LiberalNation
02-24-2007, 06:57 PM
He's the most electable dem choice so far I'm thinking.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070224/ap_on_el_pr/richardson2008;_ylt=ArYOwcP_Rhs0jU9VnVTURawDW7oF
WESTON, Fla. - For the Broward County Democratic chairman, Bill Richardson's presidential campaign has meaning far beyond how well the New Mexico governor fares against better known 2008 rivals.
Richardson represents two important growth targets for the party, said Mitch Caesar: He is Hispanic and from a Western state once considered solidly Republican.
"The challenge will be for him to show not just that he's the Hispanic candidate, but that he can mobilize that base," Ceasar said. "His ability to do that will be measured and considered by all candidates in the future."
Richardson planned to speak at a Broward Democrats' dinner Saturday night.
Joe Garcia, executive vice president of the nonprofit NDN Network, formerly known as the New Democratic Network, said Richardson is "what the new Democratic Party will look like" as it works to attract Hispanics and make inroads in the West.
"I think he offers tremendous opportunity for the growth of the party in areas where the party needs to grow," the Miami activist said.
Richardson's father was an international banker from Boston and his mother Mexican. Richardson settled in New Mexico after several years as a Washington staffer, partly because of the state's large Hispanic population.
His main problem in the 2008 campaign is that he trails the top-tier candidates — New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) and 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards — in name recognition and fundraising. Richardson does have a strong resume that includes stints as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, energy secretary, member of Congress and twice-elected New Mexico governor.
Florida's Hispanic population differs politically from most of the rest of the country because of its dominance by Cubans. They overwhelmingly are Republican, largely because of perceptions that the GOP is more staunchly anti- Fidel Castro.
It did not help Democrats when President Clinton's administration decided in 2000 to send Elian Gonzalez back to Cuba after the boy was rescued floating on an inner tube and his Miami-based relatives and supporters fought to keep him in the United States.
Garcia, however, said many younger Cubans are more open to supporting Democrats, who do well among other major Hispanic groups such as Mexicans and Puerto Ricans.
"To have a candidate who is an Hispanic, if nothing else it shows that Democrats are inclusive and that's a message the party wants to send," said Aubrey Jewett, political science professor at the University of Central Florida. "It keeps him in the game. I don't think it's enough to put him over the top."
Also Saturday, Richardson relied on his diplomatic experience as he urged the Bush administration to negotiate directly with Iran over its nuclear program.
"Saber-rattling is not a good way to get the Iranians to cooperate," Richardson wrote in The Washington Post. "But it is a good way to start a new war."
A better approach, he said, "would be for the United States to engage directly with the Iranians and to lead a global diplomatic offensive to prevent them from building nuclear weapons."
Iran, he said, 'will not end their nuclear program because we threaten them and call them names."
Richardson, who has visited North Korea several times for talks, both in an official and unofficial capacity, said the recent tentative agreement with the communist government over its nuclear program illustrates that "diplomacy can work even with the most unsavory of regimes."
He said North Korea might have been prevented from going nuclear had the administration engaged in diplomacy sooner, "instead of calling them 'evil' and talking about 'regime change.'"
"This is no time for chest-beating and dangerous brinkmanship," he said of the effort to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons. "It is time for alliance-building, direct engagement and tough face-to-face negotiations."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070224/ap_on_el_pr/richardson2008;_ylt=ArYOwcP_Rhs0jU9VnVTURawDW7oF
WESTON, Fla. - For the Broward County Democratic chairman, Bill Richardson's presidential campaign has meaning far beyond how well the New Mexico governor fares against better known 2008 rivals.
Richardson represents two important growth targets for the party, said Mitch Caesar: He is Hispanic and from a Western state once considered solidly Republican.
"The challenge will be for him to show not just that he's the Hispanic candidate, but that he can mobilize that base," Ceasar said. "His ability to do that will be measured and considered by all candidates in the future."
Richardson planned to speak at a Broward Democrats' dinner Saturday night.
Joe Garcia, executive vice president of the nonprofit NDN Network, formerly known as the New Democratic Network, said Richardson is "what the new Democratic Party will look like" as it works to attract Hispanics and make inroads in the West.
"I think he offers tremendous opportunity for the growth of the party in areas where the party needs to grow," the Miami activist said.
Richardson's father was an international banker from Boston and his mother Mexican. Richardson settled in New Mexico after several years as a Washington staffer, partly because of the state's large Hispanic population.
His main problem in the 2008 campaign is that he trails the top-tier candidates — New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) and 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards — in name recognition and fundraising. Richardson does have a strong resume that includes stints as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, energy secretary, member of Congress and twice-elected New Mexico governor.
Florida's Hispanic population differs politically from most of the rest of the country because of its dominance by Cubans. They overwhelmingly are Republican, largely because of perceptions that the GOP is more staunchly anti- Fidel Castro.
It did not help Democrats when President Clinton's administration decided in 2000 to send Elian Gonzalez back to Cuba after the boy was rescued floating on an inner tube and his Miami-based relatives and supporters fought to keep him in the United States.
Garcia, however, said many younger Cubans are more open to supporting Democrats, who do well among other major Hispanic groups such as Mexicans and Puerto Ricans.
"To have a candidate who is an Hispanic, if nothing else it shows that Democrats are inclusive and that's a message the party wants to send," said Aubrey Jewett, political science professor at the University of Central Florida. "It keeps him in the game. I don't think it's enough to put him over the top."
Also Saturday, Richardson relied on his diplomatic experience as he urged the Bush administration to negotiate directly with Iran over its nuclear program.
"Saber-rattling is not a good way to get the Iranians to cooperate," Richardson wrote in The Washington Post. "But it is a good way to start a new war."
A better approach, he said, "would be for the United States to engage directly with the Iranians and to lead a global diplomatic offensive to prevent them from building nuclear weapons."
Iran, he said, 'will not end their nuclear program because we threaten them and call them names."
Richardson, who has visited North Korea several times for talks, both in an official and unofficial capacity, said the recent tentative agreement with the communist government over its nuclear program illustrates that "diplomacy can work even with the most unsavory of regimes."
He said North Korea might have been prevented from going nuclear had the administration engaged in diplomacy sooner, "instead of calling them 'evil' and talking about 'regime change.'"
"This is no time for chest-beating and dangerous brinkmanship," he said of the effort to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons. "It is time for alliance-building, direct engagement and tough face-to-face negotiations."