{"id":1904,"date":"2007-06-27T11:36:00","date_gmt":"2007-06-27T17:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/06\/guv-must-show-hes-as-capable-as-he-is-personable\/"},"modified":"2009-08-22T15:01:58","modified_gmt":"2009-08-22T21:01:58","slug":"guv-must-show-hes-as-capable-as-he-is-personable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/06\/guv-must-show-hes-as-capable-as-he-is-personable\/","title":{"rendered":"Guv must show he’s as capable as he is personable"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In his quest for the presidency, Bill Richardson<\/a> has managed recently to climb above the margin of error in at least one national poll \u2013 to 5 percent \u2013 and to reach 10 percent in polls in Iowa<\/st1:state> and New Hampshire<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>. <\/p>\n

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

He\u2019s done it while making a number of, at best, mediocre nationally televised appearances. Richardson<\/st1:city>\u2019s attempts to set himself apart on Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> and energy independence have been only marginally successful. And while he\u2019s trying to score points for being Hispanic, most people across the nation don\u2019t know he\u2019s three-fourths Mexican.<\/p>\n

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

So why has Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> gained significant ground in the last few weeks?<\/p>\n

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

He\u2019s likeable.<\/p>\n

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

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has climbed while John Edwards<\/a> has fallen and Barack Obama\u2019s<\/a> support has stagnated. Among Democratic contenders, only Hillary Clinton<\/a> has climbed faster than Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

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

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has said all along that he\u2019s \u201cnot a rock star,\u201d not focused on endorsements and media attention and won\u2019t raise as much money as the top candidates. He is certainly trying to keep up in those areas, but they haven\u2019t been his focus.<\/p>\n

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

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s strength lies in making personal connections, and he knows it.<\/p>\n

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

It\u2019s what makes him a great negotiator. He\u2019s a natural at non-verbal communication and reading body language. That\u2019s why he\u2019s often mediocre in debates and in front of massive crowds: He\u2019s speaking to a camera or thousands of faceless people.<\/p>\n

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

In small groups or one-on-one settings, however, he\u2019s brilliant. Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> holds the world record for shaking the most hands in an eight-hour period \u2013 13,392. But he often disregards such formality. His penchant for bear hugs and head butts is well documented.<\/p>\n

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

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> does have a fabulous r\u00e9sum\u00e9, but his strength is that, when he greets people, he comes across as human and friendly, as someone who doesn\u2019t believe his experience and knowledge make him better than those he\u2019s speaking with. He knows how to make others feel listened to and understood.<\/p>\n

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

His candidacy has potential because his qualifications match or surpass those of his opponents, but he\u2019s still someone with whom you\u2019d like to have a beer at a barbeque.<\/p>\n

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

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s campaign knows that. His \u201cjob interview\u201d television commercials, which were followed by a jump in the polls in May, effectively portray Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> as qualified and likeable.<\/p>\n

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

His irreverence has, at times, gotten him into trouble. Recall the lieutenant governor\u2019s infamous comments that she sometimes tried to avoid Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> because of his touchiness. Some wonder, in his disregard for formality, if Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has crossed the line between friendliness and harassment, or worse.<\/p>\n

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

There\u2019s been no evidence presented publicly that would doom Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s campaign, at least yet. With such behavior, however, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> risks being labeled as someone who isn\u2019t serious enough to be president.<\/p>\n

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

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s style is a gamble, but one that has carried him through three decades in the public eye. If he can convince voters he can lead the nation as effectively the other candidates while remaining friendly and human, he\u2019ll continue climbing in the polls.<\/p>\n

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

The risk is that Clinton<\/st1:city> or others will come across as more serious and competent in a time of war, and Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> will, in the end, look like the class clown. Only time will tell.<\/p>\n

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

A version of this article was published today in the Albuquerque Tribune<\/a>. I write a column for the newspaper that runs on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his quest for the presidency, Bill Richardson has managed recently to climb above the margin of error in at least one national poll \u2013 to 5 percent \u2013 and to reach 10 percent in polls in Iowa and New Hampshire. He\u2019s done it while making a number of, at best, mediocre nationally televised appearances. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-haussamen-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1904","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=1904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1904\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}