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Richardson Defends Clinton But Blasts Her Aides

March 23rd, 2008
By JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief

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2007_05_11_richardson_300.jpg

Can this be beneficial to the Clinton campaign? New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has answered comments from some aides to Senator Hillary Clinton who have belittled his endorsement of Senator Barack Obama or taken swipes at him by defending the Clintons and lambasting their aides.

Usually if someone prominent endorses a candidate, someone on the side that doesn’t get the endorsement then tries to belittle the impact, which is a normal part of campaign spin. But in this case some associated with the Clinton campaign have seemed to make it a bit more personal in their statements — and Richardson is showing that he won’t let it stand without his own response:

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said today that the people around Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton practice “gutter” politics and that they feel entitled to the presidency, a day after an informal adviser to her campaign compared Richardson to Judas for endorsing Sen. Barack Obama.

James Carville told the New York Times that Richardson, a former member of Bill Clinton’s Cabinet, had committed “an act of betrayal,” adding that it “came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out [Jesus] for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic.”

“I’m not going to get in the gutter like that,” Richardson responded on “Fox News Sunday.” “And you know, that’s typical of many of the people around Senator Clinton. They think they have a sense of entitlement to the presidency.”

The “entitlement” enters into dangerous territory for the Clintons, given the number of commentators who have said over the past few months that Americans could balk at having Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton presidencies.

“I am very loyal to the Clintons,” said Richardson, but he said he wanted something beyond “Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton.” “You know, what about the rest of us?” he asked.

He called for “a new generation of leadership,” and added, “I think Obama represents this new change of not just bipartisanship, but bringing people together, bringing races together, bringing America’s role in the world to be respected again.

Richardson’s comments will be less easy to dismiss since in the same breath he refused to agree with against charges by an Obama aide that the former President was indulging in McCarthyism in a recent comment some took as questioning Obama’s patriotism. He was quite blunt:

“I don’t believe President Clinton was implying that,” said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former presidential candidate who endorsed Obama last week. “But the point here … is that the campaign has gotten too negative — too many personal attacks, too much negativity that is not resounding with the public.”

Richardson also articulated a concern that other reports said is “out there” among Superdelgates: Obama and Clinton are pounding each other while GOP likely Presidential nominee Senator John McCain is visiting Iraq, Europe and the Middle East looking Presidential

“I think it reaches a point where the leaders of the party, the voters in the Democratic Party, have to see that this bloodletting that would go between the last primary and the convention is not serving is well…”

It should be interesting to watch Richardson’s evolving role. He proved to be Mr. Potential in the primaries — the one who for months analysts suggested had potential, but it was never realized in the voting. He didn’t come across too well on television, either. But he remains one of the nation’s most respected governors and a Superdelegate. And, as this exchange shows, he isn’t afraid to respond if under attack. Will Obama use him as a campaigner or, as time goes on, as a kind of surrogate?



This entry was posted on Sunday, March 23rd, 2008 at 5:41 pm and is filed under Bill Clinton, Newsweek Blogitics, Primaries, Negative Campaigning, Elections, Bill Richardson, 2008 Elections, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Politics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Viewing 5 Comments

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    The value of a long campaign season is that we get to see how candidates and their teams deal with adversity. So far I am more impressed with Obama and McCain than Senator. Clinton.
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    Joe, this is a very interesting topic, thanks! I think this shows Richardson's sophistication. Richardson is raising concerns about Hillary's aides rather than directly at Hillary. Richardson also acknowledges that Obama's aides aren't perfect. Richardson is, I think, telling the uncommitted superdelegates that they need to throw their support behind one candidate or the other before the convention. This would end the fight between Obama and Hillary and allow the Dems to focus on their image, just like McCain is doing now.

    Because Richardson is going after Hill's aides, he is pointing out that these are the people who will run the government- that they would continue to practice "gutter" politics in the WH, with the implication that this is not what we need. We need a leader who will make an effort to work with Repubs. It's time to move beyond the past couple of decades with either a Bush or Clinton in the WH and bring in new talent.

    Personally I know first hand the value of bringing in a new manager (or whole team) to bring a fresh set of eyes to look at existing problems and even existing processes. It's easy to continue business as is, particularly if you understand it. But when someone new (or a group of people) is brought in, someone who has the talent and desire to make improvements, then benefits follow.

    One of the phrases that struck me in Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech (his "race" speech) is this, "This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected." Obama understands that for all the good and greatness of our country, there will always be room to address new concerns of the times. What's important is that we as a country follow a path towards improving ourselves. Richardson gets this, but neither Clinton nor McCain do.
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    I hope he's Obama's VP candidate. I've never understood why people don't create tickets during the primaries.
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    mikkel, I don't know if Richardson will be the vp and I'd rather see someone else such as Mark Warner (who is running for the VA senate seat, so I guess he's out) or maybe Evan Baugh. I think Richardson would make a fine vp, just not my first choice. I see him as Sec. of State.

    I don't know why presidential candidates choose running mates during the primary season. But it does allow the presidential candidate to choose one of his stronger opponents to run with him on the ticket in the general election to fill in support that he wasn't able to garner in the primary season.

    If Obama knows that Hillary won't be the VP, then perhaps he can change this by selecting someone right now. :) Perhaps Obama can select Ed Rendell, guv of PA. Hillary would have a stroke since Rendell is supporting her as a superdelegate (at this time). :)
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    Well Stockboy, that would be a common sense savvy and properly by the book move on Obama's part which is why you know its not going to happen. Maybe at some point he'll be doing the cutting off at the knees common to other politicians but I'd be pretty disappointed if he started that BS now that he's gottne ahead using his own tactics.
 
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