Bill Richardson

Mtn Dew wrote:

Obama is woefully unprepared to be President. A couple years as a state senator and a partial term as a U.S. Senator? Come on, that's pathetic.

I concur.

That said, adequate preparation shouldn't be an issue if we look at Bush's performance today (it's been disastrous!)

Bush is the wrong guy at the wrong place.

429miler wrote:

Just as unqualified as JFK.

A decorated military career, a few terms in the House, 8 years in the Senate, a Pulitzer Prize--how is that unqualified?

JFK had been in the Senate longer and he'd been in the House before that. Heck, he was considered as a VP candidate in 1956

Gore wasn't all that qualified and Kerry wasn't either...

Again, there seems to be a double standard with regard to Democrats and Republicans. Gore was a US representative for 8 years, and then a US Senator for 8 years, ran for President once in that time in 1988, and then served as Vice President for 8.

Kerry was a Navy Lt. combat veteran, ran for congress unsuccessfully, then became a lawyer and public prosecutor, ran his own law firm, was later elected Lt. Governor of Mass., before election to the US Senate.

And then there's Bush- National Guard service (with lots of questions), ran unsuccessfully for congress, used his MBA to run a couple of companies into the red, then became Texas Gov. It's all proof that the resume means little to the average voter.

Re: Richardson- the point is to get him some exposure before running as Hillary's VP. He IS a Clinton man after all.

It's not all about the qualifications listed on your resume. It's also about leadership, judgement, and stands on the issues.

MarathonMind wrote:

Again, there seems to be a double standard with regard to Democrats and Republicans. Gore was a US representative for 8 years, and then a US Senator for 8 years, ran for President once in that time in 1988, and then served as Vice President for 8.

Kerry was a Navy Lt. combat veteran, ran for congress unsuccessfully, then became a lawyer and public prosecutor, ran his own law firm, was later elected Lt. Governor of Mass., before election to the US Senate.

And then there's Bush- National Guard service (with lots of questions), ran unsuccessfully for congress, used his MBA to run a couple of companies into the red, then became Texas Gov. It's all proof that the resume means little to the average voter.

Re: Richardson- the point is to get him some exposure before running as Hillary's VP. He IS a Clinton man after all.

I'm not huge on Bush, but he was the governor of a big state, which is better than being a Senator. Gore, Kerry, Bush... none of them were exceptionally qualified. We can better than them and we can do better than Obama.

Obama is a rock star right now and a media creation. He is the modern day American Idol, appealing to the lowest common denominator in this country, but he will fade.

there is NO WAY i would vote for Richardson. he claims to be mr. education, yet NM is still hanging around as the worst state for education. Mr. Environment? thats why giving the rich a place to shoot rockets into space for tourists is a good idea? come on. however, he's great at making himself look good to those of you who are too lazy to really see what he's all about.

I am holding out for Richardson, even though Hillary is the clear front runner in terms of money. I would vote for Hillary if Richardson was named VP.

Richardson is my favorite for so many reasons. He is good on energy (was Secretary after all, supports new coal plants, limited nuke, alternative fuels.), good on foreign policy (has a phase out proposal that includes longer peace keeping period), supports illegal immigration controls, actually makes balancing the budget (deficits, trade deficits, devalaution of dollar) his priority issue. He is also a humanitarian and actually been to Sudan and met with gov officials there.

New Mexico has other problems that cause education, it's not all on the governor. Nevada sucks too and Arizona is terrible as well. It's a regional thing. That shouldn't be held against him really.

I think it's a good thing to encourage private space exploration.

Anybody is better than Edwards. He is just a con man.

Ol' Grumpus wrote:

429miler wrote:

Just as unqualified as JFK.

A decorated military career, a few terms in the House, 8 years in the Senate, a Pulitzer Prize--how is that unqualified?

Obama didn't rely on his father's money and influence to get where he is.

Mtn Dew wrote:

Obama is woefully unprepared to be President. A couple years as a state senator and a partial term as a U.S. Senator? Come on, that's pathetic.

you switched words on me. qualified and prepared are quite different.

i firmly believe that obama is more than qualified. he is a very accomplished man who has proven time and again that he is both highly intelligent and a pragmatic leader/politician.

prepared is something else and strongly implies a long resume and an older individual.

i'm personally more interested in "qualified" than "prepared". putting aside any questions of his performance, think back to bush's campaign in 2000. he ran on a platform that, among other things, heavily criticized nation-building and promoted a realist foreign policy. for better or for worse that viewpoint completely changed within 12 months (i'm honestly not being critical of or approving of this change - just documenting it). the likelihood of facing unexpected events is why i look more at a candidates ability. i can understand why the same thing would lead another voter to want a candidate who has served in a wide variety of roles, which would allow that candidate to be more likely to have experience in many areas. i defend my preference by saying that we can never find a candidate who has seen everything and/or who can be prepared for everything. thus, i'd rather have someone who has demonstrated aptitude in everything s/he has done up to the election and hope that that person can handle whatever comes his/her way.

New Mexico is one of the poorest states, and has a lot of problems within its population, not the least of which is the diversity of cultures and languages which would mitigate educational initiatives.

As an aside, I hear from a lot of New Mexicans themsleves that they are not keen on Richardson becoming president.

how about Wesley Clark:

-Graduated top of his West Point class

-Rhodes scholar at Oxford

-Vietnam Vet

-a four-star general who has been awarded the Silver Star, five Defense Distinguished Service Medals, four Legion of Merit Awards, two Army Distinguished Service Medals, two Bronze Star Medals and the Purple Heart

-NATO's Supreme Allied Commander during Kosovo conflict

Would be nice to see him as a VP candidate considering his background.

Richardson is a jackass. He's on some version of a high protein diet. He sent his aid out for fried chicken in the south thinking it was healthy being high in protein.

Just how exactly does one prepare to be president? I don't think there is any job out there that really prepares one adequately. VP is arguably the best position as far as enabling someone to gain the necessary experience, but I think, and I daresay that many people would agree with me on this, it is more important for the president to be intelligent and to possess certain character traits than to have held a certain job position.

I don't take any comfort in knowing that the potential leader of the USA has been mayor, governor, senator, AG, CEO, frat president, NFL quarterback, green beret, cub scout leader of the month, etc. if s/he isn't obviously intelligent (i.e. everyone knows it, not just a few people with unlimited access to this person) and is not a good communicator. Sure there's a lot more to being president, but I think the aforementioned two should be prerequisites...more so than Ivyleague degrees, political/personal connections & financial wealth.

Go Tufts!

His brother Bobby was one of the best Yankee 2nd basemen of all time.