The news keeps getting better for the presidential campaign of Gov. Bill Richardson.
The governor is continuing a slow and steady rise in prominence since announcing on Jan. 21 that he was running for president. What remains to be seen is whether he can climb fast enough to catch the three frontrunners for the Democratic nomination.
Two days after former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack announced that he was dropping out of the race because he couldn’t raise enough cash, Richardson’s campaign announced his first trip to Iowa since he entered the race on Jan. 21.
Richardson will be in that state on Friday and Saturday, and will speak to a number of small groups including young Democrats at Drake University in Des Moines, the state’s bloggers, women and union leaders.
A South Carolina coup
Richardson announced Friday that he has hired two prominent South Carolina Democrats to work on his campaign in that early primary state. Running his organization there will be the man who is currently the executive director of that state’s party, Lachlan McIntosh.
He will step down from the state party job.
With South Carolina hosting one of the nation’s first four primary contests, it’s a big catch for a candidate many don’t think has a shot at the nomination. Many were surprised that McIntosh decided to work for Richardson.
“I believe that Governor Richardson is the right man for the job,” McIntosh said in a news release. “He has the proven experience and record to solve the problems we are facing in America today and I am excited to be joining the team.”
You can read more from the Associated Press by clicking here.
Taking Bush to task on Iran
On Sunday, the Washington Post ran a commentary by Richardson taking the Bush Administration to task for its policies on Iran. Citing the recent agreement that North Korea will disarm, Richardson wrote that diplomacy, not “saber-rattling,” would have solved the Korean crisis sooner and would also solve the situation with Iran.
“No nation has ever been forced to renounce nuclear weapons, but many have chosen to do so. The Iranians will not end their nuclear program because we threaten them and call them names,” Richardson wrote. “They will renounce nukes because we convince them that they will be safer and more prosperous if they do that than if they don’t. This feat will take more than threats and insults. It will take skillful American diplomatic leadership.”
The column set off a debate on a number of blogs and other Internet sites.
A Western initiative on global warming
Richardson is in Washington, D.C. today to attend a National Governors Association meeting. He and other governors will have dinner with President Bush this evening.
But this morning, Richardson furthered his image as a champion of combating global warming by announcing, along with the governors of Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington, the formation of the Western Regional Climate Action Initiative to implement a joint strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The five governors signed an agreement directing their states to develop a regional target for reducing greenhouse gasses within the next six months, and to devise, within the next 18 months, a market-based program that may use a cap-and-trade system to reach the target.
The three states on the coast already had a joint initiative, as did Arizona and New Mexico, so the partnership will build on both.
“With this agreement, states are once again taking the lead on combating global climate change while Washington, D.C. sits on its hands,” Richardson said in a news release. “This historic agreement signals our commitment to tackling the problem head on at the regional level and building on efforts in our individual states.”
Captivating a crowd in Florida
On Saturday, 700 people showed up at an event in Florida to hear Richardson speak, according to the Albuquerque Journal. The crowds are growing in size.
But Richardson didn’t get a turn to speak until late in the event, following the remarks of a number of local officials, and the crowd was distracted.
Until Richardson began speaking about the difficultly of calling families of New Mexico soldiers killed in Iraq.
“When it comes to this president, I don’t know how someone can be so blind to the hurt and anguish in this country, and so deaf to the will of the people,” the Journal reported that Richardson said. His words were followed by a hush in the room.
“This is not presidential greatness,” he said. “This is a great tragedy.”
Richardson then received a standing ovation when he called for a troop withdrawal from Iraq.
And while others said they didn’t think Richardson can raise enough money to be the party’s nominee for president, at least one Democrat at the event told the Journal that he shouldn’t be underestimated, pointing to another governor and White House hopeful who was called an underdog 14 years ago.
“Everybody said Bill Clinton was an underdog when he came here,” the Journal quoted Broward County Commissioner Eileen Lieberman as saying. “It’s too early to tell.”
The news keeps getting better for the presidential campaign of Gov. Bill Richardson.