Analysis: With more time, Richardson makes debatable claims

Steve Terrell | The New Mexican

11/15/2007 -

Gov. Bill Richardson got more time at the latest Democratic presidential debate Thursday than he has in past events.

But he used some of that time to cite some questionable statistics and make claims about his record that already have been challenged in the national media.

At the two-hour debate in Las Vegas, Nev., Richardson seemed eager to tackle the driver's license question, which U.S. Sen. Barack Obama said was a "wedge issue."

Asked by CNN newsman Wolf Blitzer whether he favored driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, Richardson said, "Well, my answer is yes, and I did it. You know why? Because the Congress ... failed miserably to pass comprehensive immigration. And we need to have it in this country. I did it four years ago. My Legislature sent me a bill. I signed it. My law-enforcement people said it's a matter of public safety."

Richardson seemed to imply the law has led to a major increase in the number of insured motorists in New Mexico. "We wanted more people to be insured. When we started with this program, 33 percent of all New Mexicans were uninsured. Today, it's 11 percent," he said.

These figures are similar to statistics cited by state officials last year.

State Tax and Revenue Department Secretary Jan Goodwin, in a department newsletter last year, said: "The Drive Insured program has reduced New Mexico's uninsured motorist rate from 33 percent (the highest in the nation) to 13.5 percent, a rate below the national average of 14 percent."

The Drive Insured program requires insurance companies to transmit information about drivers electronically to the state Motor Vehicle Division. Though there were news accounts about the drop in uninsured drivers last year, nobody at the time credited the numbers to illegal immigrants being able to get driver's licenses.

The numbers touted by the state don't match statistics in a study by the Insurance Research Council released last year, which said New Mexico in 2004 had an uninsured motorist rate of 24 percent.

Richardson in the debate also said traffic fatalities have gone down in the state, implying this was due to giving driver's licenses to undocumented residents. He did not back up the claim.

Answering a question about a hot button issue in Nevada — the unpopular Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility — Richardson said: "All my life, as secretary of energy, as a congressman, I oppose the site, for environmental reasons, water saturation."

However, an Associated Press story this week pointed out that Richardson as a congressman "voted in favor of the 1987 measure that designated Yucca Mountain as the sole dump site to be studied by the federal government." And during Richardson's tenure as secretary of the Energy Department in the 1990s, he approved a critical viability assessment, going on record saying, "Overall there is no reason to disqualify the site."

At the debate, Richardson said, "I would turn Yucca Mountain into a national laboratory. We have the greatest brains in our national lab scientists."

At another point in the debate, Richardson once again used education statistics that have been challenged by Factcheck.org. "America is 29th in science, to the European Union, to Japan," he said. But the nonpartisan Web site, citing two studies, shows American students, especially in earlier age groups, rank higher than Richardson says.

Richardson renewed his call for his fellow candidates to stop personal attacks and "mudslinging." But in doing so, he took shots at all three Democratic front-runners — though he treated front-runner Hillary Clinton more gingerly, needling her with "all due respect" and referring to her by her title, while he called the others by their first names.

"You know, it seems that John (Edwards) wants to start a class war," Richardson said. "It seems that Barack wants to start a generational war. It seems that Senator Clinton, with all due respect on her plan on Iraq, doesn't end the war.

"All I want to do is give peace a chance. ... , " Richardson said. "Let's stop this mud-slinging. Let's stop this going after each other on character, on trust. Let us debate the issues that affect the American people, and let us be positive. Let's be positive."

According to the "Talk Clock" on the Web site of U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, Richardson got to talk for more than 14 minutes — just two minutes less than Sen. Hillary Clinton and four minutes less than Sen. Barack Obama. Former Sen. John Edwards got less than 11 minutes, according to Dodd's figures.

Richardson, who turned 60 on Thursday, was wished a happy birthday by a questioner.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.