By THE NEW MEXICAN

Thu Sep 6, 2007 8:17 pm

Richardson to liberal bloggers: Who needs ya?

Seems like only yesterday that Gov. Bill Richardson was playing footsie with the liberal blogosphere. He was the only one among the current crop of Democratic candidates who attended the first Yearly Kos convention — a conclave for lefty bloggers and other activists — in 2006.

But that honeymoon appears to be over. Early this week Daily Kos honcho Markos Moulitsas Zúniga called Richardson a “buffoon” over the governor’s statement that “Iowa, for good reason, for constitutional reasons, for reasons related to the Lord, should be the first caucus and primary.”

Todd Beeton of the blog My DD joined in the fray. In a post titled, “Richardson: Sooo Not Ready For Prime Time,” Beeton not only agrees with Zúniga, he goes on to say, “ Ever since (Richardson) broke out his promise to leave ‘no residual troops’ in Iraq, the line has struck me not as a bold break from the rest of the Democratic field but rather as a pander to the liberal base that's not really rooted in reality ...”

But on Wednesday, Richardson fought back. He told CNN (definitely part of the “old media”), "Bloggers can say whatever they want, but I care about the voters. ... Bloggers say a lot of things. They are an important part of the democratic process. But no, I didn't put my foot in my mouth. I stand by what I said. I make no apologies about it. Iowa is important, just like South Carolina and New Hampshire.” To which Zúniga replied, “I wonder if it was the Constitution or the Lord that informed this response.”


Change and experience

Remember the last debate in Iowa when Richardson said Barack Obama represented “change” and Hillary Clinton represented “experience” but with Richardson you got both? Apparently that was the kick-off of a new ad campaign.

His new television commercial, which is running on Iowa television stations, touts Richardson’s experience in negotiating with North Korea, his nominations for the Nobel peace prize and his plan to remove all troops from Iraq.

But NBC’s Mark Murray notes that the ad follows a Clinton ad in which the New York senator and former first lady also talks about change and experience.

“Is the (Richardson) ad a dig at Clinton stealing Richardson's line?” Murray asks. A Richardson spokesman responds, “This is an ad that's been in the production works for a while.”


Spaceport blues

Wonkette, the satirical “politics for people with dirty minds” blog reports, “Bill Richardson’s longshot presidential campaign is in turmoil today after shocking pictures of New Mexico’s “Virgin Spaceport” ...”

The pictures of the proposed facility apparently remind Wonkette of, well, a character on The Sopranos who got whacked in an early season.

The blog goes on to say, “Richardson has been hyping his role in getting Virgin Galactic to build the spaceport in New Mexico, and now all the world knows what he’s really building.”