{"id":1368,"date":"2007-03-08T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-08T18:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/richardson-works-to-earn-american-indian-support\/"},"modified":"2007-03-08T12:01:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-08T18:01:00","slug":"richardson-works-to-earn-american-indian-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/richardson-works-to-earn-american-indian-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Richardson works to earn American Indian support"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> is working hard to earn the support of American Indians for his presidential bid. <\/p>\n

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

Since announcing his presidential run on Jan. 21, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has made a series of visible moves that clearly support the causes of American Indians. George Hardeen, communications director for the Office of the President and Vice President of the Navajo Nation<\/a>, said that\u2019s nothing new: Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, he said, has provided \u201cconsistent support\u201d for Navajos in his years in elected office, and that has won him many friends.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThere\u2019s always been a good deal of support for Gov. Richardson,\u201d Hardeen said. \u201cI think Governor Richardson\u2019s record is one that native people could clearly support (in a presidential race) without question.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Consider the moves Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has made in recent weeks:<\/p>\n

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

\u2022 On Jan. 1, three weeks before he kicked off his presidential campaign, Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> was sworn in for his second term as governor. Administering the oath of office was National Congress of American Indians<\/a> President and Ohkay Owingeh Gov. Joe Garcia, the first American Indian to administer the oath in the state\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

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

\u2022 On Jan. 27, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> announced the resolution of negotiations of gaming compacts with the state\u2019s Indian tribes, and is now attempting to sell the deal to the Legislature.<\/p>\n

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

\u2022 On Jan. 31, Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> appointed Lynda Lovejoy<\/a> to the state Senate, making her the first American Indian woman to serve in that body.<\/p>\n

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

\u2022 On Feb. 20, Richardson<\/st1:city> called on the New Mexico<\/st1:state> delegation in Washington<\/st1:city>, D.C.<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> to oppose the Bush Administration\u2019s proposed cutbacks in American Indian health care funds and to support reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which has languished in Congress since 2000 without reauthorization.<\/p>\n

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

\u2022 In an interview with Indian Country Today<\/a> published Feb. 23, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> announced that, if elected president, he would create a federal, cabinet-level secretary of Indian affairs.<\/p>\n

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

\u2022 On Feb. 26, Richardson<\/st1:city> spoke to the National Congress of American Indians in Washington<\/st1:city>, D.C.<\/st1:state> and became the first 2008 presidential candidate to accept an invitation to the \u201cPrez on the Rez<\/a>\u201d debate to be held this summer at the Morongo Band of Mission Indians reservation outside Palm Springs<\/st1:city>, Calif.<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>, according to the Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

\u2022 During that speech, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> also promised to resolve a multibillion-dollar lawsuit over Indian trust lands.<\/p>\n

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

\u2018I want your support\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> is, obviously, attempting to make the case that he\u2019s the best candidate for American Indians. Though his campaign didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment for this article, the Associated Press quoted Richardson as saying during the Feb. 26 speech that, \u201cwith Native American issues, there\u2019s been no one stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI will come to Indian Country. Of course I want your support,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

Hardeen said Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has always listened to Navajos.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cMy boss, (Navajo Nation) President (Joe) Shirley, refers to Governor Richardson as a brother,\u201d he told me. \u201cHe certainly makes himself available to the Navajo Nation president.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

But it\u2019s more than accessibility that has won Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> friends, according to Hardeen.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cHe\u2019s one who actually does what he says he will for natives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

In the January news release about his push for reauthorization of the federal act, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> reminded journalists of that support.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cSince taking office in 2003, Governor Richardson has urged Congress on numerous communications to adequately fund Indian health, called for state and tribal consultations on a government-to-government basis to improve health care, and elevated the New Mexico Department of Indian Affairs to a cabinet level position,\u201d the news release states.<\/p>\n

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

\u2018I\u2019ve made them partners\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> says such support isn\u2019t about political pandering.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cSince the beginning\u2026 I felt that our Native American people have not gotten the priority attention they deserve, so I\u2019ve made them partners,\u201d he told Indian Country Today. \u201c\u2026 I\u2019ve never felt that it is a matter of just trying to get votes or feeling good, but that the Native American people are partners, and if you want to resolve problems in New Mexico involving land, water or energy, you got to have the Native people with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Garcia, in a January news release about his selection to administer the oath of office to Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, had nothing but praise.<\/p>\n

\u201cGov. Richardson has been a stalwart supporter of the rights and inherent roles of the tribes and pueblos of New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, and I am glad to call him my friend and a friend of the Indian people of this state,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n

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

Walking a fine line<\/span><\/p>\n

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

One issue that reveals the political line Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has to walk in seeking the support of American Indians is the proposal currently being considered by the state Legislature to give an $85-million tax break for the Desert Rock coal plant<\/a>, which will be built on the Navajo Nation by Sithe Global Power of Houston.<\/p>\n

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

The plant will send an estimated 10.5 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air each year, effectively canceling out Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s goal of reducing such emissions throughout the state by 11 million tons each year. Combating the effects of global warming with a \u201cman-on-the-moon effort\u201d is one of the cornerstones of Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s presidential platform.<\/p>\n

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

But Navajo leaders support the project and are pushing hard for the tax break.<\/p>\n

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

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> spokesman Jon Goldstein has said the governor \u201cis concerned with the potential negative impacts (the coal plant) would have on his aggressive climate change emission reduction goals.\u201d At the same time, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has chosen to remain neutral on the tax-break proposal.<\/p>\n

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

Hardeen said Richardson<\/st1:city> has done so much for American Indians that his lack of support for the tax breaks isn\u2019t enough to keep them from backing him, so Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has struck a balance that is acceptable to the leadership of the Navajo Nation. Many environmental groups aren\u2019t happy, however, and have been joined in their protests by some who live on the reservation, but their protests have focused on lawmakers, not Richardson.<\/p>\n

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

Another issue on which Richardson<\/st1:city> has, for the time being, sidestepped controversy, is the proposal by the Jemez Pueblo and Santa Fe<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> art dealer and developer Gerald Peters to build a casino in Anthony<\/a>. The U.S. Department of the Interior is currently considering the proposal. If it\u2019s approved there, it will be up to Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> to decide whether the casino can be built.<\/p>\n

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

The rich and powerful are on both sides of the debate, and Richardson<\/st1:city> has given few clues about what he will decide if the federal government approves the project, other than to say he thinks there are enough casinos in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> but that doesn\u2019t mean he wouldn\u2019t approve the project.<\/p>\n

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

I was unable to reach the governor of the Jemez Pueblo for comment.<\/p>\n

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

\u2018A little too much\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

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

At the national American Indian conference in Washington<\/st1:state> at the end of February, the group announced that the \u201cPrez on the Rez\u201d debate would be held in California<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>. Sandia Pueblo outside Albuquerque<\/st1:city> was one of two finalists considered to host the debate between 2008 Democratic contenders, but some of the other candidates complained that holding the debate there would favor Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

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

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> was conciliatory in addressing that issue, but his statement indicates the confidence he has in his support among American Indians.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI was hoping you\u2019d have it at Sandia, but I guess that didn\u2019t work out,\u201d he said, according to a separate article in Indian Country Today<\/a>. It was a comment that drew laughter from those in attendance.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI guess the other candidates felt that was a little too much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gov. Bill Richardson is working hard to earn the support of American Indians for his presidential bid. Since announcing his presidential run on Jan. 21, Richardson has made a series of visible moves that clearly support the causes of American Indians. George Hardeen, communications director for the Office of the President and Vice President of […]<\/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-1368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368","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=1368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}