Richardson: The Diplomat

Governor Richardson demonstrated his strong diplomacy skills when he recently met with the Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez regarding the release of three American hostages.  These hostages are in addition to six whom were recently released from Colombia; the men were taken after their plane crashed in the country in 2003.  Bill Richardson made clear that he was not attending the meetings as a representative of the government  (he is no longer a U.N. ambassador); rather, Richardson decided to engage with Chavez and Uribe on request from the families of the three hostages.  Prior to his visit, Richardson discussed the situation with the Latin American musical artist Juanes and Colombia University's professor Aldo Civico.  

Does the name Robert Reich ring a bell? Robert Reich, Bill Clinton's Labor secretary, did as anticipated earlier this afternoon and announced his endorsement of Barack Obama. Is bill Richardson creating the wave of support for Obama? In other news Richardson said that the state needs to find a way to partner tourism with New Mexico's successful film industry. He addressed attendees at the Governor's Conference on Tourism on April 17 in Roswell.
"No Country for Old Men" and "3:10 to Yuma" showcased our spectacular landscape," Richardson said. The film industry had a $480 million economic impact on the state in 2007, he told the conference participants, and more than a $1 billion impact over the last five years.
James Carville tagging Richardson as a "Judas" for rejecting Clinton and endorsing Obama in the Democratic presidential sweepstakes has pretty much receded. But who decided to back Richardson from this blow?...His 94 year old mother came out and had a few things to say to Carville after he said that to her beloved son.
In interntional news, Seasoned negotiator Richadson plans to visit Venezuela next month to discuss the fate of three American hostages held by rebels in Colombia, said a U.S. official on Friday. Richardson was in Colombia last week for talks with President Alvaro Uribe on the U.S. defense contractors held since 2003. Hopefully Richardson has some luck in this matter.

Richardson's Endorsement of Obama

After his indirect endorsement of Obama in the beginning of March, Governor Richardson (also a superdelegate) finally officially endorsed the Democratic candidate on March 21st.  Governor Richardson revealed that Barack Obama's speech on race cinched the deal on his decision, for as a Hispanic-American, Richardson believes Obama "is a man who understands us."  After criticism by some Democrats over his decision to endorse Obama over Clinton, Richardson responded saying, "I am very loyal to the Clintons. I served under President Clinton. But I served well.  And I served the country well. And he gave me that opportunity...But you know...it shouldn't just be Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton." After accusations by Clinton aides of Richardson's "betrayal" to the Clintons, Richardson responded by saying he was "very close to endorsing" Hillary but changed his mind when her campaign became negative.  

Richardson Update March 2nd-9th

There is no surprise that Bill Richardson has not endorsed anyone for the democratic nomination. I guess he is holding out till the end to secure some sort of position on their administration. He believed that the run for president would have ended by this weeks primaries, but he was wrong. He thinks that the infighting between U.S. Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, will only harm the Democratic Party in the general election. He has noticed that the election has started to become extremely negative and it is time for one candidate to step aside so the Democratic party can get ready to prepare for the major election in November. Well this could happen if Richardson decides to nominate a candidate, but I guess he will keep waiting like everyone else. On the other hand in a strange sort of way Richardson did endorse Obama. he said whoever has the delegate lead after tomorrow should get the nomination. Obama had the lead after the Tuesday primaries.
Richardson signed a bill this morning allocating $341 million for capital improvements statewide, including more than $7.3 million in funding to the region. He also vetoed $580,000 in regional project requests, including a $350,000 request for a Clovis communications/administration building.
Other than his normal Governor duties, Richardson has been working on making New Mexico the best state ever and trying to figure out who to endorse for the Democratic nomination.

Governor Richardson Update Feb. 25-Mar. 1

     Governor Richardson, although not significantly involved in the elections right now, has been busily serving his state.  On the 27th, Richardson took initiative and ordered a police blockade on a casino in New Mexico after the National Indian Gaming Commission found it illegal.  Furthermore, Richardson prevented an expansion of bureaucracy by vetoing a piece of legislation which would have a created a new Public Defender Commission.  He found the commission to be an "unnecessary and unaccountable layer of bureaucracy, which encroaches on the rightful authority of the executive.”  Among the long list of legislation he has signed this month, Richardson signed a piece of legislation which makes it easier for candidates to get their name on primary elections ballots through additional nominating petitions.  

     Since he has not endorsed one of the Democratic candidates, the questions that really remains is if he intends to decide at all.  It seems that since he hasn't done it already, he most likely will not be endorsing anyone. Especially since the governor has close ties with the Clintons and Obama seems to be the one pulling ahead, that seems like the smarter move anyway.  

Richardson Update Feb. 18-24

Governor Richardson is still busy running his state and he still has not announced his pick for the Democratic nominee. Ricahrdson called the New Mexico legislation the "least productive" legislative session during his six years as governor. Bill Richardson vowed to call lawmakers back soon for a special session. The 30-day session ended Thursday with many of the items on the governor's agenda left undone — ethics reform, domestic partnership protection, a stem cell bill and a regional transit authority for the Rail Runner were among the governor's bills that died at the close of the session. But, it was the inability to reach a compromise with the Senate on Richardson's universal health-care bill that has the governor calling for a special session. Richardson has a little debt from his campaign. Richardson's failed presidential campaign raised about $400,000 last month and repaid more than $700,000 in bank loans.
Richardson's campaign listed $390,870 in debts at the end of January, according to a fundraising disclosure report.
Human trafficking will be a separate, felony crime in New Mexico under a new law taking effect in July. Gov. Bill Richardson signed the human trafficking legislation into law on Friday in Las Cruces. Also, The New Mexico School for the Arts is one step closer to becoming reality after Gov. Bill Richardson signed a bill Friday establishing the statewide charter arts school.
The school still needs approval from the state Public Education Commission, which is responsible for granting charters. If approved by the PEC, the charter arts school would be the first of its kind in the state.
Mostly Richardson has been working on his New Mexico committments, but he is still being courted by Obama and Clinton. I wonder who he will endorse?

Richardson Update Feb. 10-17

On Tuesday, February 12th, the New Mexico caucus took place.  Richardson was "deeply disturbed" by the overwhelming amount of problems that occurred that day.  There were fewer polling places and shorter hours which led to ridiculous lines and confusion; the winner, Hillary Clinton, was finally announced on Valentinte's Day.  This week, Richardson also announced that the new action movie entitled "Legion" will be filmed in New Mexico.  This will bring the count to over 90 major feature films filmed in the state since Richardson took office as governor (adding about 1.5 billion dollars to the state's economy).  Furthermore, Richardson responded to his state's 2008 legislation session, focusing on health care reform.  He said, "I will not stand by while 400,000 New Mexicans continue to struggle day-to-day without access to health care."  Also, in preparation for potential emergencies due to recent heavy snow storms, Richardson has called on many state agencies to be prepared this weekend.  In addition, Governor Richardson's already "clean energy state" has made further efforts to battle global warming by signing a new bill that sets energy efficiency standards even higher for electric utilities.