He had dreamed of being the one up on the inauguration platform in Washington, D.C.

Instead, Gov. Bill Richardson remains in Santa Fe today, his presidential hopes long gone and his nomination to a cabinet post having soured in the face of a federal grand-jury investigation.

While Barack Obama, the first African American ever elected president, basks in the glow of a landmark celebration, Richardson will help inaugurate another session of the New Mexico Legislature, one that many lawmakers predict won't be a lot of fun.

Instead of festive Washington galas, Richardson will be at the state Capitol, dealing with declining state revenues and budget cuts — not to mention dodging questions about pay-to-play scandals and federal probes, one of which scuttled his nomination for Commerce secretary earlier this month. Instead of preparing for a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing, he'll be fighting with an increasingly uncooperative state Senate.

Asked Monday where Richardson will watch Obama take the oath of office and make his highly anticipated inauguration address, spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said Monday, "The governor will be preparing for the State of the State address tomorrow," referring to the annual speech by the governor to kick off the legislative session.

Richardson apparently is skipping an inauguration-watch party hosted by Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, Santa Fe Mayor David Coss and other Democratic Party leaders at Santa Fe Community Convention Center today.

This can't be a good time for the once high-flying Richardson. The Obama festivities are bound to remind him of that. Nationally, the headlines haven't been kind. The Wall Street Journal last week ran a story headlined "New Mexico's Political Wild West," outlining the "cascade of recent corruption scandals in New Mexico" and "the state's unusual — and lightly regulated — political culture."

Though he protests his innocence — confident that he and close aides would be cleared of any claims that they wrongly mixed state business with political fundraising — Richardson has become the butt of late-night comedians' jokes. David Letterman recently poked fun at what he imagined was the conversation between Richardson and Obama when Richardson withdrew.

"You know what, I've been doing some stuff that may be too illegal to be in the Cabinet, but just about right to keep me as governor of New Mexico," Letterman deadpanned.

Richardson, who used to thrive on his countless appearances on cable-television news shows, hasn't come down from his fourth-floor suite to the Capitol studio for an appearance since announcing his Commerce withdrawal. The New York Times reported recently that the governor had declined an interview — something that would have been unimaginable a few months ago.

After dropping out of the presidential race and growing a beard, Richardson got clean-shaven immediately before the election, as talk swirled of his possible role in an Obama administration. Now the whiskers are back and the governor said last week he intends to keep them.

After being picked for the Commerce position, Richardson said he planned to go through with plans to deliver the State of the State address in Santa Fe. But many who know him had speculated he'd fly to Washington shortly after the speech to at least drop in on a couple of inaugural balls. That speculation has ended.

He's bound to get a warm reception at the Roundhouse when he gives his speech today. Even Gary Johnson, the Republican governor who had few friends in the Legislature, always got polite reactions. Unlike previous years, however, Richardson will have a harder time selling lawmakers on "bold initiatives." Instead of ambitious projects, he must address ways to cut back in the face of declining state revenues.

The governor's speech is expected to begin about 1 p.m. — about three hours after Obama's inauguration address.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.