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Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson is a little hot under the collar these days — and well he should be.

The Democratic-controlled Legislature adjourned Thursday with what Richardson said was its worst performance since he has been governor — with a session record that is "mediocre at best."

To be sure, Richardson — who only a month ago abandoned his bid for the Democratic nomination for president — had set the bar high for the short session. Even so, it ended Thursday with worse than the typical acrimony and finger-pointing — and with promises of more to come.

And legislators got a gubernatorial tongue-thrashing and a dare to duke it out with Richardson, a suggested "lame duck" who actually has considerable power over their political fortunes.

Richardson made it clear he was prepared to take off the gloves. And no wonder. Essentially, the governor, who did better in some of the presidential primaries than he did in the Roundhouse, got close to zip in Santa Fe.

At least, that was the tally on the three major pieces of legislation he sought: a statewide health care plan; extensive ethics reform; and a state law that would allow domestic partners the same legal rights as married couples.

It was certainly a challenging agenda, but not one that a motivated Democratic Legislature couldn't have tackled with considerably more success than it did.

After the House passed a bill that would have established a Health Coverage Authority — not exactly the Richardson plan — the Senate did nothing. Not only didn't a plan make it to the Senate floor, it never even got a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee. That was unforgivable, considering the state and national health care crisis, and the raging presidential nominating race, in which both Democratic candidates still vying for the nomination are strongly committed to pursuing some form of universal health care coverage.

Likewise on ethics reforms, with national pundits zeroed in on the enormous campaign war chests of the Democratic presidential candidates, while local commentators focus on former state Democratic officials who already have pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges while others still are awaiting trial.

And should doing the fair and right thing by domestic partners be such a heavy load for the Democratic leaders, in a state with a relatively strong history of tolerance and diversity, as well as respect for civil and individual rights?

Richardson has said he will call a special session, during which legislators will have a chance to redeem themselves. But he has not indicated when, for how long or for what, though a health care plan is close to his heart — and close to the hearts of his party's still-standing candidates for the presidential nomination.

Presumably, Richardson is prepared to compromise, even trade his threatened line-item vetoes of legislators' pet capital outlay projects for support of his state health care plan.

Considering the times, he may be shooting too low.