Bill Richardson Endorsing Obama

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Looks like Big Bill has finally made an endorsement:

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the nation’s only Hispanic governor, is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president, calling him a “once-in-a-lifetime leader” who can unite the nation and restore America’s international leadership.

Link via Chris Bowers, who, like me, wonders if Richardson can sway any of New Mexico’s other Superdelegates to the Obama camp. I would say the odds are good (though you shouldn’t expect Martin Chavez to do a reversal on Richardson’s orders). The governor is going to be around for a couple more years, and, more importantly, can do a lot to help get people elected (I’m looking at you Diane Denish).

Aside from Richardson, only one other New Mexico Superdelegate has endorsed Obama: former DNC chair Fred Harris.

Morales a shoe in for Altamirano’s seat?

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I’ve been far too consumed by the New Hampshire results (seriously, wow) that I never had time to get a blog written about the state Senate seat opened by the untimely death of Ben Altamirano. Anyhoo, it looks like, after getting the nod from both Sierra and Grant counties, Howie Morales might be the newest member of the New Mexico Legislature.

As I alluded earlier, this is interesting: while home, virtually nobody mentioned Howie’s name. I kept hearing that Tony Trujillo ((see this previous Silver City Sun News article)) would be the replacement.

Trujillo has been a mover and shaker in Santa Fe the past five years: as a lobbyist for Phelps Dodge, regent president for Western New Mexico University, and for a period as president of the Association of Commerce and Industry (the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce). In fact, many people thought Altamirano was showing Trujillo the ropes, grooming him as a replacement.

Suddenly, Trujillo doesn’t even appear to be in the running.

Howie is a good candidate: he’s been incredibly active in the community, was easily elected to his position as Grant County Clerk, and is well respected. If there are any skeletons in the closet I haven’t heard of them.

With two of three counties putting forth Howie’s name, I find it hard to see Gov. Bill Richardson siding with the right-leaning Catron County commission if they name somebody other than Morales.

Again, more on this later, but two quick questions:

  1. Does anybody know who Richardson is meeting in New Mexico tomorrow? According to Heath Haussamen, it’s a candidate to replace Benny.
  2. Can Richardson name whomever he wants to the seat? Or is he required to name somebody nominated by one of the county commissions?

Also, for full disclosure: Tony Trujillo has been a family friend for many years — I attended grade school with his son. In addition, I went to high school with Howie’s brother. Yeah, Silver City is a small world.

UPDATE: 1/9/08 — According to this Sun News article, Morales is the candidate meeting with Richardson.

Richardson’s third-place spot in Iowa in trouble?

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The latest Des Moines Register poll indicates Bill Richardson is holding on to his third-place spot in Iowa at the moment, but Mike Lux over at Open Left thinks Biden is the man to watch:

Biden has more momentum than Richardson or Dodd going into the final month, and is picking up traction in some places around the state. I expect him to finish fourth , but he has a very long way to go to pull off a shocker and get into the top three- he’s not surging by anywhere near that much, not yet at least.

The race in Iowa has an interesting mix of “WTF” going on right now, but I’ll put some stock in Lux’s thoughts since they’re not outside the realm of possibility. In addition, with Richardson “sucking up” to Hillary lately, who knows if he’s feeling some of the affects of Obama’s recent surge in the polls.

New Richardson ad on education released

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Richardson continues his Iowa onslaught with a new ad touting his education record in New Mexico, according to The Hill’s blog:

Richardson promises he will get rid of No Child Left Behind, create a minimum wage for teachers, make pre-k and kindergarten available to all children and create math and science academies throughout the United States.


The ad appears to be tied with a new website outlining Richardson’s planned education initiatives.

Richardson’s got his traveling shoes on

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According to Shailagh Murray over at the Washington Post’s “The Trail” blog, Bill Richardson has been making the rounds in Iowa lately:

New Mexico Bill Richardson has barnstormed 95 of Iowa’s 99 counties, wooing rural Democrats with his pro-gun record and urban caucus goers with his aggressive Iraq withdrawal plan. He has fielded questions on every imaginable subject, from term limits to the space station. The Richardson style is frank but casual. He leans forward in his cowboy boots, fists jammed in his suit pocket.

It also looks like he isn’t pulling any punches:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other D.C. Democrats are as unpopular in the Hawkeye state as President Bush. Richardson said an “anti-Washington dysfunctional relationship-feeling” pervades the Iowa landscape and that the Democratic Congress has been a huge disappointment, by failing to end the war or find common ground with Republicans on a whole host of important issues. “We all worked to elect them, and nothing’s getting done. The partisanship continues,” said Richardson, summing up the mood.

Thanks to TAPPED for the link.

Offered without comment

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Because there really isn’t anything left to say:

Oh boy. Bill Richardson’s campaign now has a new motif for their campaign literature in Iowa, distributing information about him in the format of baseball cards, complete with him at mound and ready to pitch.

The back of the card lists “positions played” — congressman, ambassador, secretary of energy, governor — and names his accomplishments as “wins.”

If you’ve been paying attention, you know what’s coming.