Richardson campaigning for Obama in West, Florida

Associated Press

Saturday, July 26, 2008

DENVER — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson helped rally canvassers for Barack Obama in Denver on Saturday, part of an effort to reach out to Hispanic voters in Colorado as well as Nevada, New Mexico and Florida.

Richardson said the Rocky Mountain region is vital to getting Obama elected, pointing out that John Kerry lost New Mexico by about 2 percent of the vote and Colorado by about 4 percent in 2004.

A poll of swing states this week showed McCain had moved in on Obama's earlier lead in Colorado, although McCain's 2 percentage point edge was still within the poll's margin of error. The poll found that white voters backed McCain by 10 points but that nearly six in 10 Hispanics prefer Obama in the state.

With Obama wrapping up his Mideast and European trip, Richardson also served as a surrogate for the Illinois senator at the American GI Forum convention in Denver on Friday evening, calling Obama a "once-in-a-generation leader" and praising his opposition to going to war in Iraq. Earlier in the day, John McCain appeared before the veterans group and ridiculed Obama for "the audacity of hopelessness" in his policies on Iraq.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Richardson said the United States could quickly recover its prestige in the world if Obama is elected. He said that was reflected in the large crowd Obama drew for his speech in Berlin.

"They want Americans to lead and they feel America hasn't been leading," Richardson said.

Richardson, who enjoyed considerable support in Colorado during his run for the White House, said energy, a perennial issue in the West, has emerged as the top issue nationally because of rising gas prices. The spike has led to increased pressure for drilling in environmentally sensitive areas but Richardson said energy companies should first drill on the 68 million acres they already have leased.

In New Mexico, Richardson has asked the federal government to protect wildlife on the Otero Mesa which the Bureau of Land Management has proposed opening to oil and gas drilling. The proposed drilling of Colorado's Roan Plateau has also raised similar environmental concerns.

When asked about the Roan, Richardson said "I think there are other places to drill."

In Denver, Richardson spoke to volunteers who went door-to-door in a heavily Hispanic neighborhood on the city's west side after fanning out from the Service Employees International Union office. It's a working-class neighborhood with a mix of small brick homes and public housing that also has a sizable Asian population. You can buy Vietnamese pho soup or a used car but not a Starbucks coffee.

"It's a good thing and a bad thing because there are no coffee shops," said the area's city councilman, Paul Lopez, a former SEIU organizer.

Lopez backed Obama early in the campaign, partly because he connected with Obama's background as a community organizer. He helped canvass for him during the race against Hillary Clinton.

When Richardson left SEIU, he headed with Lopez to another neighborhood to visit the tamale restaurant of former state senator Paul Sandoval, who backed Clinton and hasn't decided who to back in November yet.

Richardson said he would head to Nevada later in the day and Florida next week.

He plans to return again to campaign in Colorado, including a visit to the state's San Luis Valley. That's the home of Sen. Ken Salazar and his brother, Rep. John Salazar, and one of Colorado's poorest regions.

• July 26, 2008

  6:19 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  gr8fun4me writes:

  Go Obama 2008!

• July 26, 2008

  11:46 p.m.

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  Denverbusinessman writes:

  Bill Richardson... born to a Boston Banker... white, went to private schools all the way through... carries himself as a Hispanic yet has lived a privileged life.

  Never served in the armed forces, has had government jobs basically his whole life.

  One word describes Bill Richardson as an Hispanic...

  PHONY!

• July 27, 2008

  7:20 a.m.

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  tunaman65 writes:

  Richardson had better campaign hard, if Obama loses Hillary will begin her and Bill's comeback that very day. Their first act of revenge will be against Richardson for stabbing them in the back.

• July 27, 2008

  7:58 a.m.

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  vudumom writes:

  McCain could win this election easily if he does one thing.
  He needs to announce that after talking to people all over the country he has seen the errors of his ways and will no longer support or encourage a policy that gives illegals any pathway to citizenship. He needs to state if he is elected he will begin a rigorous enforcement of workplace laws and a stepped up deportation of anyone who is here illegally. He also needs to state that the U.S. military will continue and step up it's enforcement of our borders.

  Game Over.

• July 27, 2008

  8:40 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  T1anda writes:

  2006 Media ad...

  Wanted: Democratic senator to run for President of the USA.

  Requirements: Must be articulate.

  No experience necessary. On the job training!

  Contact MSNBC,CNN,ABC,CBS,NBC.......

  BTW Bill Richardson is not only a phony he will back stab in a nano second.

• July 27, 2008

  9:58 a.m.

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  T1anda writes:

  Scott (I just wanna sell a book.. ANY book!! $$$) WHO?? Definitely a name that will not go down in history!! LOL

• July 27, 2008

  10:06 a.m.

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  tunaman65 writes:

  Froward, McCain is a wounded American soldier!!!

• July 27, 2008

  10:10 a.m.

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  soccermom writes:

  So, let me get this straight. You have 2 friends that build cars but you buy one from the friend that builds a more efficient model. Therefore are you a back-stabber to the other friend? I don't see your point. Governor Richardson had nothing but kind words for the Clintons, he just believes that Barack Obama would make a better president for the times and is "a bright light of hope and optimism at a time of great national unease, yet he is also grounded in thoughtful wisdom beyond his years."

• July 27, 2008

  10:22 a.m.

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  redwhiteandBLUE writes:

  All Richardson wants is "amnesty"! Bottom line!

• July 27, 2008

  3:15 p.m.

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  T1anda writes:

  What's the old saying? Experience is the best teacher.

  The "bright light of hope" has based his campaign on the word "change"!

  Obama is so full of himself and BS that the only "change" he needs is a large diaper and a cloth to wipe behind his very wet ears!

• July 27, 2008

  5:34 p.m.

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  jay writes:

  I like hillary for vp if she'll take it, but i loved richardson for the job.

  he'd be a great sec state

• July 27, 2008

  8:08 p.m.

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  JonBen writes:

  Vudumom: "Game over"? Yeah - that worked REALLY well for Tom Tancredo - LOL!

• July 28, 2008

  6:56 a.m.

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  Charles_B writes:

  Vudumom ended your vivid fantasy McCain "surge" with this nugget of wisdom:

  "He also needs to state that the U.S. military will continue and step up it's enforcement of our borders."

  Our borders with Mexico and Canada?

  Or with Iran and Syria?

  Just water the magic troop-tree and whala!

• July 28, 2008

  6:59 a.m.

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  Charles_B writes:

  Gene condenses the essence of the McCain election strategy into a single word:

  "OsamabamaNot !"

  An exclamation as abbreviated as Gene's reasoning skills.