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Hollywood money

Gov. Bill Richardson was in Los Angeles earlier this week for three fund-raisers, although that wasn't on the schedule put out by his campaign this week. In fact, the campaign said he didn't have any public events this week and declined to comment on his "private" schedule.

Maybe the money-raisers weren't open to the public, but it sure seems like the public has a right to know where the governor is, especially during the legislative session.

But then, Richardson does like his secret-agent-man persona.

A touchy subject

The new Politico.com Web site devoted its top story Thursday to speculation about Richardson's supposed women trouble - is he too touchy, is there a scandal in the background, murmur, murmur. It keys on Richardson's recent statements, when asked about women trouble, that he was vetted for vice president by the John Kerry campaign. The reporter found some unnamed Kerry aides who said he didn't go through the final-phase "definitive" vetting.

But, the story said, two other sources told them they'd dug into every rumor under the sun and found nothing. One of them was former Clinton aide Lanny Davis, who vetted Richardson for his 1992 Cabinet appointment.

"I ended up 100 percent convinced that Bill Richardson was not a womanizer, had not had an affair, had not done anything that had embarrassed him," he said.

Bloggers go mad

The Politico story buzzed all over the blogosphere Thursday, with a lot of commenters saying it didn't deserve top play and maybe didn't even deserve writing.

Ron Mwangaguhunga of the "Corsair" blog said Richardson is simply "a man's man" - just what we need in the diplomatic ranks:

"The `pinchy' governor of New Mexico is all the rage in the Sudan, for example. They like a grown man who can throw and take a slap-chop, chew some tobacco and slaughter a few goats every once in a while."

Winning with libertarians

Political consultant Liz Mair, writing for the New York Sun, said Richardson has a strong shot at uniting libertarian Democrats in the Mountain West:

"The Democratic Party has the opportunity to bring the fight to Republicans if they nominate someone like Mr. Richardson, who can compete with a Rudy Giuliani or a John McCain for liberty minded voters. Alternately, by ignoring Mr. Richardson, Democrats will be giving Republicans a free ride with a group they've been doing their darndest to alienate for the last seven-plus years."

What happens in Vegas . . .

The "Nevada Up North" blog said Richardson is the first presidential candidate to open an office there, Thursday in Las Vegas. Richardson wasn't be there, but planned to call in from Santa Fe.