The Richardson Surge

I urge everyone to read this article from The Nation about my candidate of choice "The Richardson Surge"

I have to quote just a bit:

Richardson has refused to play his assigned role, and with an unexpectedly resolute antiwar stance and a freewheeling campaign style that distinguishes him from the field's punch-pulling frontrunners, he is the first member of the race's "also-ran" pack to elbow his way from the margin of error to the verge of serious competition.

Richardson rocks!

On a related note, in order to keep Richardson surging, he needs our money. The end of the quarter is coming up, and every dollar will be significant. Please, even if it is only a few dollars, give what you can!

Thanks.

Reactions to the Univision Debate

On Sunday's Univision debate, the candidates addressed millions of Hispanic voters. However, they did it through translators. In fact, Richardson had to do it through a translator too. I've blogged about this before. But it is silly that a translator is needed when speaks both languages. Richardson was the first to sign on to the debate, and at that time, there wasn't an English-only rule. But in order to woo the rock-stars, the rules were changed. And the Governor was not happy. "“I’m disappointed today that 43 million Latinos in this country, for them not to hear one of their own speak Spanish is unfortunate," he said.

Richardson and I aren't the only ones who were disappointed in the rules. As Ruben Navarrette Jr. wrote in his commentary for CNN:

Univision had prohibited the two candidates who speak fluent Spanish -- Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd -- from answering questions in that language and insisted that all candidates answer the questions in English and have their answers translated into Spanish. Apparently, this was meant to level the bilingual playing field.

During the debate, Richardson called the network on its hypocrisy. Identifying himself as the first major Latino presidential candidate, he said it was unfortunate that Latinos in the United States couldn't "hear one of their own speak Spanish." Then Richardson accused Univision of promoting -- gasp! --"English-only."

Bravo. He's right. It was a dumb rule, obviously intended to prevent the monolingual front-runners -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards -- from being at a disadvantage.

But silly rules or not, even being cut off for speaking the language of his mother, Richardson still did a fabulous job. He reiterated the need to bring all the troops home from Iraq and to do so swiftly. He again spoke of the need to have comprehensive immigration reform. We need to have stronger border security. We need to punish employers who hire illegal immigrants. But we don't need a wall. A wall is a waste of money. As the governor says, "The wall is a horrendous example of what is wrong with our current approach to immigration reform. Congress only funded half of the wall. You know, if you build a 12-foot wall, people will get 13-foot ladders." And of course, Richardson reiterated the need to scrap No Child Left Behind.

Richardson on Iraq Withdrawal

If you missed it, I would highly recommend Richardson's Op-ed piece in the Washington Post from yesterday, "Why We Should Exit Iraq Now". In the article, Richardson calls for complete and quick withdrawal of our troops from Iraq.

My position has been clear since I entered this race: Remove all the troops and launch energetic diplomatic efforts in Iraq and internationally to bring stability. If Congress fails to end this war, I will remove all troops without delay, and without hesitation, beginning on my first day in office.

I love the Guv!

Univision Debate -- English only?

The Univision Debate is scheduled for this Sunday, September 9 at 7:00pm EST. According to Univision's press release, "Univision Communications Inc. is the premier Spanish-language media company in the United States." The debate will be broadcast on the Univision television stations "which reach 99% of Hispanic households" as well as "Univision Radio, the leading Spanish-language radio group which owns and/or operates 70 radio stations in 16 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic markets and 5 stations in Puerto Rico" and finally the Univision website. So, this is a really big deal. Not surprisingly, Richardson was one of the first (if not the first) to confirm attending the debate.

Now, for the weird part... This is a Spanish language debate on Spanish language television and radio reaching Spanish speakers. But, I have heard that all the candidates must speak in English only! If the English-only language policy is true, I am appalled! Why should a candidate who has been speaking Spanish his whole life now need to speak through a mediator?

I think it is important that Governor Richardson be able to let people know of his strengths -- and one of his strengths is the ability to speak directly to the Hispanic community. Obviously, there should be translators as we have had very good monolingual presidents. But an English only policy is ludicrous for a Spanish language network.

Thoughts?

Yesterday in Dover, NH

Yesterday, I drove south for three hours to see Bill Richardson in Dover, NH. He was at the Waldron Towers community room for a Presidential Job Interview. All the seats were taken and many of us (like myself) were standing in the back. There is so much to share, I am sure to leave things out and I don't even know where to start.

My first impression after leaving the event is how he talks to everybody like they are his peers. This shouldn't seem to be a big deal, but it is. Some candidates answer questions in a slightly condescending way -- they are experts after all. But Richardson answers in a way that he assumes his audience is bright and well-informed, yet without resorting to jargon. A similar point, is that when someone would ask a question and they were obviously passionate about a given issue; after answering, Richardson would ask them if there was something he missed, something of which he should be aware. It isn't that he agreed with the questioner, but there are people who are experts in different areas and one person can't be an expert in all policy areas. I thought it refreshing that he acknowledged that some of those experts might just be in the room.

This ties into one of the points he made during the interview. That is, he has pledged that we will know who his cabinet is before the general election. Furthermore, he wants his cabinet to be composed of people who are experts with practical knowledge in the field. So, a the secretary of education will be a teacher. The secretary of veteran affairs will be a veteran. Etc.

I was also impressed with the fact that he talked about the need for mental health parity. This is incredibly important and I'm pleased that Governor Richardson recognizes its importance. Along with health issues, he mentioned that New Mexico now has a medical marijuana law (as does Maine). The difference between NM's and ME's laws are that in New Mexico, the state will actually do the production and distribution. This way, state employees are growing the plants and the resultant medication is of a more consistent quality, it is more regulated, and only folks who need the treatment can get it. Now, the Bush administration has threatened to arrest the New Mexico employees who work for this program. The Governor has vowed to fight any such threatened arrests.

Bill Richardson also talked about voting. He wants to see everyone vote on paper ballots (as we do here in Maine). He also wants to see same-day voter registration (as we have here in Maine). We all know why paper ballots are important. But some don't recognize that requiring folks to register to vote 6 weeks before an election as required by some states, effectively disenfranchises the poor more than the wealthy. Lower income folks are more apt to rent. If you rent, you are more apt to move frequently....

In regard to illegal immigration, Richardson has a common sense solution. We make the border more secure, punish employers who hire illegal immigrants, offer a path to citizenship -- but not amnesty, and the part I think is most important, we use foreign policy. That is, we talk with the president of Mexico and ask that something is done about poverty in Mexico.

The Governor was asked a question about bridges. He spoke of our need to have an infrastructure policy -- something that is currently lacking. This policy would cover things like bridge and road repair, the electric grid, and land use policy. This last bit is huge! When is the last time a national politician spoke about a comprehensive land use policy?

There were many other questions -- important questions -- and many other interesting answers (restoring funding to international family planning efforts, researching and doing something about autism, ending No Child Left Behind, getting ALL of our troops out if Iraq, etc.). If you have any questions about his policies. Please check his website, or ask me.

We are in a fine position!

Someone pointed out to me that this time four years ago, the Iowa polls had Gephardt in first place, followed by Dean, then Edwards, then Kerry (not sure of accuracy, but it sounds right -- please correct me if I'm wrong). Similarly, in the national polls this time four years ago, Dean was first, then Clark, then Lieberman, and then Kerry. As a Richardson supporter, I'm pretty encouraged by these numbers.