Unofficial Richardson-for-VP movement begins

One of the most active volunteers on Gov. Bill Richardson’s now-defunct presidential campaign is already trying to start a movement to make him the next vice president of the United States.

Ken Camp, a Democratic activist in Washington State, has started a blog and an online petition to push the eventual Democratic presidential nominee to make Richardson his or her running mate.

Camp said the effort is not affiliated with Richardson’s presidential campaign and the statements on the sites have not been authorized by the governor. He said he will take down the sites if asked by Richardson or senior staff members to do so.

“I have not been asked or paid by anyone to do this. This is an entirely grassroots effort,” Camp said. “As one of the primary bloggers for Richardson for the past two years, I’m acting alone and have not consulted with anyone about my effort.”

Richardson has said in the past that he’s not interested in being vice president and would serve out his term as governor if he lost the presidential race, but he didn’t close the door on vice president or another job in Washington during today’s speech announcing his withdrawal from the presidential race.

“We, the people, believe that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s experience serving as a Congressman, Secretary of Energy, U.N. Ambassador, Governor, and unofficial U.S. envoy to bad guys make him a great choice for Vice-President on the 2008 Democratic ticket and we call on the Democratic nominee for President to make Bill Richardson his or her Vice-President,” the petition states.

Richardson campaign staffers didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Camp said the reasons for his effort to make Richardson the vice president are simple.

“Governor Richardson has unique foreign policy experience that none of the remaining Democrats has, and he’s the governor of a Western state and would balance any potential ticket,” Camp said. “With Bill Richardson on the ticket, any of the potential Democratic nominees would have a vice-presidential candidate who could help win the West and, thus, win the White House.”

Camp said he also believes that many people who didn’t support Richardson’s presidential bid “think he’d be a fine vice president.”

“My hope is that the petition will reflect that support,” Camp said.