Tribune: Tell us what you consider the three most important issues facing the nation.

Bill Richardson: First, energy security and national security. The issue of energy independence, how can we wean ourselves from the 65 (percent) imported oil statistic to become a country that is not so dependent on fossil fuels and shifts to renewable technologies.

Number two, how can we regain our standing in the world as a country. As part of that, how do we get out of Iraq in an efficient and honorable way.

Third, the state of our education system. Our schools need to become more competitive. We need to find ways to pay our teachers better, to restore America's ability to be able to send every kid to college or community college or vocational school.

Tribune: Governor, you're pinning a lot of your early hopes on Nevada, but you have to do well in some of the other early primary states. How are you going to connect with people in Iowa who focus heavily on issues like ethanol?

Richardson: Well, the good news is that I have a record on ethanol. When I was a congressman, I pushed the first initiatives in the Clean Air Act that made ethanol a strong alternative source of energy. And so I believe that I'm going after every state.

Yes, Nevada, I have to do well because it's a Western state. But we have organizations today in New Hampshire. We have organizations in Iowa. We just started that. I need to visit Iowa more. And we have an organization in South Carolina.

But the election's a year to go. Yes, Nevada's important, but I'm not building a one-state strategy. I'm concentrating on the first four primaries intensively. But also after those four primaries, there's New Mexico, there's Arizona, there's Utah, and there's a possibility new states might come in, like California, like Michigan, like New Jersey.

So, the calendar's very fluid, but our effort is to concentrate on the first four primaries and caucuses.

Tribune: One of your opponents is, of course, Hillary Clinton, and you're close friends with her husband. Will that be awkward?

Richardson: Well, it is a little awkward. But I believe we've all been in politics a long time.

You know, I talked to President Clinton continuously throughout the various governors' races, and we never actually talked about it. The only time I said something to him, I said, "Mr. President, I'd like to come talk to you about some race in the future." He said, "Whatever you need, come by and see me." But that's the only time we kind of touched on it.

But I do know cases where he is calling individuals who he thought were supporting Sen. Clinton, and they're supporting me - and I'm sure there are a lot more supporting her than supporting me, so he hasn't had to make many calls.

He is helping her. He's competitive. I think as long as it stays clean, I'm staying clean in this campaign. I'm not attacking my opponents. I'm going to run a positive campaign.

Tribune: Governor, the chase for money in the run for the White House is pretty daunting. You combine that with an early primary and a lot of people say the system is broken. What kind of reforms would you support?

Richardson: Well, there is a real concentration, intensity of fund-raising. I feel that in the end the voters will judge the candidates on their experience, on their records, on their passion, and that fund-raising will be secondary. It should be secondary. It shouldn't decide the presidency - who can raise the most money or get the most television.

This is a campaign that I believe the American people want to see the candidate, the passion, where they stand, the experience. At least that's what I'm hoping for.

Tribune: You wouldn't make any changes in the system?

Richardson: Well, yeah, I would, but right now this public finance system, it seems like every candidate is opting out. The campaign finance system that was done after the Watergate years may be outdated. I don't know what we're going to do.

But no candidate participates in it because it seems very complicated. It seems very bureaucratic that it disadvantages the candidate that opts into it.

I've heard media speculation and pundits say if a candidate takes matching funds it means they can't raise money, so they're not serious candidates. That's not a very good incentive for any candidate.

Tribune: Some legislators have criticized you for raising money during a session, citing a state law that bars it. Federal law obviously trumps that. But some are saying that ethics should trump legalities in this, and that the moral thing for you to do is not accept money. How do you respond to them?

Richardson: Well, that's a partisan comment. That's unilateral disarmament. I've got to start raising money.

It's very clear that the law says that if I'm the governor of New Mexico, I don't raise state funds. I've always abided by that, but this is a federal race. This is a race that is national. This involves mainly traveling around the country and raising money - although I am raising money in New Mexico.

But I have sent very strong ethics messages (on legislation), and there's some (legislators) that don't want to accept them. I've got the legislation in the Legislature that says ban on gifts, restriction on gifts, an ethics commission, restrictions on contributions, public financing for judges, start with them. I'm the one with the ethics package.

I think some of these legislators should look in the mirror before criticizing me.

Tribune: Governor, you've traveled a lot lately. Have you used or will you use the state jet for any trips that include campaigning?

Richardson: No. Never. I never use the state jet for campaigning. That's against the law. I don't even do it when there's a gray area.

Tribune: You've certainly got a lot of success stories in New Mexico to trumpet when you're on the campaign trail. But we do remain one of the poorest states in the nation and have a lot of other problems. I'm sure a lot of your opponents will be bringing that up. How do you play that?

Richardson: Well, I simply say that we've made progress in education, in per capita income, DWI. Yeah, we're at the bottom of a lot of lists, but we've made progress in a lot of areas.

The economy - we've made dramatic progress. In education, we dramatically changed education. We made full-day kindergarten a reality, started new scholarship programs, tried to narrow the achievement gap.

But statistics, they move slowly. I wish they'd move a lot faster. Some of these statistics are a couple of years away, but all I say is, we're making progress and we're a state that is moving forward and the people of New Mexico, in polls and other data that I've seen, like the direction of the state. They're optimistic about the direction of the state.

Tribune: Governor, we all know your governing style is hands-on and pretty strong. Some would charge it's a little too hands-on and too strong. How do you describe your governing style with its attributes and its drawbacks.

Richardson: Well, I'm hands-on, you're right. I know almost every item in the budget. I review almost every policy decision we make. I'm aggressive. I try to push my agenda. I use the public. I use the media. I consider myself a strong executive.

Others claim that I'm vindictive. I'm not vindictive. I'm a strong governor. It's a strong Legislature. Sometimes those interests clash, but the fact is we've gotten a lot done together.

The state has a lot of good, new legislation; a lot of good, new priorities; some investments in the future such as the spaceport, such as the Rail Runner. People feel optimistic about the state, but, yeah, sometimes my style may be too aggressive for some.

But the reality is, for years, everything was in gridlock. Nothing happened. The Legislature was content to be a major power center that basically said "no" to the past governor. The past governor didn't want to do anything. So there was a lot of negative power and very little got done. We're getting a lot done.

Tribune: One could argue that Barbara is one of the least-known first ladies in recent histories. How active do you expect her to be on the campaign trail and in the White House should you win?

Richardson: Well, she'll be very active in the White House. She's been a first lady that has been involved mainly in three areas: domestic violence. She's been involved in literacy campaigns and she's been involved in, let's see, domestic violence, literacy, and, uh, and immunizations.

And Barbara's style is different. She gets things done. She meets with legislators. She lobbies me on her budget very strongly. There is a first lady budget and the governor's budget. Guess what? The first lady's budget does a lot better than mine.

And that's bookmobiles, that's domestic violence centers, that's immunization funds, it's literacy funds. It's a whole range of interests that she has.

She is active. She doesn't like the limelight in terms of getting publicity. She does things quietly. She's going to be very active campaigning for me. She has already submitted to media requests. She'll be on the trail once we get moving pretty strong.

Tribune: One of the weaknesses out there that might dog you in a national campaign is the Wen Ho Lee case and the speculation that you were the source of the leak in the case. Are you concerned about that at all?

Richardson: Well, it's not a plus, obviously. But I believe I acted appropriately with Wen Ho Lee.

There were security problems at Los Alamos that still continue. But I believe there was - he did plead guilty to unauthorized use of classified materials. Perhaps the Justice Department and his incarceration may have been a little harsh.

Tribune: Were you the source of the leak?

Richardson: No, I wasn't the source of the leak. The media has many sources, and I've said I wasn't the source of the leak. You know, there were reports in the Asian press way before anyone ever talked to anyone at the Department of Energy. No, I wasn't the source of the leak. That's over with.

Hopefully, voters will see I was trying to protect our national secrets. I was the secretary of energy. You know, we've got these hugely important nuclear secrets that we've got to protect. There was continuous problems at Los Alamos. I tried to get them fixed. We made a little bit of progress, but obviously, there's still problems.

Tribune: We want to move off the issues for just a few questions about Bill Richardson the man. You interact incredibly well with children, but you and Barbara have never had children. Did you want children?

Richardson: Yeah, but, you know, it didn't happen.

But I believe that I'm a governor that cares for all New Mexico children, and I concentrated on education and making schools better, on preschool, on full-day kindergarten, good facilities for kids, technology for kids. So, I feel that all New Mexico kids, that I have that responsibility.

Tribune: Many Americans consider spirituality a key part of their life. What role does religion play in how you govern?

Richardson: Well, it's important. I feel that through my Roman Catholic beliefs, I care about social justice, I care about improving the lives of those who are destitute, those who are poor.

OK, I make no bones about it: I was influenced to pursue the minimum wage issue recently after a conversation with my local monsignor, my local priest, Monsignor (Jerome Martinez y) Alire. I was talking to him and I said, "Well, what if we increased it with an index?"

He said, "Come on, Bill. Five dollars fifteen cents for a family. You can't live on that. Just do it."

And I said, "You know, I think you're right."

And so I believe I have values, values of equity and human rights. I believe when you're talking about values, it's not just religious values. I think every American has the right to health care, has the right to a number of just basic necessities, human needs.

Tribune: You've been sighted at parties, at fund-raisers and at other functions after having had a few drinks. Alcohol is also offered at events at the Governor's Mansion. What's your attitude toward the consumption of alcohol?

Richardson: Well, just for the record, I only drink wine and I drink very little.

DWI's a huge problem in this state, and I believe it's important we find ways to curb its use, that we do it in an appropriate manner. It's a huge problem in this state. We have thrown the kitchen sink at DWI. I don't want alcohol served at sporting events. I believe we have to tighten up.

But, yeah, once in awhile, I'll have a glass of wine.

There's this myth that somehow Bill Richardson likes to go to parties. That's not the case. I hardly go to any. I went to a Super Bowl party a couple of days ago and I'm sure that people will say I went to 30 of them.

Tribune: Governor, a lot of us know that you're working hard to lose weight, but your face also looks different. Your teeth are much straighter than when you were first elected. You've had at least one mole removed. Have you had or would you consider having plastic surgery?

Richardson: I've lost a lot of weight. And I did have a mole taken out. I did have a chipped tooth that was fixed.

I believe that the American people want to see the candidates and anybody running for office be physically fit.

This has been a problem for me. I've been on every diet. I've been on every possible effort to lose weight. And I finally have lost weight, but I haven't finished losing weight. I want to lose more.

Then, the key is, can I stay this way? And that is still the verdict that has not been decided.

Tribune: Rumors are a tool of the trade in politics. Throughout your political career, you've been dogged by rumors that you're either rude to women or too chummy with women. Now it's all over the blogosphere. There's that one post that keeps coming up about behavior you may or may not have exhibited. They're saying you may have a bimbo problem. How do you respond to that?

Richardson: Those are just mean-spirited rumors. If you look at my record, there's never been anything published. I've been confirmed twice by the U.S. Senate. I've been vetted by the FBI. I was confirmed by the Senate for Cabinet positions. I've been through seven elections for Congress, two for governor.

I have been married to Barbara for 33 years. We have a very strong marriage.

These are mean-spirited rumors that have no basis.

And finally, I was vetted for vice president. They will tell you there was no problem of any kind. No scandal.

Sure, I've made mistakes as a human being, but those are just mean-spirited rumors. That's all I have to say.

Tribune: Governor, you've said if you don't get a presidential nod, you'd rather come back and serve as governor than secretary of state or vice president. Those are jobs a lot of people think you'd be good at. Why not serve in those capacities?

Richardson: Well, you don't run for president and expect to do it for becoming vice president or secretary of state. I love this job. It's the best job I've ever had. It's a job I feel I'm good at. It's a job where I set the agenda. I have more fun every day in this job.

In fact, as running for president, whenever I have a chance to do governor work I love doing it. Because I love appointing judges, and I love dealing with the Legislature - we had a meeting this morning with the Democratic legislators - and I like to negotiate. I like to see the fruits of what I do.

Tribune: Final question: There's lots being made of the fact that you're Hispanic. Maybe too much is being made of it. But I'd like your analysis of how that heritage helps you in the campaign and hinders you in the campaign.

Richardson: Well, I make it very clear that I am running as a New Mexico governor, an American who's very proud to be Hispanic. I'm not running as the Hispanic governor only interested in Hispanic issues and only helping Hispanic people. I've always been a mainstream candidate who happens to be very proud of being Hispanic.

How can it help? Well, there's a lot of Hispanics in this country that may take some pride that one of their own is vying for president. Maybe it'll motivate them to register and vote and participate. I'm not sure. I sure hope so.

On the negative side, there could be some that will rap the immigration issue. I can already see it: "This is a Hispanic who wants to open up the borders," and I believe my record disproves that. I declared a border emergency.

But I'm also for a legalization plan for the 12 million Hispanics that are here. New Mexico is considered a very pro-immigrant state. I did sign legislation that allowed for driver's licenses for undocumented workers, for scholarships for undocumented workers - especially if they qualified.

So that's the plus and minus.

Overall, I believe it's a plus because of the number of Hispanics in this country, especially in some of the early primaries - Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah and, if they have California. It'll be a big plus if California is moved up.