By THE NEW MEXICAN

Tue Sep 11, 2007 7:29 pm

Bill Richardson, libertarian?

Jesse Walker, managing editor of Reason, a libertarian magazine, profiled Gov. Bill and U.S. Sen. Larry Craig in a piece about “the libertarian West.” He says both Republican Craig and Democrat Richardson have a “mixed bag” record as far as libertarian values go.

“Gov. Richardson slashed some taxes but raised some others; he supports medical marijuana and gun rights, but signed a statewide smoking ban,” Walker wrote.

“But even with those caveats, the most striking thing about the man is how much more attractive he is in Santa Fe than he was in Washington. As governor of New Mexico, Richardson cut income, capital gains, and gross receipts taxes. As secretary of energy, he persecuted Wen Ho Lee. As the New Mexico–based candidate for president, he has staked out the most antiwar stance this side of Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, and Mike Gravel: He wants a quick withdrawal, exiting Iraq in just six to eight months. As ambassador to the U.N., he was a conventional internationalist, and even after moving to the Department of Energy he found time to defend Clinton's war in Kosovo.

“I don't know which of these fellows is the ‘real’ Bill Richardson — though my inclination with any politician is to imagine the worst. I do suspect that the Southwest's individualist culture, with an outlook similar to Idaho's but more socially tolerant, encourages local pols to pitch themselves accordingly.”


Et tu Federico?

Richardson told The Denver Post Monday that he’s "disappointed" former Denver Mayor — and fellow former Clinton cabinet member — Federico Peña endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination last week.

"I was disappointed," said Richardson, “It would have been nice to get a heads-up."

Richardson was campaigning in Denver Monday.

The governor served as Clinton’s ambassador to the United Nations before succeeding Peña as energy secretary.

"Bill's a friend of mine," Peña told The Post. "There are a number of presidential candidates who are friends of mine."

The paper quoted Peña saying he’d called Richardson's campaign manager and "told him that I was going to support Sen. Obama."


The bumper sticker front

A Web site called Irregular Times (News unfit for print) last year started an online store selling, “bumper stickers, buttons and magnets that support various Democratic running mate combinations for the presidential race in 2008.”

According to the site, the top selling combination is “Gore-Obama,” which accounts for 46.7 percent of total sales.

The most popular combination that includes Richardson is “Obama-Richardson,” which accounts for a pitiful 1.4 percent of the sales.

According to the site, only 1.4 percent of items sold include Richardson’s name for president. Gore, who is not a candidate, leads that race with 52 .7 percent of the sales.

Richardson does slightly better as a possible vice-presidential candidate. Combinations with Richardson in the number two spot account for 2.6 percent of the sales.


Yet another debate ...

And tomorrow’s Thursday Huffington Post/Slate/Yahoo! Online Debate — being billed as a “candidate mash-up” apparently will be even more interactive than the YouTube debate was a few weeks ago. Richardson and the other seven Democratic candidates have agreed to participate.

Arianna Huffington explained recently in her blog: “Charlie Rose, armed with questions you have sent in, will have a conversation with each of the candidates ... After the candidates have finished talking, the video will be coded and put at your disposal — empowering you to create the candidate mashups of your choosing. ... you can watch what you want, when you want, and how you want. Focus on one candidate or one issue or mix and match. Then share your takes on what you see with your friends or other mashup users.”

The three Web sites, as well as MySpace and Facebook, in recent days have been soliciting questions from the public (video, audio or text)

According to the Associated Press, “Rose will ask the candidates questions on four categories: the war, health care, education and one undisclosed candidate-specific subject.”

Viewers can access the “mash-up” questions on The Huffington Post, Slate or Yahoo! on Thursday.