{"id":4348,"date":"2009-03-13T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-03-14T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/03\/bet-on-richardson-signing-death-penalty-repeal\/"},"modified":"2009-03-13T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-03-14T02:00:00","slug":"bet-on-richardson-signing-death-penalty-repeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/03\/bet-on-richardson-signing-death-penalty-repeal\/","title":{"rendered":"Bet on Richardson signing death penalty repeal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I have nothing more than a gut feeling, but my money is on Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> opting to sign a bill that would make New Mexico the 15th state to repeal the death penalty.<\/p>\n

For the politically savvy and embattled governor, there\u2019s nearly every reason in the world to sign the bill — from a political standpoint — and few to veto it.<\/p>\n

The Senate sent House Bill 285<\/a>, sponsored by Rep. Gail Chasey<\/a>, D-Albuquerque, to the governor today on a vote of 24-18. It\u2019s the most significant legislation to head the governor\u2019s desk so far this session.<\/p>\n

Richardson put out a statement that says he\u2019s still undecided on whether he\u2019ll sign the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an extremely difficult issue that deserved the serious and thoughtful debate it received in the Legislature,\u201d Richardson said. \u201cI have met with many people and will continue to consider all sides of the issue before making a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richardson has opposed the death penalty repeal in the past, but he now says his stance is softening.<\/p>\n

Which is the first clue he will sign it. Think about it. A governor dogged by pay-to-play allegations<\/a> and still stinging from his failed bid to join the Obama administration<\/a> needs a big win. Signing the bill would earn him positive international attention, while vetoing the bill would do the opposite.<\/p>\n

The last time Richardson was on the internationally unpopular side of such an issue — cockfighting — Jay Leno<\/a> made fun of him. And Richardson switched sides<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In addition, progressives are taking increasing control of state and federal government, and Richardson has failed to deliver on some of their biggest issues, including domestic partner benefits and universal health care. His success in pushing their desired ethics reforms has been mediocre, at best.<\/p>\n

Though ending capital punishment isn\u2019t only a progressive issue, the signing of this bill would be a big win for progressives.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that Richardson can be swayed. The master of shrewd political moves has come back from scandal before, and he could do it again (assuming, of course, that he isn\u2019t indicted in the ongoing federal grand jury probe<\/a>). Signing this bill would be quite shrewd at this moment in America\u2019s political history and in Richardson\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

The governor has until Tuesday to act on the bill. He has set up a hotline — (505) 476-2225 — for people who want to share their opinion on the bill. People can also e-mail the governor through his Web site<\/a>. The governor\u2019s office says staff will work throughout the weekend to tally people\u2019s positions and \u201cprovide the governor with the options.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t expect Richardson to act before Tuesday. He\u2019s also a master at getting press. The suspense around this bill will earn him plenty. But when he does act, don\u2019t be surprised if he signs the bill and puts an end to capital punishment in New Mexico.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have nothing more than a gut feeling, but my money is on Gov. Bill Richardson opting to sign a bill that would make New Mexico the 15th state to repeal the death penalty. For the politically savvy and embattled governor, there\u2019s nearly every reason in the world to sign the bill — from a […]<\/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-4348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4348","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=4348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4348\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}