New
Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson Becomes Presidential Candidate
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New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson |
WASHINGTON (By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Los Angeles Times) January 22, 2007 — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson jumped into the pack of Democratic White House hopefuls Sunday as a middle-of-the-road politician with a multifaceted resume who, if elected, would become the first president of Hispanic descent.
Richardson, 59, was born in Pasadena, Calif., to a Mexican mother and an American father. Fluent in Spanish, he has courted and received Hispanic support over a career of more than 25 years in politics while managing to avoid being pigeonholed as an ethnic politician.
"I believe the country would be ready for a woman president, an African-American president, Hispanic president," Richardson said on ABC's This Week, announcing the formation of an exploratory committee that enables him to begin raising money and hiring a campaign staff. "But I wouldn't run as a Hispanic candidate. I would run as an American, proud to be Hispanic, proud of my heritage."
Getting noticed will be his immediate challenge. Although Richardson's career in public service includes 14 years in the House and stints as U.N. ambassador and Energy secretary under President Clinton, he starts out in the back of a diverse pack.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll published Sunday gave Richardson only 1 percent of the support of those surveyed, far behind Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, 41 percent, who announced her own exploratory committee Saturday; Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, 17 percent, who entered the race Tuesday; and former Sen. John Edwards, 11 percent, the party's 2004 vice presidential nominee.
"I will outwork anybody," Richardson said.
"I am a Westerner. I'm a governor."
On the Iraq war, Richardson supports a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops, with diplomatic efforts to broker a peace among that country's warring ethnic and religious factions. He is in favor of trying to talk to Iran and Syria to seek their help in ending the conflict. He supports redeploying U.S. troops from Iraq to fight in Afghanistan.
"What we're doing now is not working," Richardson said. "The American people are against it."
On domestic issues, he is somewhat to the right of many Democrats. He gets the endorsement of the National Rifle Association, for instance.
On immigration, Richardson supports an overhaul of current laws to provide a path to citizenship for longtime illegal residents who can prove they are otherwise law-abiding.
Richardson, 59, was born in Pasadena, Calif., to a Mexican mother and an American father. Fluent in Spanish, he has courted and received Hispanic support over a career of more than 25 years in politics while managing to avoid being pigeonholed as an ethnic politician.
"I believe the country would be ready for a woman president, an African-American president, Hispanic president," Richardson said on ABC's This Week, announcing the formation of an exploratory committee that enables him to begin raising money and hiring a campaign staff. "But I wouldn't run as a Hispanic candidate. I would run as an American, proud to be Hispanic, proud of my heritage."
Getting noticed will be his immediate challenge. Although Richardson's career in public service includes 14 years in the House and stints as U.N. ambassador and Energy secretary under President Clinton, he starts out in the back of a diverse pack.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll published Sunday gave Richardson only 1 percent of the support of those surveyed, far behind Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, 41 percent, who announced her own exploratory committee Saturday; Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, 17 percent, who entered the race Tuesday; and former Sen. John Edwards, 11 percent, the party's 2004 vice presidential nominee.
"I will outwork anybody," Richardson said.
"I am a Westerner. I'm a governor."
On the Iraq war, Richardson supports a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops, with diplomatic efforts to broker a peace among that country's warring ethnic and religious factions. He is in favor of trying to talk to Iran and Syria to seek their help in ending the conflict. He supports redeploying U.S. troops from Iraq to fight in Afghanistan.
"What we're doing now is not working," Richardson said. "The American people are against it."
On domestic issues, he is somewhat to the right of many Democrats. He gets the endorsement of the National Rifle Association, for instance.
On immigration, Richardson supports an overhaul of current laws to provide a path to citizenship for longtime illegal residents who can prove they are otherwise law-abiding.
