Bill Richardson earned this post. Governors, New Mexico, Presidential Politics

Editor's Note: This is a guest column, written by Jesse Cornett. Cornett is a senior policy advisor to the Oregon Secretary of State and a co-founder of BlueOregon.com.

Bill Richardson earned this post. Yesterday, while at a Santa Fe luncheon with over 30 Secretaries of State and hundreds of state elections officials, Richardson gave a rousing speech. But it was a small nugget of his speech that inspired me to type a post.

I arrived in town on Saturday for the National Association of Secretaries of State Annual Conference (which will be in my home town of Portland next summer) and have been looking forward to the Governor's planned comments for today. One of the first local news articles I read was about Richardson's Republican opponent for re-election. This was to be my first view at a presumed 2008 presidential candidate. That my friends, had me excited: I wanted to see this small state Governor who may run and see if I thought he had "IT." The article above seems to suggest Republicans think he does, which is why the campaign against him this year isn't about his re-election but about damaging him too much to run for president.

He spoke to a few of his accomplishments as Governor: lower taxes, balanced budget, a significantly higher death benefit for fallen New Mexico National Guard troops, and "my train." He also spoke directly to the elections officials about the issues they face and their importance in protecting our democracy. With pride he touted his being able to get a bill through the legislature to require a voter-verifiable paper trail. Many states are indeed finally catching up to Oregon in this respect.

Somewhere in the mix of his slightly tailored for the elections community stump speech, Richardson earned this post. He took two minutes out to talk to this group about the importance of blogging. We're not all young, he pointed out. And it's not just the D's or the R's who are doing it. He encouraged them to embrace the blogosphere with the pronouncement that we are here to stay and will make a difference in our democracy.

As an occasional blogger, I wanted to stand up and applaud him. My coworkers looked on as I pointed out I'd probably have to post something about his comments after such a strong endorsement.

So, was I able to determine if I think he has the stuff to win the presidency? No. I didn't determine he didn't have it either, but he did earn this post.

Kari Chisholm | July 13, 2006 | Comment on This Post (2 so far) Permalink: Bill Richardson earned this post. Governors, New Mexico, Presidential Politics

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