The Bill Richardson Blog

At Soy Blue, there is a post combining a recent opinion poll with an op-ed about why Richardson is good for New Mexico. It’s a great read, so go check it out. Here’s the money graf:

In some sense, Richardson’s flair for entertainment is good for New Mexico, because it gets New Mexico out there in the public eye. It brings in business and industry.

Yes, of course, it puts Richardson in the public eye, too – which is what Richardson wants, for purposes of his own career and presidential aspirations.

But having a president from New Mexico wouldn’t be a bad thing for the people of New Mexico, folks. What would we rather have – a president from Texas? Yuck!

Living in New York, I’ve seen first-hand how well the “but they’ve got higher aspirations!” line works: not at all. I’d wager that New Mexico and the entire West would be better off with a Richardson presidency; from the sport fishermen who’d benefit from a sensible environmental policy, to the kids who’d be better off with increased health care and education, to those of us who grew up in the shadow of Cheyenne Mountain and prefer a leader who can effectively make peace around the world.

(Oh, and Richardson’s approval rating is sky-high, of course.)

Well, what do we have here? It appears that a living scout has written in to confirm BR’s story on his days as an almost-pro ballplayer. I don’t expect this to matter in the grander media narrative, which will have forgotten this story by 2007/08 anyway, but it’s still nice to see the Gov wasn’t making it all up.

Merry Christmas to all. Expect the post volume to pick up soon!

It’s tough to figure out where to file this item–”foreign policy” seems appropriate, but misleading… well, no matter how you categorizee it, I’m very impressed with the move by Gov. Richardson to expand the New Mexican space infrastructure. Briefly: New Mexico has a huge budget surplus coming, and Richardson is making a big push to re-invest some of that money in infrastructure that will help the whole state. It’s a great idea.

In the mid-20th century, space was essentially a curiosity. We sent guys to the moon not to do anything in particular, but to demonstrate that it was possible. And that was very interesting and very good, because it broke down the first barrier: “can we do this?” As the century wore on, and we got into the 80’s and especially the 90’s, commercial exploitation of space in the form of telecommunications satellites, consumer GPS devices, etc. became routine. The next logical step was taken with SpaceShipOne, the first privately-funded peopled space flight.

Now, it seems that Richardson is determined to keep New Mexico at the forefront of what is, in a few decades (perhaps a century at most), going to be the most profitable industry in the history of humankind: the commercial utilization of space. The article indicates that already about $20 million in fares have been paid by people that want to take privately funded trips to space, just to hang out in zero-g. This isn’t some pie-in-the-sky thing. Real people are plunking down $200,000 each for a ticket on SpaceShipTwo. That’s not nothing.

The cool thing, though, is that it’s obvious that Richardson gets how much more this can be beyond just space tourism:

But Richardson expressed hopes for the spaceport — to be constructed on the high desert near the White Sands Missile Range — that soar far beyond Branson’s sightseeing trips. … The governor predicted cargo service from New Mexico to Paris in “a couple of hours” and “orbital hotels” where space fliers could take a vacation of cosmic dimensions.

Darn right. New Mexico beat out Texas, California, and Florida for the spaceport. This shows real vision, and I like it. Fits well with the “frontier” image of the West, too.

My favorite tidbit: since the flights will be operated by Virgin Galactic, travelers will receive frequent-flyer miles on Virgin. Hilarious. I wonder how far that policy will flex as these space trips get longer–it’s about 239,000 miles to the Moon…

Bill’s new book, Between Worlds, is dotted with “Richardson’s Rules,” which are the Gov’s master tips on negotiation, gleaned from his very sizable experience in that field. They’re also listed together in an appendix. While I’m not quite up to typing out all 25 rules, I’m sharing my ten favorites with you here. For the rest, go pick up the book!

– Share the credit. Politics and diplomacy are team sports. Acknowledge it.
– Your style can be informal, but you must show proper respect.
– Know where you can settle. Identify eight essential goals and achieve five.
– Don’t concede absolutely everything the other side is requesting. Get something in return, even if it’s minor.
– If you are negotiating an endgame, allow a dignified way out.
– You can walk out, but only if you’re prepared to walk back in later.
– Give up the locale. Don’t insist on neutral ground, but go to his or her turf. It’s the substance that counts, not the place where you negotiate.
– Carry a bunch of nice pens, but not necessarily of Montblanc quality. When your opponent admires one, give it to him. When your watch is admired, don’t give it away. If you do, it’s a sign of weakness.
– Have others deliver bad news; it keeps you viable as a future negotiator.
– In most meetings, the law of diminishing returns kicks in after five minutes.

I’ve had the book for a few days, but the demands of school make it pretty hard to get a lot of pleasure reading done. I really hope to have a review up by this weekend. Stay tuned.

A very happy birthday to Bill Richardson, who is 58 today.

It’s a little late in the day, but here’s a little something from me to you, Governor:

Que linda está la mañana en que vengo a saludarte
Venimos todos con gusto y placer a felicitarte.
El día en que tú naciste nacieron todas las flores,
Y en la pila del bautismo cantaron los ruiseñores.

(that’s from “Las Mañanitas,” the Spanish birthday song.)

Fun birthday fact: Did you know Bill holds the world record for hand shaking? True story.

Governor, feliz cumpleaños and many happy returns. Wish big!

Al Kamen’s In the Loop column in today’s Washington Post tells a delicious story of Bill Richardson’s power dinner in D.C. this week. Bill’s been quite coy with reporters for the most part in regards to 2008; quite rightly, he’d rather draw attention to his 2006 re-election bid. Apparently, though, Bill got excited by all the high rollers in the room and said a little more clearly than people expected what his future plans are:

After a dinner of lamb and wild rice and crepes suzette, Richardson held forth.

“You gotta read my book,” he said a few times, and then he explained why governors were the future for Democrats. Then: “Keep your powder dry,” Richardson was quoted by one guest as saying, “I’m running, and you can tell people that.” Two others recalled him saying: “I’m going in 2008.”

Keep your powder dry. I love it.

In a general sense, it isn’t really too early to start whispering about 2008, though we’re far from official announcement and rally time. One guy who knows this is on-the-way-out Virginia Governor Mark Warner, who has just put together a national team that says “Make me presidential!” all over it.

I have nothing against Warner, but the WaPo article is telling; it slots a platitude from Warner’s current lieutenant governor (”I genuinely believe he is the Democrats’ best shot at winning in 2008?) next to the truth about his resume: no foreign policy experience, one-term governor. Warner has held NO elected office besides this one. Hmm. If only we had a popular Democratic governor with more time in government and a gargantuan foreign policy background! We could call him…”Bill.”

In a web exclusive, Newsweek’s Carl Sullivan does a fantastic interview with Bill Richardson, in which Bill explains that America is ready for a woman or minority president running as a unifying centrist:

I think America is very tolerant. I believe a minority or a woman could be elected. It’s just got to be the right message. You’ve got to appeal to the American mainstream. You can’t run as a woman or a Hispanic. You run as an American, a healer. And I believe such a candidate, regardless of their ethnicity, could be elected.

Couldn’t agree more. The first candidate to break through the “white guy” barrier in a presidential race will be someone who goes way beyond identity politics and presents a message the wide center of American voters can get behind. And Bill goes on to hint, though not actually declare, that he could be the guy:

I consider myself as somebody who can unite people. My book talks about bridging cultures and living between two worlds as I have. I haven’t made a decision [about 2008]. I’ve made a decision to run for re-election [as governor of New Mexico in 2006], and then I’m going to take a look at it and see what happens after this re-election.

For more, including Bill on Latin American policy, the growth of Hispanic political power, bipartisanship, and the next step for the Democratic Party, check out the interview.

This is a short item because it’s basically content-free, but our British friends over at the Daily Telegraph have posted an oddsmaking item on the ‘08 race. I haven’t found it online, but here is how they evaluate the field as a whole:

Republican candidates: Rudolph Giuliani – 3/1, John McCain – 7/2, Condoleezza Rice -11/2, All others 5/1 and above.

Democrat candidates: Hillary Rodham Clinton – 10/11, John Edwards – 7/2, Bill Richardson- 5/1, Barack Obama – 8/1. Others 11/1 and above.

President: Giuliani 2/1, Clinton 5/2, McCain 13/2, Edwards 8/1, Rice 14/1. Others on application.

The fact the the Daily Telegraph thinks Rudy can get through the Republican primaries demonstrates their relatively poor understanding of U.S. politics, as does their inclusion of Barack Obama and Condi Rice, neither of whom will run. Still, nice to see the Gov get some props.Richardson’s on a book tour to promote his new book. This means I should probably read said book! I’ll check it out and give you guys the good stuff.