Richardson’s face shone more than his performance

I predicted today that Bill Richardson would shine at tonight’s Democratic presidential candidate debate. It turns out the only aspect of the New Mexico governor’s performance that shone was the sweat on his face.

I almost hate to say it. My intent isn’t to be mean. It’s to be honest. That’s my job.

I’m not saying he did poorly. He did alright. But John Edwards and Barack Obama also did fine, and Hillary Clinton was the one who shone.

I didn’t expect it from her, but Clinton showed that she is the veteran of what is an impressive Democratic candidate field. She was calm throughout the debate, was clear, knowledgeable and concise in her answers, and smiled when it was appropriate but appeared serious when that was what was needed.

Obama revealed his political inexperience when he fell into a trap set by Dennis Kucinich and got into an emotional spat about when war is justified. He failed frequently to answer the questions that were asked, instead giving overly verbose and meandering answers.

By contrast, the veteran Clinton, given the opportunity to take a shot a Rudy Giuliani for attacking Democrats this week, refused. She would have validated his candidacy if she fired back, and she knew it.

Still, Obama was generally calm, cool and youthful. Many will like that.

Edwards, who ranks third in the polls, did fine. He was cool. He often answered the questions asked, but didn’t always. I think he remains in third place after the debate.

Richardson’s performance started out on shaky ground. He was the first to be introduced and, when the camera went to him, he was looking off to the side with an open mouth that made him appear as if he wasn’t paying attention. He quickly looked to the camera a second later.

I don’t think he smiled throughout the debate. He used a lot of wide hand gestures that made him appear caffeinated, and he sweated profusely – more than anyone else. His face literally glistened.

He was the first to speak longer than the time allotted and, though others followed suit, he did it more than anyone else, and had to be forcibly cut off several times. For the most part, the others needed only gentile prodding to stop talking.

Richardson failed to adequately explain why he thinks the attorney general’s ethnicity should determine whether he should be fired after saying last week he hadn’t called for Alberto Gonzales’ ouster because he was Hispanic. Richardson recovered with a nice one-liner about being an honest man, however.

“I think the American people want candor,” he said. “They don’t want blow-dried candidates who are perfect.”

Richardson got a couple of nice plugs from moderator Brian Williams about his foreign-policy experience and being the NRA’s favorite candidate from either party. But Richardson’s attempt to separate himself from the others was completely overshadowed by the antics and energy of Kucinich and Gravel, the only two to clearly identify significant policy differences they have with the others.

Richardson might have won some likeability points for appearing to be the candidate who didn’t respect the authority of the moderator, and he admitted during the debate to being impatient and aggressive, which might impress some who are tired of the government’s red tape.

He came across as the experienced, intelligent candidate he is, but so did just about everyone else. Overall, Richardson didn’t step above the second tier of candidates.