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SANTA FE — Along with all his president-like messages, Gov. Bill Richardson wants to get this one across: He's not The Hispanic-Only Candidate. He's a candidate who is Hispanic. But he's not just Hispanic.

The national media are already keying in on the topic.

"We're now 15 minutes into your news conference and you've not talked about being a Latino," Fox News reporter Carl Cameron ventured during Richardson's first presidential news conference in New Mexico.

"We have a woman, a historic candidate, presumably in the top tier, and an African-American who is in the top tier presumably, and historic. Talk a little bit about that and about how that figures in, if at all."

Richardson, without missing a beat, replied: "Soy muy orgulloso de ser el primer candidato hispano. Estoy muy orgulloso de ser hispano."

("I'm very proud to be the first Hispanic candidate. I'm very proud to be Hispanic.")

"But," Richardson said to the broom-closet-like room crammed with reporters from near and far, "I'm not just a Hispanic candidate, I'm an American candidate, I'm a governor. I would love the Hispanic vote, but there are many communities and groups that a president represents.

"I'm not going to be campaigning as a Hispanic candidate only talking about Hispanic issues, I'm going to be talking about mainstream issues. Whenever I can raise the issues that are important to the Latino community, whenever I can speak out, I will do so."

That Hispanic vote is key, not just in the Southwest, but in places like West Virginia, New York and Minnesota.

Later in the week, CNN's Larry King wanted to know whether being Hispanic is a plus or a minus.

Richardson: "It's a plus. There are a lot of states with a growing Hispanic population, not just in the Southwest but around the country. I suspect some will accuse me of being too soft on immigration, or that I'm not strong enough with border security, which I am."

Richardson was the first border governor to declare a state of emergency, freeing up cash for extra law enforcement along the dividing line between the United States and Mexico. The move was popular with some Minutemen stationed out in the desert who say the federal government isn't doing enough to secure the border.

Others, however, said Richardson's idea - followed by Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano - was just a publicity stunt.

Richardson told King he wants to see more Hispanics registered and voting.

"It's a growing, dynamic community; it's about 12 percent of the vote. We've just got to get those Hispanics to register and be part of the political process," he said.

"Although you know my last name doesn't help, but I can throw out a little Spanish if you want me to."

King wanted. "Say good night in Spanish," he said.

"Muy buenas noches, Larry. Gracias por tenerme en t£ programa." (Thanks for having me on your program.)

OK, we know he's Hispanic and he speaks Spanish. For us, in a state where minorities are the majority, that's the norm.

But maybe the questions give us a chance to show the rest of the country our culture.

So what's new, governor?

New since Richardson announced he's running: We got a two-minute warning for his arrival at his first news conference, something that never happened when Richardson was just the governor.

Then someone shouted: "He'll be here in 40 seconds."

That was new, too. So are all the handlers, consultants and gaggle of national media keeping tabs on him.

How many lawmakers does it take to open a conference committee?

So far, there are four proposals - from Democrats and Republicans - to open the committees, some of the few that are closed to the public. The committees only meet when similar versions of bills pass in the House and Senate and the differences must be reconciled.

This next quote from Bob Johnson, the executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government might sound like a broken record, because FOG for more than a decade has pushed to open the meetings, but it's worth repeating.

"These are important decisions that affect everybody in New Mexico. It should be in the open so the public knows what decisions are being made on their behalf," he said.

Watch to see whether the vote breaks down along party lines or if there's some bipartisan cooperation to do the right thing this year.