More Bill Richardson's Quest

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Leave no issue behind

At "The Huffington Post," Dan Brown analyzed the Dem candidates' stances on education and noted that Bill Richardson doesn't even include it as one of the seven issues on his Web site - a surprising omission, Brown noted, saying Richardson has made educational improvements in New Mexico. That said, Richardson does include a bit about education in his Web site's jobs/economy section, Brown points out, quoting from it: "We've done it (created jobs) by making a real investment in public education, paying our teachers more but tying those increases to tough standards, and by using our resources more wisely, with less money for school administration and more in the classroom."

But that "tough standards" reference left a bad taste for Brown, who said it "could be a rubber stamp for continuing No Child Left Behind's suffocating practice of standardized testing as the sole measure of a child's success. If it is . . . then Richardson needs to talk to more educators. If he has some progressive ideas for how to empower teachers and students with diminished emphasis on standardized testing, I think America should hear them. The absence leads one to assume he does not."

Yak, yak, yak

Blogger David Allen of "Democratic Underground" has started a discussion group about Richardson that's so far drawn a handful of comments. Among them: "Yes! Now that Richardson admirers have our own forum . . . it is just a matter of time before we overtake the big three and sweep the primaries!"

Yeah. A discussion group. Wow. Why didn't we think of that?

About those guvs . . .

Blogger JK Maine at "The Daily Kos" offered yet another love letter to Bill, drawing a huge comment thread. Within it: "Governors are executives. They are, hate to say it, deciders. They sit alone at the top, they run complex organizations with many departments and functions, they manage a budget, and they are singularly accountable, rather than one vote of 100 or more. Legislators can't compete on experience."

But then another commenter had to go and ruin all the love by pointing out the current prez used to be a guv.

One New Hampshire vote

The Nashua Telegraph said Richardson has picked up a key endorsement - former New Hampshire Democratic party chairman Jeff Woodburn. "He's got what any candidate would want: an impeccable résumé. He's been a U.N. ambassador, a governor, a congressman, a worldwide diplomat," Woodburn said. "What I like most is despite that stature, he's one of the most approachable and likeable candidates I've ever been around."

Building the Iowa team

The Des Moines Register said Richardson has hired some key staffers for his Iowa operation in advance of this week's visit - Robert Becker to lead the effort and Tom Reynolds to be communication director. "Becker is a longtime Democratic operative," the Register said, "who ran former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley's 2000 presidential campaign in Polk County. Reynolds most recently worked as press secretary for Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin."

Richardson wins!

Finally, there's a poll Bill Richardson can actually like. Instead of coming in fourth, fifth or even worse, in this one he wins the White House - uh, at least as long as no other states than New Mexico vote. A poll produced by a poli-sci class at New Mexico State University not so surprisingly gave Richardson the lead in his home state, but only with 17 percent. And, darn it all, "undecided" dwarfed him at 30 percent.