May 10, 2007
Bill Richardson: Now with less Bill Richardson
After Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson’s bland showing on the Daily Show, Daniel Radosh declared, “Bill Richardson for Secretary of State.” He also nailed the candidate’s problem:
Honestly, the guy has a great résumé, an appealing philosophy and, to my limited knowledge, decent policy proposals, but he is so uninspiring. He can't even handle the "why do you want to be president?" question. He repeats his meaningless phrases, runs through laundry lists, and seems to miss the point of his own stories. He's the definition of unelectable. Charisma isn't the most important thing for a president to have, but passion does count, and I don't see any here.
Looks like the Richardson For President committee agrees, and is throwing in the towel. Take a look at the new commercials they’re running for him:
Wow. Richardson’s committee sat down and asked itself, “Who’s a better pitchman for our candidate -- a self-important, sandwich-eating jerk, or our candidate?” The decision was unanimous: The jerk. They have him list off Richardson’s resume, while Richardson sits dutifully and dumbly. When Richardson does speak, the jerk interrupts him. Talk about faith in your candidate.
Meanwhile, who exactly is this jerk supposed to represent? He’s interviewing Richardson for a job, and he says, “What makes you think you can be president?” Surely, that’d mean he’s interviewing Richardson for the job of president -- and seeing as that’s the role of the American people, is this guy supposed to be the voters? Hey Bill Richardson, meet the people you hope to represent: They’re all a bunch of self-important assholes. Good message, guys.
Update: I got an e-mail from the Bill Richardson campaign on Thursday, asking me to check out his upcoming appearance on Jay Leno. I did on YouTube, and it didn't help his case. I'm not saying I dislike Richardson; he seems like a fine, smart guy, and I've liked what he has to say. I just wish he would say it in a way that makes people pay attention.
Posted by Jason Feifer at May 10, 2007 12:03 AM
Comments
I disagree. Check out his ads for governor of New Mexico 2006, they were some of the best (and funniest) of the entire cycle. He is a very funny, charasmatic guy.
He may have had a bad night on The Daily Show, but he's killed on Real Time with Bill Maher. Don't judge him too quickly.
He's also a big name governor from the Southwest, and a relatively smart Richardson campaign could swing New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada into the Democratric column. That's 29 electoral votes. I don't think Richardson can break through and win the nomination, but he's a potent VP candidate. And yes, he is the Democratic SecState-in-waiting.
Keep an eye on the "Bill Richardson is a womanizer" meme that's been making the rounds in the rumor mill. Media Matters tried to slap it down, but these things have a way of hanging in the air for way too long. There's a chance it could all be true, but nobody has any proof or even anyone on the record saying he was offensive or inappropriate.
Here's the Media Matters link: http://mediamatters.org/columns/200703270005
Posted by Berto at May 10, 2007 09:42 AM
Bill Richardson is a realist, he knows what he is doing and he does his job, he doesn't lie and feed you BS. His impressive record is a fact of his life---He Gets Impressive Results. He is the recpical of the failure from Crawford TX.
Posted by wwadel at May 10, 2007 10:20 PM
Hmm..
I'm not really qualified to comment on this, but, dealing with the imminent passing of Blair (I am torn between 'hurrah the mendacious git is gone' [re Iraq] and the dread of the tories gaining power, I grew up under Thatcher..)
I can't help feeling that all politicians really are either useless or only useful to the PTB.
With the exception of Tony Benn.
Humor me and Google him.
I don't know, I think for the most part, we ARE a bunch of self-important assholes. Driven on a highway or worked retail lately?
Posted by Michele at May 12, 2007 09:37 AM
Yo, man, he's Mexican. And lots of us have a slower, storytelling style of speaking that doesn't jive with what Americans are used to hearing.
It's too bad because his "style" is very respected in our community.
Also, I like the ads. I think they make funny.
I am gonna have to say you are way off base here. This is not throwing inthe towel this is finally getting some spotlight. I thought his Daily Show spot was fine and so was his Tonight Show appearance, he seemed both real and presidential all at once. And on Bill Maher he killed. Also, did you watch his response inthe moveon.org virutal town hall, he is the only candidate who seemd to be talking like he knew.
IMO this ad could be the springboard that get him the nomination. After all, us dems often nominate ourselves some darkhorses.
Posted by Doug at May 14, 2007 01:31 AM
Post A Comment |