The Pro-Familia Candidate
(TM note: I spent a couple weeks traveling with Richardson when he was Secretary of Energy. Besides that job, he was a congressman for 14 years, a governor, and the UN ambassador. Impressive resume; impressive guy.)
Bill Richardson Plays Up His Mexican Roots
By Joel Achenbach
Washington Post
A couple of months ago a reporter in Washington asked Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson why he thought he could do well next year in the California primary. Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, paused for a moment, stared at his questioner, and then ran through a comprehensive, policy-oriented list: Western governor, strong on environment, solid on immigration, pro-growth to please the Silicon Valley folks, and so on.
He paused. Leaned forward.
"Plus I'm Hispanic," he said. "Did you know that?"
He was teasing, but it's a real strategic issue for a candidate with a vanilla name. He's convinced that even a lot of Hispanics don't know his background -- that he's the son of an American father and a Mexican mother and spent his childhood in Mexico City until coming to America to start the eighth grade.
It's no accident that he chose Los Angeles as the place where he'll announce officially today that he's seeking the presidency.
"I'm not running as a Hispanic candidate, but I'm trying to convince Hispanics that I am Hispanic, and they don't know," he told The Post during a swing through Washington last week. "I go to Los Angeles, they don't know I'm Hispanic. When they know, it's positive. So it's a question of building that."
(Continued here.)
Bill Richardson Plays Up His Mexican Roots
By Joel Achenbach
Washington Post
A couple of months ago a reporter in Washington asked Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson why he thought he could do well next year in the California primary. Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, paused for a moment, stared at his questioner, and then ran through a comprehensive, policy-oriented list: Western governor, strong on environment, solid on immigration, pro-growth to please the Silicon Valley folks, and so on.
He paused. Leaned forward.
"Plus I'm Hispanic," he said. "Did you know that?"
He was teasing, but it's a real strategic issue for a candidate with a vanilla name. He's convinced that even a lot of Hispanics don't know his background -- that he's the son of an American father and a Mexican mother and spent his childhood in Mexico City until coming to America to start the eighth grade.
It's no accident that he chose Los Angeles as the place where he'll announce officially today that he's seeking the presidency.
"I'm not running as a Hispanic candidate, but I'm trying to convince Hispanics that I am Hispanic, and they don't know," he told The Post during a swing through Washington last week. "I go to Los Angeles, they don't know I'm Hispanic. When they know, it's positive. So it's a question of building that."
(Continued here.)
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