge how successful his efforts as your congressman and governor have been. The four nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize are endorsement enough of his international efforts. His résumé is head and shoulders above any other candidate’s, and he comes across as very down to earth, knowledgeable and practical – a guy you could sit down and have a great conversation with. The consensus seemed to be that he’s a very strong candidate, but if for some reason he doesn’t win the presidential nomination, we’d at least like have to have him in the cabinet.