Bill Richardson goes bipolar:
In the heartland of America he is just Gov. Bill Richardson. But in big Hispanic states like California the Democratic U.S. presidential hopeful tells voters he is also a Lopez.Suitably Flip reminds us that Mr. Richardson Lopez has pondered this pandering for 27 years."California has a lot of Hispanic voters and they don't know I'm Hispanic," said Richardson, governor of New Mexico and son of a Mexican woman named Lopez.
[. . .]
"I am saying 'It's Bill Richardson Lopez and I am one of you and I would like you to consider me, not because I am Hispanic but because I have the best program for the country'," he told Reuters in an interview late on Monday.
Richardson - vote for me because I'm Hispanic - so disappointing.
It's the Irregular Times.com, not the NY Times.
Here is the URL. Please read this and let's talk again!
http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2007/05/21/full-text-of-bill-richardsons-announcement-for-president/
Thanks for your personal attention to this matter. Your insights are valuable to me.
Stephen Fox
Posted by: stephen fox | Thursday, May 24, 2007 at 09:42 PM
Stephen, Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I went to Times.com, as you suggested, but did not find Richardson's announcement. I did find this article. It contains this sentence which reinforced my original reaction:“Governor Richardson has to be particularly careful because this is a very controversial issue and he doesn’t want to be branded as taking a position that would draw attention to his ethnicity,” he said.Richardson, or Richardson-Lopez, can't have it both ways. Does he, or does he not, want to draw attention to his ethnicity?
Posted by: California Yankee | Thursday, May 24, 2007 at 11:56 AM
CALIFORNIA YANKEE'S comments are disquieting to me.
As a New Mexican who thinks highly of Richardson's abilities, resume, and bright promise, I think there is nothing wrong with him mentioning his mother's name as a surname. I met his mother in 1996, and she is still smarter at age 92 than most 30 year olds I meet! Adding the mother's surname is very frequently done in New Mexico and, I might add, in every single Spanish speaking nation, quite routinely. If that raises his profile and allows Hispanic voters to know of his roots, wonderful! They really have never had a Presidential candidate before, and besides, there is so much more to Richardson that this minor point, if you would take the time to read his Announcement speech, which is posted in full at Irregular Times.com. This is the bottom line: the USA is in serious trouble internationally, after 6 years of Halliburton-driven corporate plutocracy, and Richardson has the experience, intelligence, and compassion to want to rebuild our shattered international image with Diplomacy, rather than continue to destroy it with more misplaced and abusive Military Might and more "Shock and Awe."
Truly,
Stephen Fox
New Millennium Fine Art
Santa Fe, NM
Posted by: Stephen Fox | Thursday, May 24, 2007 at 11:10 AM