NY Times: Bill Richardson Enters ’08 Field

January 21, 2007
Bill Richardson Enters ’08 Field
By CHRISTINE HAUSER

Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico jumped into the 2008 presidential race today, announcing that he had formed a campaign exploratory committee in order to seek the Democratic nomination.

“I am taking this step because we have to repair the damage that’s been done to our country over the last six years,” Mr. Richardson said in a statement. “Our reputation in the world is diminished, our economy has languished, and civility and common decency in government has perished.”

He highlighted his experience, from United Nations ambassador to state governor, as making him uniquely positioned to tackle a range of international and domestic tasks, from getting American troops out of Iraq to improving the economy and energy independence.

“I can bring this country together,” he said on “This Week” on ABC. “I’m a negotiator. I’ve brought countries together closer on peace treaties. I’ve rescued Americans, hostages and servicemen.”

“What we have right now is an opportunity to deal with major issues that really are dividing this country,” he said.

The announcement today from Mr. Richardson follows the latest entries into the expanding Democratic field, including Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who entered the race on Saturday with an e-mail message to supporters that said: “I’m in. And I’m in to win.”

The Democrats now square off in what is effectively the party’s first primary, the competition for campaign donations.

Asked today on “This Week” how he would “break through” the presence of the other contenders, Mr. Richardson said that he would “outwork anybody” and that he believed he could be competitive in raising money.

”I’m a governor,” he continued. “Governors have good records in being elected presidents, because we balance budgets, we deal with health care, with education.”

“I believe also that I’m a Westerner,” Mr. Richardson went on. “This is a new area that is fertile for the Democratic Party.”

The prospective field also includes John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina; Senator Joseph R. Biden of Delaware; former Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa; Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio, and Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut.

And joining what is expected to be a crowded field of Republican hopefuls, Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, announced his candidacy for president on Saturday, facing off in what is expected to be a crowded fielding including Senator John McCain of Arizona and Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York.

Mr. Richardson has served as a congressman, as well as United Nations ambassador and energy secretary under President Bill Clinton. Today, he emphasized his international experience in his announcement that he would seek the nomination, saying that as United Nations ambassador, he worked to build alliances and help prevent the development of nuclear weapons in North Korea.

Just this month, he went to Sudan on behalf of the Save Darfur Coalition of groups trying to stem the violence in Darfur, to try to break the deadlock over who would police the region. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan and leaders of several rebel factions in Darfur agreed to a 60-day cease-fire in separate meetings with Mr. Richardson.

Mr. Richardson, who last year helped negotiate the release of an American journalist charged with espionage in Sudan, has international contacts made as ambassador in the Clinton administration.

Mr. Richardson has been nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the release of hostages, American servicemen and political prisoners in North Korea, Iraq and Cuba, according to his statement.

“The next president of the United States must get our troops out of Iraq without delay,” Mr. Richardson said. “Before I became governor of New Mexico, I served as ambassador to the United Nations and as secretary of energy. I know the Middle East well and it’s clear that our presence in Iraq isn’t helping any longer.”

He said he had set up an exploratory committee that will allow him to begin raising money and assembling his campaign organization.

He also highlighted domestic issues.

“On issues like the environment, jobs, and health care, state governments are leading the way,” he added. “And that’s because we can’t be partisan or we won’t get our jobs done.”

Today, Mr. Richardson outlined his strategy for what is likely to be the prominent campaign issue — American involvement in Iraq.

Mr. Richardson said a timetable needed to be established for the Iraqis to handle their own security, as well as setting up national reconciliation talks among Sunni Arabs, Shiites and Kurds. Talks with Iran and Syria were also needed, he said.

“What we need to do is bring their neighbors in, bring regional powers as part of the solution,” he said in the ABC interview. “Set up a reconstruction effort to help Iraq achieve civil administration and build up its resources.”

Mr. Richardson would be the first Hispanic president if he won. But he said today on ABC that he would not run as a Hispanic candidate.

“I believe the country would be ready for a woman president, an African-American president, Hispanic president,” he said. “But I wouldn’t run as a Hispanic candidate. I would run as an American, proud to be Hispanic, proud of my heritage.”

Mr. Richardson was born on Nov. 15, 1947, in Pasadena, Calif., to an American father and Mexican mother. He grew up in Mexico City before moving to New England, where he attended high school and college, his announcement said. He graduated from Tuft’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Massachusetts.

Patrick Healy contributed reporting for this article.