Would the bigots come out in droves if Obama picked

Bill Richardson as VP? You know, two minorities? I can hear it now - "The minorities
are taking over our country."

But does it really matter? I mean, we don't get the bigot vote anyway.

I am lobbying for a Obama/Richardson ticket.

He's got gravitas and they genuinely like each other! Bill tells a great story about O. Bill was rarely called on during debates but he was, and answered. Then he stopped paying attention and was called on again and didn't hear the question. Obama whispered to him "Katrina - talk about Katrina" You gotta love it!




Maybe little known facts about Bill:

1)Bill Richardson served for fifteen years in northern New Mexico representing the 3rd Congressional District, one of the most ethnically diverse in the country. He won every election with more than 60% of the vote

2)In 1997, Richardson was nominated to be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations

3)In 1998, Richardson was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate as Secretary of Energy

4)Bill Richardson has been married to his high school sweetheart, Barbara, for 35 years

5)Bill Richardson is serving his second term as Governor of New Mexico. He was re-elected in 2006 with the support of 69 percent of voters, representing the largest margin of victory for any Governor in state history

6)Bill Richardson broke a world record. He shook 13,392 hands in an 8-hour period – shattering the record that former president Theodore Roosevelt set on inauguration day in 1907

7)He can deliver NM and bring in the Hispanics

but would fear for both of them the entire time.

...but that's not reason to balk.

and others.

Bigots be damned, if a black man for president isn't enough by itself to get them off of thier compounds and away from thier war games, adding a hispanic man to the mix can't make it any worse.

Obama/Richardson '08 :woohoo:

Pathetic.

I almost cleared out the old list this morning. Maybe I'll wait until next week when the pizzas are delivered?

It seems there's maybe 4 or 5 beyond any help.

Nice!!

:eyes:

That's what this is really all about.

It's no longer a matter of respect for all the states, it's regional. What a shame. This used to be a country that believed, "Out of Many, One."

Oh, nevermind. That's just crazy-talk. He screwed 'em good! He OWED them his allegiance, didn't he?

Hillary is, why can't you?

who is on the ticket. Count on it!

"Disenfranchised Bigots for McCain"

that'll teach those dems!

If not only to piss off the bigots, and add an anti-bigot insurance policy to Obama's presidency.

doesn't hurt the ticket at all to go ahead and put Richardson on it. He was brave enough to endorse way back when. He will help with all the western states.

I think Obama also needs to announce some of his cabinet choices at the convention. Like Edwards for AG and Biden for Sec State just to name a couple.

:thumbsup:

"Y'all can shoot me if you want but then you get him. So why don't you leave me and Vice President Santiago to our own devices, hmm? Ain't that right Santiago?"

"SI!"

I'm sitting in a room alone laughing out loud.

Actually LOL

Damn he is good!

A popular Hispanic governor from the Southwest with security and foreign policy credentials and a good relationship with the gun-owning community. What's not to like?

Adding Richardson won't make much difference.
I think some other things might come out about him that could prove to be a problem though. Obama doesn't need a VP with scandals.

but maybe those are good qualifications for Obama's veep, though. :shrug:

Its my dream job.

wisdom from the poster above:)

I do believe he/she was the first person on it.

Los Alamos screw ups. Richardson was incompetent.

Sorry, but I'm a stickler for holding my Dem elected officials to high standards for doing their jobs and not making the party look bad. As Energy Secy, Richardson was a mess.

Amazing, isn't it?

Is your venom reserved for minority males mostly? Seems like it.
:shrug:

If you're an incompetent, lazy Democrat, you're not going to get my support, I don't care what gender, age or ethnicity you are.

Dems have often screwed themselves over when they had opportunities to accomplish something by falling back on the "good ole' boy" network. Quality counts.

instead of your usual halfwit splooge...

Cough it up before the dance of the concrete chicklet begins. You know, the one in your honor.

In 2006, Forbes credited Richardson's reforms in naming Albuquerque, New Mexico the best city in the U.S. for business and careers. The Cato Institute, meanwhile, has consistently rated Richardson as one of the most fiscally responsible Democratic governors in the nation.

I rest my case.

Get it through your head - letting Wall Street and corporate America decide who governs this country is going to kill meaninful health care reform. Lots of people are dying who don't have to today because of lack of insurance. Let's not multiply the tragedy.

If you don't believe me, I'll be happy to arrange a brief internship in my office where you can answer the phone and talk to these tragedies all day long.

Covering Every American

Working families and small businesses will be able to purchase coverage through the same plan that members of Congress enjoy. Americans 55 and older will be able to purchase coverage through Medicare. Veterans will get access to the high-quality care they deserve, when they need it, without bureaucratic hassles.

Keeping costs under control for families and businesses

Everyone who needs coverage will get an advance refundable tax credit based on income. Like auto insurance, all Americans will have to have health coverage and employers will pay their fair share of employee health care costs.

Eliminating High Interest Rates for Medical Expenses

Richardson will clamp down on banks and credit card companies that charge outrageous interest rates for medical care debt. Lenders need to do their fair share.

Investing in Prevention and Healthy Lifestyles

Richardson will invest in prevention, streamline administration, and support healthier lifestyle choices. In New Mexico, he got junk food out of schools, increased physical education, doubled the number of school based health centers and enacted a statewide public smoking ban.

Providing a "Heroes Health Card" to all of our Veterans

The conditions at Walter Reed and so many VA facilities are a disgrace. Richardson's plan will give every veteran returning from active duty with a Heroes Health Card that provides them with a choice of physicians wherever they live. No one who has served in our military should have to drive 100 miles to the nearest VA facility just to get care.

Making Prescription Drugs Affordable

I have helped the people in my state get more affordable prescription drugs. Americans are tired of big pharmaceutical companies that rake in profits while they struggle to pay for basic, lifesaving medicines. The Federal government should negotiate prescription drug prices through Medicare.

Making Cancer a Thing of the Past.

We need a strong focus on prevention and screening -- every American who could benefit from proven screening should get it. I am a strong believer in investing in science and technology. I will substantially boost the NIH and NCI budgets. As Governor, I increased the cigarette tax that funds the University of New Mexico Cancer Center.

HIV/AIDS

In New Mexico I created the Billy Griego HIV and AIDS Act. My Vice President will serve as Chair of the HIV/AIDS Commission. That will help assure that this issue get the leadership and profile that it deserves. We've just got to do a better job on education and outreach.

Autism

First of all I am for strongly increased research on autism. The number of children in this country affected by autism is just staggering. <1 in every 150 children> Comprehensive and universal access to health care is part of the solution. I fought for increased funding in New Mexico for outreach, education, treatment and awareness. This is something that I have been talking about on the campaign trail everyday and it will be a priority in my administration.

I've heard lots of it. Very few leaders have ever turned their words into action in the area of health care reform and health issues - Bill and Hillary Clinton. The only action we've ever seen from Obama on health care reform was letting health insurance lobbyists write Illinois' "health care reform" legislation.

Instead of challenging you to a wager, I'll offer this challenge - in my job I see an average of two women a day in my state die from breast cancer who didn't have to, simply because they didn't have health insurance. Tell me how many more of these women are going to die before Obama does something about it?

with her health insurance. Yikes - he just got the nomination last night - give him a chance.

What I think sucks is that everyone doesn't have the care that Ted's getting.

It reminds me of when my dad's best friend and Reagan had colon cancer at the same time. Reagan got top notch attention and constant medical review. My dad's friend complained that the pains had come back and his oncologist ignored it. He died.

for health care reform? Why did he let the health insurance lobbyists in IL write their health care reform bill?

Not every legislator who has had a family or friend with cancer is passionate about health care reform. Why? Hard to say, but Obama has NO record of doing anything more than appease the health insurance industry on this issue.

You don't, you get nothing. Clinton got nothing. Ted Kennedy's been devoting his life
to it.

IMHO, without democratic full majority, it's got to be an incremental effort.

But, we can hope that with victories across the board in Nov - we will have the
ability to deliver.

I totally appreciate how much you care. I do too! If he doesn't deliver on this
hell, there's no hope whatsoever.

You either reform the health care system to make sure it works for everyone or you don't.

Some leaders don't mind throwing people overboard as long as they don't hear the splash.

"Get it through your head - letting Wall Street and corporate America decide who governs this country is going to kill meaninful health care reform."

Who was the senator who had the most contributions from the health care industry, and advocated a RomneycareII mandatory corporate health care system??

It wasn't Obama or Richardson.

Our nominee's message is "Change we can believe in", but as he has often said, that change begins from the bottom up.

The people have to DEMAND real health care reform. And I mean HR 676, not Hillary's shell game or even Obama's plan.

Imagine millions of Americans delivering a message to Congress: "You have until the 2010 election to make HR 676 the law, or we will vote every last one of you out of office."

Democrats should be willing to support such a plan. Republicans (aside from the thieving top 2%) would be willing also, if they had the facts and not the FAUXian spin.

Funding? How much money do we waste every day KILLING people in Iraq? Or hassling people who grow, sell, or smoke a harmless plant?

How much money is literally STOLEN by "defense" industry criminals?

Hell yes the government can afford to fund health care, if they DEfund all that shit.

So fuck Hillary's illusion.... let's just get the real thing done.

and Hillary has an extensive record of action on the issue. Its no surprise the money to her campaign from these folks dried up when she showed she wasn't backing down from her health care reform agenda.

her record on that sucks.

In my field of work, she helped create and pass the Breast & Cervical Cancer Treatment Act, which provides a state option for uninsured women to get temporary Medicaid coverage when diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer.

Also add HIPAA reforms for patient privacy to the list, as well as Medicaid and Medicare coverage for clinical trials.

On edit: Add to the list the fact that she and Bill spent millions out of their own pockets on her race because she refused to back off on her health care reform plan, among other things. All that money didn't shift from her campaign to Obama's just because of the $5 donations of Obama supporters.

who is delusional about her real accomplishments.

that is not until he found Obama to be a better candidate than Hillary. :rofl:

You need to get it all out now, I do so want you here in November after we win the election.

:hi:

We had to put up with this bullshit for the entire campaign... and we'll still have to put up with it until Obama picks his VP, apparently... and no doubt OzarkDem and the rest of the herd will keep bleating with every cabinet position that needs to be filled.

Hillary Supporters: Acting more and more like Newt Gingrich every day.

Lazy incompetent Hispanic... This is performance art isn't it?

Oh MY GOD! You're Andy Kaufman aren't you!!!! Oh man, I love your work! This is such an honor. I just knew you weren't dead.

.

"Fuck the bigots. They won't vote for us anyway."

OBAMA/RICHARDSON 2008!!!!

I've heard whispers, though don't know what exactly they refer to.

I expect better of Mississippians.

I've seen Obama supporters from other states mention Richardson's "zipper problems"--indeed, that's the first I heard about it, from an Obama supporter in the northeast...lol.

I mentioned it because it's part of the "vetting" process--you can bet that Obama will consider such when looking at VPs.

(And odd that you hold some kind of extraordinary standards for people from particular states. Really odd. :shrug:)

You really think the Puke's are going to go for creating a sex scandal after Larry Craig, Ted Haggard, Bob Allen, Mark Foley, David Vitter, and all the other soap opera shit they have had coming out of their own ranks the last year or two?

Zipper problems are a real concern, no matter whose zipper it is.

I couldn't give a shit about who's fucking whom, but a lot of voters do care. And we're not trying to win over just the die-hard dems...we need votes of those who care about this kind of stuff.

Because it'll all come out in the GE. And, yeah, since you mention Clinton...you know what the Republicans did to him...just wait until they have another Dem with zipper problems to feast on.

The scandals I just mentioned, plus wars based on lies, blatant thievery at the gas pump, and a whole list of other horseshit, they aren't going to be able to pull that off anymore.

And I mentioned the Clintons because you were a Hillary supporter, so I thought you might be throwing a "Hillary for VP" pitch in here.

You won't make it until the 11th.

Pull your finger out, Arthur Pewty!!

;)

Believe me, about 14 people know the answer.

I think the people who have a problem with his Latino background won't be voting for Obama anyhow.

Sunday, January 21, 2007
Why Bill Richardson???
Our favorite reasons:


He's a successful governor: No candidate has gone straight from the Senate to President since John F. Kennedy. At this point in time, Democrats cannot afford to waste their time, money, and energy on someone who isn't as electable as possible. And that means a governor. Only two governors have announced they're running in 2008: Richardson and Vilsack. Governors balance budgets and work with the legislative branches of government. They understand working with the other party to get important legislation passed.

He's the most experienced candidate: Richardson has spent his lifetime in service to New Mexico and our country. In addition to governor, he's served as: a staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committe, in Congress (for over 14 years), as UN Ambassador and as Secretary of Energy.

He's from a "neutral," Western state: New Mexico doesn't vote the party line of any party. It voted for Bush in 2004 but Gore (by fewer than 300 votes!) in 2000. The southern half of New Mexico pretty consistently votes Republican; the northern half Democrat. (See 2004 NM election results by county here: http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=2004&off=0&fips=35). New Mexico is also a Western state, and it's the West where the Democrats have perhaps their best chances to gain more electoral votes in 2008 than the GOP. He understands issues which are important to the West, such as the environment and its collision with burgeoning populations.

He's a master negotiator: Richardson understands that the secret to success for a country is through talking and negotiating. He has worked to free hostages, negotiated with North Korea (where is well respected), and recently negotiated a treaty to end the Darfur crisis. After "go it alone" Bush, America very much needs a proven negotiator who is well respected overseas to be its next president.

He served as Secretary of Engery: Other than restoring America's image overseas, perhaps the next most important objective for the next president is leading the Congress to come up with a winning energy policy; hopefully one which will wean us off foreign oil.

He's Hispanic: We'll admit that this one isn't that important to me personally, being Anglo, but Hispanics are the fastest-growing ethnic group in America. If the Democratic Party wants to continue to hold onto this important voting bloc, running a Hispanic for president is one key way to do it.

He's a cat owner: For those of us who will have suffered through eight years of Barney the dog in the White House, we would feel better if there was at least one cat there as well...Jake and Squeaky "fit the Bill," . See the photo: Jake and Squeaky, Bill Richardson's cats.

He grew up respecting the poor: BR grew up the son of an American banker in Mexico City. As a child, he invited the poorest of the poor children over to the family's hacienda, and the family later assisted the same people as they became adults. While not quite as powerful as Bill Clinton's "we came up hard in Hope," appeal, it shows compassion, and after 6+ years of GWB, proven compassion will appeal to many.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://richardsonforamerica.blogspot.com/2007/01/why-bill-richardson.html&h=428&w=600&sz=62&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=-TfKbcOUFcDkDM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbill%2Brichardson%2527s%2Bdog%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Tell him to keep the beard - I think it makes him look distinguished. He would sure help sew up the Hispanic vote and help win the Southwestern states.

Feingold for VP. He brings a lot of blue collar appeal, not to mention WI, hes jewish (Florida) and the guy is just all around amazing. Plus the republicans really have no attack line against him

A damn good one, yes. But a Senator all the same, and that will kill us.

ONE senator on a Presidential ticket is usually a death sentence. We just happened to find ourself in an oddity of an election where both nominees are sitting Senators. Grandpa McLoon seems to be interviewing governors for his VP slot. I would advise that Caroline Kennedy and whomever else is on Obama's team do the same.

in world affairs.

for Dems. Gonna need a fix after this non-stop primary

Why make it about race? Are you saying the Hispanics would vote for him because he is Hispanic?
What the hell does it matter what race a candidate is? Do we really want support from those that
would vote based on race?

Or you wouldn't even have asked that question.

The wise people here are much more clued in to what makes a good Democrat and skin color has
nothing to do with it. In fact, I am certain more WV Democrats vote based on the quality of
the candidate rather than superficial or birth credentials like more voters in the urban areas do.

If you are trying to insinuate WV has a larger racial bias than anywhere else then you can save
your MSM hit pieces against us and use them instead to stir up the easily fooled bigots in the city.

"I suuuuure ain't votin' for that Hussein thang"

"I cain't vote for him. He's one of them Moslems"

"I ain't never votin' for no god damn ni**er"

Those were actual WV residents making those comments. Not the whore media.

The whore media looked for a sour patch and played it for all its worth. Pick any city
and they could scrounge up many times that. WV is special, but in a nice way that is not
shown by the whore media.

Nice try though.

wouldn't make more Hispanics vote????

You can please some of the people some of the time but it's almos impossible to please all of the people all of the time........

They hate McCain in TX.

Are you kidding me? After the shit they pulled there in 2004?
Naw, won't happen again.
Denver wasn't selected as the site of the DNC party for nothing.

You're living in a dream world.

And yes, even more bigots will come out, but given that a lot of people have voted for Obama (and for Clinton, another minority), I think the bigots are the actual minority.

Not saying they can't and won't cause trouble; they can AND will.

Here is a quote from MLK Jr., that inspired my sig line (Silence is consent.)

"History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people."

Whether Richardson is the choice or not, we have heard, and will hear, the bigots in this country. It is up to those of us who don't have bigoted attitudes to speak up when we hear such things.

I think back to 04. The NY Times Magazine cover story. One of the main Bush operatives, (Dowd, I think) waved his hand across the middle of the country and said, " you don't understand; you can have the coasts. We still own this." Obama has done the job right, however, there still out there. I know. I work with them.

And that was one of the points in what I wrote. I know they're there; they've been making themselves heard more and more. I'm just saying that we cannot stand mutely by when they do.

Will we change everyone's minds? Nope. But we will change no one's minds if we don't at least speak up.

He seemed befuddled -- sometimes downright confused -- in his campaign last Fall.

That should be enough to satisfy the haters! :evilgrin:

He could deliver his state for Obama and get millions of Latinos excited about the ticket I bet.

He would have been awesome paired with Hillary or any other candidate...

VP choice at this point in time.

Hell, Richardson has already been vetted by Bubba and run a state government.

Not to mention - "unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate as Secretary of Energy"

Man, that's nads, man. I love it.

VPs are tradtionally attack dogs.

Most hispanics don't know that he is hispanic.

But I worry about his campaigning skills. In the very beginning of he primary I was really interested in what he had to say and his experience is top notch. I thought he'd be a fantastic candidate but his campaign absolutely flat lined.

I'm afraid we need someone who's a stronger fighter in a debate. (Not Hillary)

I wouldn't mind being wrong about him though. I do like him and think he'd be great in the cabinet. Maybe Secretary Of State?

...I hope it's him.

if someone can get him to give clear, short concise answers to questions. That was the one thing that bugged me during the debates, he had a tendency to drone on too long.

But generally I think he has alot to offer, Gov., statesman, represents the West, and Latino. Sounds like a good idea! :applause: