This is the tenth entry in our profile series of Barack Obama’s most likely vice presidential candidates. Yesterday we looked at Clarie McCaskill (Sen-MO) and Janet Napolitano (Gov-AZ). You can read all of our profiles here.
Early in this primary season, it was widely believed that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was aiming for a VP nod in the Clinton administration, but as Obama has taken an insurmountable lead, Richardson is now beginning to be viewed as a likely candidate for the Illinois Senator.
Richardson’s immediate strengths are obvious. He’s a popular governor of a south-western state, possesses massive appeal among the Hispanic population, has solid foreign policy experience due to his previous role as United States Ambassador to the UN, and has national name recognition due to his primary campaign. He’s popular among both African Americans and Hispanics (74% approval and 58% approval respectively); however, for the most part, his strengths are limited to those voters most likely to support the Democrats anyway. His approval rating polls beneath 50% among both pro-life voters and evangelical voters. He maintains a decent, but not overwhelming approval rating among independents (55% approval to 45% disapproval), but he completely loses conservative voters of whom only 36% approve of the Governor. Age wise, his strongest numbers come from 18-34 year olds, but as this is a demographic Obama already dominates, I fail to see how it will help the ticket. Interestingly, these numbers fail to indicate the massive margins by which Richardson won the New Mexico governorship.
Richardson’s greatest weaknesses are two fold: he’s basically a gaffe machine: he once referred to the Iowa caucus as deriving its position from "reasons related to the Lord," not to mention he named Wizzer White (who wrote a blistering opinion against Roe v. Wade) as his model for a good Supreme Court justice. Some have tried to brush the Iowa remark aside as a poor joke, but my thinking is that if you believe a presidential candidate was joking about Jesus in front of a crowd of Iowa voters, then you need your head examined. Richardson also claimed that homosexuality is a choice, and he did this in front of a debate hosted by the Human Rights Council (a staunch advocate of gay rights). His sense of political tact seems almost non-existent. The fact that he had to explain that response by suggesting the question confused him, inspires something less than confidence about his ability to think on his feet. It has also been reported that he kept a U.N. position open for Monica Lewinsky even before the scandal hit the papers in 1998, which leads to questions regarding bribery in order to keep the young woman quiet. There’s no way to believe that the Republicans won’t identify this and use it to associate the Democrats with the lowest point of Bill Clinton’s presidency.
Richardson’s positions on the issues are solidly progressive. He supports a woman’s right to choose, and believes stem cell research is vital to the progression of medical technology. He originally voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, but has sense stated his regret over it. He believes in civil unions, and support the service of gays in the military. Richardson argues that we must reconsider the American policy of corporate welfare, and seeks to eliminate $73 million in corporate subsidies and tax breaks. He also believes we should scrap Bush’s "No Child Left Behind Program," and instead focus on recruiting better teachers through higher wages. He is strong on the environment, seeking to implement 50 mpg by 2020, and arguing for a carbon cap and trade system which will reward companies who reduce the impact on the environment. Gov. Richardson also believes that health care is the right of every American. And finally, he opposed the suspension of habeas corpus during the war on terror.
Richardson’s position on immigration are — no surprise — considerably stronger than most other candidates. He would allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, and believes federal raids meant to deport immigrants "dehumanizes" them. He is against the creation of a wall between the United States and Mexico, and has done an excellent job dispelling the notion that the 2007 immigration bill amounted to amnesty.
Richardson brings much to the table, but his seemingly endless number of gaffes might well regulate him to a cabinet position in an Obama adminstration. Moreover, if Obama — unlike most candidates — would name his cabinet in advance of the election, then he may well receive all the benefits from a Richardson appointment, as he would from a Richardson vice presidential nomination.
