I like Bill Richardson, but he will have to fess up on some questions

[Ignacio Upton]

If we could nominate any one of our candidates based solely on resume, Richardson would win in a walk. He served as both a Congressman, UN Ambassador, Energy Secretary, and as Governor of New Mexico. He's Latino, which could help us in the southwest, and while he's a DLCer, he does have a good record on fiscal policy (he managed to CUT taxes in NM even while most states were forced to raise them.) However, I'm concerned (NOT a "concern troll" type of post) that there are issues out there that could sink his candidacy.

1. The Wen Ho Lee scandal. Wen Ho Lee's imprisonment happened while Richardson was Energy Secretary. He has also been accused of leaking Lee's name to reporters. He has to clarify his involvement, if any.
During testimony about his involvement, he was scolded by Senator Byrd. Byrd said, ""You had a bright and brilliant career, but you will never again receive the support of the U.S. Senate for any office you seek. You have squandered your treasure."

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/06/21/los.alamos/index.html

2. His sex life might be Clintonian in nature. Someone in another thread posted an article about how he's a bit on the flirtatious side with women. Now, many Presidents have had affairs (in the 20th century alone, we had Harding, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, possibly George HW Bush, and Clinton) but post-Monica, having an affair is a big liability.

3. His claim that he was drafted by the Kansas City Royals, when he wasn't. I've heard that he was told so, but the decision to draft him was an error. Does anyone know more about this?

[skipos]

1. "His sex life might be Clintonian in nature."

Mother Theresa's sex life *might* have been Clintonian in nature. Does anyone have proof about Richardson, or just allegations?

[Ignacio Upton]

2. I'm assuming they are allegations

But they need to be addressed quickly before the MSM attacks.

[Warpy]

3. Two others from a New Mexican

Why, when you campaigned on ending the regressive tax on food, was your first action in office to lower the top tax rate on the richest?

(He did, and it caused a massive budget shortfall)

Why, when you finally got around to ending that tax on food three years later, did you give everyone a net tax increase by hiking other taxes and fees too much? Shouldn't you have rolled some of those back?

[Seattleman]

5. This is the stuff to consider and investigate

Most of us don't care about their sex lives.

[BayCityProgressive]

6. I am not at all

impressed with him.

[confludemocrat]

4. The Wen Ho Lee frameup is the only one of the three you named that matters

the rest of it is meaningless padding of your case. Who gives a damn about his sex life as long as what he did, if he did it was not illegal. You didn't mention his slippery and wishy washy takes on the Iraq disaster. But I guess we are entering the season when such rhetoric will prevail in issuing forth from the keyboards of those operatives screenamed "Kerry2008" and "Clark2008"s at DU.

[Ignacio Upton]

9. I don't give a damn about those two

But the MSM sure as hell will.

[AnnInLa]

7. Steve Clemmons adds this: (not good)

((Whether or not we are concerned with the sex lives of public figures, this needs to be addressed by Richardson. You can bet the RW will address it ad nauseum.))


snip

I could be wrong -- and I will correct course if that's appropriate down the road -- but as someone who worked with Bill Richardson's staff closely when he was in the House of Representatives as I worked in the Senate as a senior staff member to Senator Jeff Bingaman, I have seen Richardson and his team up close. I know many of those who worked for him then and who worked for him as Secretary of Energy and then at the United Nations -- and now lots of folks who work in his administration in Santa Fe.

The personal activities of candidates and the public ambitions ought not to collide as much as they do in our world -- but there are issues that Richardson needs to address that involve his own blurring of public responsibilities and 'what should be' private behavior.

I will frame this as a "question" for Bill Richardson.

Have you behaved inappropriately or not in public settings with female members of your government administration, jokingly or not? Have you gestured to female public servants and political appointees -- who work as colleagues with you -- and made lewd gestures, specifically pointing to them and then pointing at your crotch with a room full of media and other politicos there in the room?

Much more at:

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/001884.php

[Prophet 451]

8. I'd like to know why he didn't pardon Henry McCarty too

aka Billy The Kid. Tiny point but it's about justice. It was shown that the Kid was promised a pardon by Lew Wallace (at least, for his actions during the Lincoln County War), Wallace reneged on his side of it. Richardson could have put things right but refused on grounds of tourism.

Firstly, was tourism really going to suffer if the Kid was pardoned? In fact, since history and the law proved him right, wouldn't he have become a hero, bring in more tax revenue? Secondly, I know this is a tiny point and I know it's now 118 years old and not even a real issue but it's about plain, simple justice.

[Ignacio Upton]

10. Why didn't Bill Clinton pardon Keith Richards?

I found out on Huckabee's TDS interview that he pardoned Keith Richards for a misdemeanor from 1975. While I don't like Huckabee, I thought that was a nice gesture of him.

[Prophet 451]

12. Fair point

I have no opinions either way on Huckabee (don't know enough about him) and I'll admit it's kind of a silly point, it just seems to me that if you see the opportunity to put something right (i.e. by delivering on the promised pardon), a reasonable man does so.

[Nickster]

11. Why did he stop any investigation into obvious election issues in 2004? That's what I'd like to know

[Elwood P Dowd]

13. Why does he love NAFTA, CAFTA, and outsourcing so much?

He told some whoppers about free trade agreements during his stint in congress. Even after he left, when the horrible results of those agreements were becoming apparent, he remained on the side of the outsourcing crowd.

[LiberalEsto]

14. His links to the private prison industry

I want him to explain why he has supported private prison corporatios.