{"id":1320,"date":"2007-02-27T15:57:00","date_gmt":"2007-02-27T21:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/02\/richardson-speaks-to-hundreds-at-latino-luncheon\/"},"modified":"2007-02-27T15:57:00","modified_gmt":"2007-02-27T21:57:00","slug":"richardson-speaks-to-hundreds-at-latino-luncheon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/02\/richardson-speaks-to-hundreds-at-latino-luncheon\/","title":{"rendered":"Richardson speaks to hundreds at Latino luncheon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Travis Galey<\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Galey is a journalist in Washington<\/st1:city>, D.C.<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> who attended today\u2019s luncheon and wrote this article for Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> has said repeatedly on the campaign trail that he\u2019s not running for president as a Hispanic candidate.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That may be true most days, but not today.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:city> gave the keynote address at the Latino Leaders Luncheon Series<\/a> in Washington<\/st1:city>, D.C.<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> this afternoon. And while some of the latest headlines<\/a> suggest Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> is having trouble attracting Hispanic voters, today\u2019s event proved otherwise. The event is held once every quarter, and today\u2019s lunch drew a bigger crowd \u2013 some 300 attendees \u2013 than any previous luncheon.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The attendance number even eclipsed that of last quarter\u2019s speaker, Eva Longoria, the Latina<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> actress from \u201cDesperate Housewives<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Jeff Kline, chairman of Hispanic Communications Network, said many Hispanics may currently support other presidential candidates, but he believes that will change.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t know much about Bill, but the more they learn of him\u2026 He\u2019s a doer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> delivered a series of anecdotes to the crowd during today\u2019s luncheon, moving flawlessly between Spanish and English, and his ease with Spanish-speaking reporters was evident.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said he\u2019s targeting all American voters, but he he\u2019s hopeful his Hispanic roots will help him. At the luncheon, the governor thanked Hispanic politicians who have helped him in the past. He said he\u2019s still seeking Hispanic support, and he\u2019s mindful of what a win would mean to many Latino citizens.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI need your help,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said at the end of his speech. \u201cWe can win this thing. If that happens, we make history.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Kline said he believes Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s language skills will separate him from other candidates. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to understand the subtleties of issues such as the war in Iraq<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place>, it helps that he\u2019s able to speak Spanish,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:city> believes Hispanic-rich states including California<\/st1:state> and Florida<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> will be instrumental in his presidential bid. On three separate occasions during his speech and a press event, he called for California<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> to move up its Democratic primary to Feb. 5 \u2013 something that state\u2019s legislature is in the process of doing.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has been in the nation\u2019s capital for a four-day meeting of the National Governors Association. During his speech he said that, on a visit Monday to the White House with the association, he congratulated President Bush on reaching a deal with North Korea<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> to end its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for economic aide. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He said he also told Bush he needs to negotiate with the Iranians in order to get them to end their nuclear program.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Monday night, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> used his diplomatic ties to find more international support. Spanish Ambassador D. Carlos Westendorp hosted a dinner Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> concedes he\u2019s a long shot in the race to become the Democratic nominee. He said last month\u2019s address to the Democratic National Committee\u2019s winter meeting seemed to jumpstart his campaign.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He believes is now at the top of the second tier of candidates, and he\u2019s gaining momentum.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI started this race four weeks ago and I was at one percent. But check the polls today. I\u2019m at eight percent<\/a>. I\u2019m moving up,\u201d he said to applause.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

After the cheering died down, he added, \u201cI\u2019ve got to move up a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said the New Mexico Legislature is keeping him from devoting all of his time to campaigning. But, he said, once he has finished signing bills following the session, that will change.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the first of April, I\u2019m pretty much going to be full time, and that\u2019s where you\u2019re going to see the real Bill Richardson campaign,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 watch what we do the second quarter.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

One story from Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s speech may sum up how far he still has to go. He said he called his mother, who lives in Mexico City<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, recently to see how she was doing. Twice during the conversation, she asked if he was still governor of New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He told her he was, and that he was also running for president. Her response was, \u201cPresident of what?\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

If more people don\u2019t learn the answer to that question, soon, he won\u2019t be president of anything.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Travis Galey Galey is a journalist in Washington, D.C. who attended today\u2019s luncheon and wrote this article for Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics. Gov. Bill Richardson has said repeatedly on the campaign trail that he\u2019s not running for president as a Hispanic candidate. That may be true most days, but not today. Richardson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}