Richardson in WaPo

The Washington Post had a great article on Gov. Bill Richardson over the weekend. It is a real eye opener for those who haven't been following his esteemed career and presidential candidacy. It is laid out as a series of 'letters' or comments from individuals during various points in Bill's life. From an upstart pitcher at a New England Boarding school, to his time on the cabinet. He is a well rounded individual and ideal Presidential material.

Some Snippets:

In our junior year, Bill took it upon himself to recommend, plan, raise money for and implement a spring baseball trip to Mexico to ready the Tufts varsity team for the 1969 season. Bill's vision went far beyond a typical tourist trip of 10 days of baseball with a siesta thrown in here and there. Rather, he saw this as an opportunity for cultural immersion, long before such quaint ideas were popular. Between daily games with university teams in Mexico City, he planned trips to architectural ruins, museums, embassies and social gatherings.

-- Rich Giacchetti, Richardson's Tufts baseball teammate.

A friend suggested that I meet Bill, the foreign relations aide to Sen. Hubert Humphrey, when I made courtesy calls before my confirmation hearing. It snowed the day before my appointment with Humphrey and many people had not made it to the office that Friday morning, but Bill was waiting for me when I arrived. I saw a tall, imposing figure in a corduroy jacket and boots. He looked more like a Hispanic ranchero than a legislative aide. As we waited for Humphrey to arrive, I told Bill that I was unaware that there were any Mexican Americans in Minnesota and asked how he had come to work with Humphrey. He replied, "I am not from Minnesota, I am from New Mexico!" He said it with such assurance and conviction that I assumed he had been born and raised there. Sometime later, I learned that he had visited New Mexico only twice before. But already, he had committed to adopting it as the state where he would pursue his political destiny, not knowing quite how but confident that he would find a way to win.

-- Abelardo L. Valdez, former chief of protocol in the Carter administration

I worked for Bill Richardson on the Hill and at the Energy Department and am married to one of his college friends, so I know something about his demanding and inexhaustible style. During Bill's first campaign for Congress in 1980, my husband Steve's job one day was to hold the "clicker" to keep track of the record-breaking number of hands the candidate shook at the New Mexico State Fair. Bill did so with such vigor that en route to a campaign event that night after the marathon effort, they had to stop at a drugstore to get a sling for his arm. Bill works harder than anyone else and it's a challenge to keep up.

-- Melanie Kinderdine, aide to Richardson in Congress and the Energy Department

I can recall traveling in a car through the most desolate area of the state, listening to a radio station out of some tiny town. In a very short time, we had heard two or three radio commercials for Richardson. There wasn't a station we could turn to without hearing about him, in English or Spanish. He bought up every bit of radio advertising time. We had tried to respond, but it was like going up against an M1 Abrams tank with a small sword.

-- John Sanchez, 2002 Republican candidate for New Mexico governor

Richardson is the most experienced and career balanced of all the current candidates. He's got it in him to win, if the media will let him!!

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