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 Editorials | Issues | April 2007 
Bill Richardson: The 'Other' Western Candidate
 Yvonne Wingett - Arizona Republic
| | New Mexico state governor Bill Richardson looks at his paper during a news conference at the Information Resource Center of the U.S. embassy's Public Affairs office in Seoul April 11, 2007. Richardson came to Seoul from Pyongyang in North Korea on Wednesday via the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarised Zone, with the remains of six U.S. soldiers from the Korean War. (Reuters/Jo Yong-Hak) |
It was one of those rare rainy afternoons in Phoenix when Bill Richardson flew in to raise cash and his profile.
The other presidential candidate from the Southwest was campaigning, and this was his most recent stop in Arizona.
He walked through the dimly lit Johnny's Uptown dinner club in central Phoenix, introduced himself to the host, said hello to the waiters, and made his way to the far end of the room to talk to a few dozen fellow Democrats. He launched into 20 minutes of talking points that touched on the country's economy, education, health care and his successes as a politician. "I was talking to my mom, and I said, 'Mom, I'm running for president,' " he began.
"President of what," she asked in Spanish.
The crowd laughed, but the story reveals a lot about the candidate.
Richardson is the first viable Hispanic presidential candidate in U.S. history, political analysts say. His candidacy has helped make this year's field of presidential candidates the most diverse in history. Political pundits and the public ponder: Will Barack Obama be the first Black president? Will Hillary Clinton be the first woman? Will Mitt Romney be the first Mormon? But Richardson's chances of becoming the first Latino president haven't received as much hype.
This at a time when Latinos have overtaken Blacks as the nation's largest minority, Latino voting power is rising, and presidential candidates are wooing Latino voters because they could be the election's deciding factor. Yet, Richardson is not a household name, even in the Southwest, where Arizona senator and Republican presidential hopeful John McCain grabs most of the headlines.
"I'm not a rock star, I'm not known," said Richardson, 59. "But America has advanced enormously in terms of its attitudes in the last four years, in terms of its tolerance. They want competence. They want results. They want somebody that can bring the country together above certain boxes that we've had candidates placed in before. I believe I'm going to be elected."
Mexico to Massachusetts
Richardson is the son of a wealthy American banker and a Mexican mother. He was born in Pasadena, Calif., and grew up in a suburb of Mexico City, where his father ran a branch of what is now Citibank, Richardson wrote in his autobiography, Between Worlds, The Making Of An American Life.
Richardson grew up celebrating American and Mexican holidays, eating hot dogs on Fourth of July and celebrating El Grito in September. He lived in a large home with a chauffeur and a cook.
Richardson was 13 in 1961 when his parents sent him to Massachusetts. He enrolled in Middlesex School, an all-boys Eastern boarding school in the Boston area with a strict study schedule. Richardson didn't fit in with the White, Protestant children of wealthy Northeastern families, said Ralph Cygan, his classmate, roommate and best man.
"He was different. Had dark skin, a Spanish accent," said Cygan, now a professor of medicine at the University of California-Irvine. "And there's a lot of hazing that goes on in boarding schools until you sort of find your clique. Bill had to go through that, the name-calling."
Richardson found his clique on the baseball field, Cygan said. One year, Richardson arranged a team trip to Mexico to play little leagues there, stay overnight with family and friends, and tour cities. His jocular, self-effacing humor helped him bridge the two cultures.
"He easily walked between the two worlds of Mexico and this rarefied New England world," said Cygan, 59. "Billy can easily relate to people, whether they're part of the housekeeping crew or head of a country. You could see he was a diplomat."
Richardson received a bachelor's degree from Tufts University and a master's from Tufts' Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. That's where he fell in love with politics.
Political beginnings
Richardson didn't end up in New Mexico by accident. He was hunting out states with large Hispanic populations, thinking it would be easier for him to get elected in one.
He chose New Mexico, got the blessing to enter state politics from Democrat Gov. Jerry Apodaca, who was in the final year of his final term. Richardson took over the state Democratic Party in 1978.
"Early on, you could see he was ambitious and aggressive," Apodaca recalled from his Santa Fe home.
Five months later, a new governor was elected and Richardson was out of a job. He opened a consulting business, biding his time to run for Congress. In 1980, he launched his first campaign for Congress against a longtime Republican incumbent. Critics viewed Richardson as an outsider, said Apodaca, and because of his last name, people questioned if he was Hispanic enough.
"New Mexico was a little bit of a long shot for him (because) he had never lived out West," Apodaca said. "He barely lost, but he made quite an impression."
Two years later, New Mexico got a third congressional seat. Richardson sailed to victory and went to Congress in 1983.
A centrist and a diplomat
In the 14 years he was in the House of Representatives, Richardson established himself as a "centrist" Democrat, he wrote in his autobiography: He helped balance the country's budget, voted against gun control, favored abortion rights and opposed against flag burning.
And he grew to be a key figure in international affairs. On a trip to North Korea, he negotiated for the release of U.S. pilots. He traveled to Iraq and met with Saddam Hussein to free two American captives, and with Fidel Castro to win the release of American political prisoners.
He also became a key ally of President Clinton, who named him U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the mid-1990s, where he worked with leaders of countries to build alliances. Richardson went on to be the secretary of Energy.
"He was going 24/7. He would work anybody, anywhere, any time and was able to get people on the Clinton energy bill," recalled Fred DuVal, a former aide to Clinton. "He has a very good sense of knowing how to deliver political outcomes for people. It was sort of like watching a magician at work."
But Richardson's Cabinet was also marred in controversies. He was linked to the Monica Lewinksy scandal because he offered her a job at the request of a Clinton Cabinet official, he said in his book. Later, Congress criticized Richardson for mishandling allegations of espionage and loose security at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Richardson returned to New Mexico and won the governor's seat in 2002, then again last year. As governor, he cut taxes, invested in education and required utility companies to produce energy through renewable resources and reduce carbon emissions.
Moving up
Campaigning in Phoenix, Richardson emphasized that he is "an average person like everybody else" who struggles with weight (he has dropped about 30 pounds), likes football and is not the best dresser. Then, he slips back into his talking points and outlines what he'd do as president.
Get out of Iraq. Improve America's standing in the world through diplomacy. Make the U.S. energy-independent. Improve the country's education system and its access to affordable health care.
On immigration, Richardson also supports a path to legalization and beefed-up border security. As president, he said, he would double the number of Border Patrol agents and put more technology on the border. But he is vehemently against a border wall, which he calls "idiotic."
"My staff hates me for saying 'second tier,' " Richardson told the crowd at Johnny's Uptown. "Well, that's where I am, and I don't mind saying it. We're moving up, and I can see it. (The primary election is) 11 months away, and there's plenty of time for me to get my message across."
Reach the reporter at yvonne.wingett@arizonarepublic.com. |
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