| RICHARDSON PITCHES TO HISPANIC VOTERS |
| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Monday, September 01 2003 |
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| As a young man out of high school, Bill Richardson turned down an offer to become a pitcher for the Kansas City A's. Instead of living a life in Major League Baseball, the New Mexico governor has become a major-league player in national politics, pitching the ideals of the Democratic Party to millions of Hispanics.
The former congressman, Energy Department secretary and U.N. ambassador will put his political skills to work this week at the first post-Labor Day debate of Democratic presidential candidates in Albuquerque, N.M., in what some consider the opening day of the 2004 campaign. It is the first-ever bilingual debate and the first to focus primarily on Hispanic issues. But Richardson's role will be more than gubernatorial host. He has been picked by the Democratic Party as its unofficial point man in an effort to win over Hispanic voters.
"The Democrats have taken the Hispanic vote for granted," Richardson admitted in a telephone interview from Albuquerque. "Now there has to be a real effort to reach out and unite the Latino vote." The governor has a big job ahead of him, but some are counting on the former ballplayer's impressive political batting average to help him succeed. Richardson served eight terms as congressman for New Mexico's third district. He is the only Hispanic to hold two cabinet posts -- on the National Security Council and as head of the Department of Energy.
Whether you consider him the ultimate diplomat or a political schmoozer, Richardson has indisputably accomplished some of the most unattainable feats in international diplomacy, earning him four Nobel Peace Prize nominations. He worked to free hostages and prisoners in places like Bangladesh, Sudan, Croatia, Iraq, North Korea, Burma and Cuba, and has had to deal with ruthless dictators and tyrants.
But it's not only his political and diplomatic skills that Democrats are looking for. Richardson is repeatedly portrayed in polls as one of the most influential Hispanic politicians in the country. And he is expected to deliver by cutting into Republican inroads with Hispanic voters. "The only thing Republicans have going for them is George Bush," says Richardson. "Latinos find Bush charming."
Richardson has some charm of his own. Born in Pasadena, Calif., and raised in Mexico City, he is perfectly bilingual. His father was an American banker and his mother a Mexican socialite. Richardson knows how to work a crowd. As a matter of fact, he holds the Guinness Book world record for most handshakes by a politician: 13,392 in an eight-hour period. But the governor's charm and the calluses on his hands from shaking hands won't be enough to beat the Republicans. Democrats need a message that is clear and direct, and a presidential candidate who connects well with Hispanics.
One of Richardson's goals is to unite Hispanics behind Democrats by stressing that in spite of political differences among the diverse groups of Latino voters, they have issues in common, such as political empowerment, entrepreneurship, bilingual education and immigration. Good luck! The next step: promote citizenship and voter participation.
Richardson's political activism has all the earmarks of presidential politics, yet he says he is not interested in being tapped for the vice-presidential position. He plans to run for re-election in 2006 and to retire from politics after two terms as governor. It's hard to believe, coming from someone who has rarely passed up an offer for a high-profile role. What he didn't pass up is the chance to chair the Democratic National Convention in Boston next year. That should certainly give him a role in the big leagues of presidential politics. |
