Reconsidering Richardson

I've heard a handful of Conservatives who seemed most comfortable with NW Governor Bill Richardson--assuming we had to live under a Democrat President for four years. While Richardson's record is a little less discomfiting than that of Hillary or Obama or Edwards, this withering profile (here) of Richardson from the New Republic plainly casts him as unprincipled, shallow and dull-witted. Here's a taste:

Are you ready for some hot dogs?" says the ballpark announcer. "Let em know!"

Bill Richardson is ready. It's been a grueling day on the campaign trail--five events spread across some 350 miles of Iowa interstate--and, as we find our seats behind home plate for a minor league game in Des Moines, Richardson looks beat. A New Mexico wag once compared the governor's appearance to an unmade bed, and, right now, he looks the part. His black hair is tousled and his tie is gone. His collar is smeared with pancake makeup and his lapel is dusted with white specks of unknown origin.

But Richardson still has plenty of energy left--not only for a hot dog, a bag of popcorn, and a Diet Coke, which he asks his state trooper to fetch--but also to discuss his recent trip to North Korea to retrieve the remains of six American soldiers killed in the Korean war. "Maybe about two months ago," he casually explains, as if describing some political horse-trading with his legislature, "the North Koreans said to me, 'We want to do a gesture to you because we like you. You've been interested in remains. We're ready to give you from five to ten--unconditional. But you have to come and get them.'" The call, Richardson clarifies, came through the United Nations. "Their U.N. guy calls. His name is Ambassador Kim. K-I-M. They're all named Kim."

Richardson then contacted Bush's national security advisor, Steven Hadley, and told him he wanted to make the mission a bipartisan affair. Truth is, he just needed a ride. "What I was mainly interested in was an airplane," Richardson says as his food arrives and he maneuvers the overstuffed hot dog into his mouth. "So Hadley said--" Richardson pauses and turns to his trooper. "Jakey, you got a napkin?" The trooper passes Richardson a napkin, and he dabs his chin. "So Hadley said 'OK.'"

Gotta love Richardson quoting a North Korean official telling the candidate, "we like you."

Kudos to this TNR reporter for offering a realistic portrait of this candidate . . . I think we'd all benefit from knowing more about a candidate than what you can find one of the candidate's press releases.