Prime-time address could help governor land spot in Obama presidency
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Richardson's big moment
8/26/2008 - 8/24/08
DENVER — Had things gone according to his plan, this would have been Bill Richardson's convention.It would have been fitting: a Democratic Rocky Mountain governor being nominated for president in a Rocky Mountain city in a year in which pundits say the West could be ripe for Democratic gains.
It didn't work out that way.
The governor's bid for the White House ended last January. But after Barack Obama secured the nomination, Plan B, the vice presidency, became a possibility for Richardson.
The New Mexico governor, in an interview Monday at a hotel cafe, said he was seriously vetted by the Obama campaign for the No. 2 spot on the ticket and didn't find out he was out of the running until shortly before the news broke that Joe Biden had won the nod.
"I sat down with a law firm in Washington, D.C.," Richardson said when asked about the vetting process. "They asked for all financial records, all my speeches. They told us we passed with flying colors."
The Obama team was thorough, Richardson said. "Eric Holder (who co-chaired Obama's vice president search team) called, said, 'We can't find a speech you gave when you won the Aztec Eagle award,' " he said. Orden Mexicana del Aguila Azteca is the highest award given by the Mexican government to non-Mexican citizens.
Richardson didn't have a copy of the speech he gave when he won in 2006. "I told them I'd just given it off-the-cuff, which I did," Richardson said.
As late as Friday afternoon, Richardson was telling reporters, "I'm ready to shave and get on a plane to Springfield (Ill.), but I haven't heard anything."
As of Monday night, he still had his beard.
"I sensed during the debates that (Obama and Biden) have a special chemistry," Richardson said Monday. But he said he believes Russia's invasion of the nation of Georgia "tipped the scale" in Obama's decision to go with Biden.
"He asked me about Georgia when I saw him at the Rio Grande High event last week," the governor said, referring to Obama's recent campaign stop in Albuquerque. "I told him that it's about tough diplomacy. You gotta deal with them with a carrot-and-stick diplomacy. Foreign policy was very much on his mind."
But many believe foreign affairs and diplomacy is Richardson's strongest suit, and some believe Richardson wants to be Obama's secretary of state. The governor has said frequently that he's not campaigning for that job or any other position in an Obama administration.
Richardson's role in the 2008 convention isn't nearly as frantic as it was in the 2004 convention in Boston, for which he was the chairman. Richardson arrived early in Boston and was invited to more than 200 events.
This year, Richardson didn't get to Denver until Monday, after signing a bill at a Santa Fe news conference that morning.
"I've got a lot of events speaking to delegations pushing the West as a new (presidential campaign) battleground, and I'm speaking to Hispanic groups," Richardson said.
Bemusedly, he said, "I think I'm co-hosting some party with Jennifer Lopez." Then he asked an aide, "Is she going to be there?"
Then, back to the reporter, he explained, "I've never met her."
(On Monday, Richardson's former Chief of Staff Dave Contarino said the event with actress Lopez was on. However, Contarino said he didn't have any details.)
One party Richardson attended was held in his honor at the swimming pool of the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Monday night following the first night of convention speeches. More than 100 showed up, including many in the New Mexico delegation.
Among the guests were members of his presidential campaign, including Denver businessman, lobbyist and political consultant Mike Stratton and former press aides Katie Roberts, who now works in the music business in New York, and Josh McNeil, who today works for the League of Conservation Voters in Washington, D.C.
But Richardson's big moment at the convention will be his prime-time speech tonight.
"I'm working on it," he said Monday. "I just saw the first draft. It's about a new direction for American foreign policy. ... The night is about national security. Biden was supposed to speak that night. He will, but as the vice president nominee."
If it goes well, the Richardson speech could spur more talk about the governor's getting tapped for secretary of state.
But before he'd get any appointment, Obama first must win the presidency. And it would probably help Richardson's chances if he could assist in turning New Mexico — which voted for Republican President Bush by less than 1 percent in 2004, from red to blue.
Asked about the recent Denver Post polls that showed Obama losing New Mexico to Republican John McCain by four points — and also trailing McCain in other Western swing states, Colorado and Nevada — Richardson said, "This means we can't take these states for granted. There's got to be more candidate visits, especially since we don't have anyone (from the West) on the ticket." Richardson said Obama will have to talk about Western issues such as water and immigration.
"I'm going to be spending a lot of time campaigning for Obama in these states and in New Mexico," Richardson said. "We've got to work hard. We've got to get the turnout in Northern New Mexico. We've got to be strong in Albuquerque and try to be more competitive in counties like Curry and Otero."
Then, recalling lopsided Bush landslides in Lea and Chaves counties, he said, "We can't afford any of these eight-to-one margins."
While some worry about Obama's failing to win supporters of his chief primary rival, Hillary Clinton, Richardson said he believes the party is healing better in New Mexico than most places.
"We held two fundraisers (to help pay off Clinton's debts)," he said. Richardson wouldn't say how much money was raised at the events, which took place in Santa Fe and Albuquerque earlier this month, but said it was six figures. "Most of the money was from Obama people."
Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.
TODAY'S DNC SCHEDULE
Here are some of the convention highlights expected tonight at the Democratic National Convention in Denver:
Tonight's theme is "Securing America's Future" and according to the DNC Web site, will feature "the voices of Americans who share Barack's vision of making America stronger and safer."
The headline speaker is vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Others are:
• Former President Clinton.
• Gov. Bill Richardson.
• Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts.
• Sen. Ken Salazar, Colorado.
• Sen. Evan Bayh, Indiana.
• Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada.
• Sen. Jay Rockefeller, West Virginia.
• Former Sen. Tom Daschle, South Dakota.
• House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, South Carolina.
• Rep. Robert Wexler, Florida.
• Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.
CNN, MSNBC and Fox News will offer continuous convention coverage.
KNME, Channel 5 has three hours a night of convention coverage beginning at 6 p.m.
KOB, Channel 4, KOAT, Channel 7 and KRQE, Channel 13 each will cover the convention 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.
