Jonathan Thomas's Blog
A collection of my thoughts on the 2008 race, interspersed with repeated assertions that Bill is by far the best of the contenders.
Greetings, all. After careful deliberation, I threw my support behind Bill Richardson because he is the man that I feel is the best possible candidate for President in 2008.
In my summation, most of the candidates on either side of the aisle lack a diverse resume and moderate platform. Read below to understand how Richardson delivers on both fronts.
As far as experience goes, there is no candidate more qualified than Richardson. Bar none. He has a plethora of legislative and executive experience dealing with both domestic and foreign policy. For those not privvy, here is an abridged retelling of his resume: Richardson served in Congress for 14 years, served as Secretary of Energy *and* ambassador to the United Nations under the Clinton Administration, is now serving his second term as Governor of New Mexico (re-elected with 69% of the vote, mind you), and has gone on diplomatic missions to over a dozen countries, successfully negotiating with such notorious regimes as North Korea, Saddam-era Iraq and Sudan. These efforts achieved such success that Richardson has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize a total of 4 times.
If it sounds to you as though Richardson is well-equipped to deal with all the myriad problems the next president will be confronted with, you'd be correct; many of the issues other candidates are vowing to deal with, Richardson has already dealt with as Governor. All this sounds great, but that track record means nothing if the man is not electable, right?
The most glaring problem I see with most of the front-running Democrats is that they are considered polarizing figures. Most polls show a Republican candidate breezing by Clinton or Obama in a general election. The Democrats need a candidate that can appeal to a broad section of the populace, via a sensible platform with across-the-aisle appeal. Though Richardson is a Democrat, his moderate platform sets him apart from all of the other Democratic contenders. According to the National Rifle Association's grading criteria, Richardson is the Association's favorite candidate. As well, Richardson is the only Democratic candidate to favor continued tax cuts, and speak out against what he sees as his party's propensity toward raising taxes. However, he has done more than simply speak. Richardson has created over 80,000 jobs in the State of New Mexico by cutting taxes. I believe he can do the same as President.
Although Richardson has started his campaign overshadowed by the astronomical fundraising of the Democratic front-runners, he raised $6 million in the first quarter of 2007, while still in his exploratory phase. After Richardson formally announced his candidacy a week ago, his poll numbers doubled, and momentum is still in his favor.
Bottom line: Richardson can win, but he needs support from ordinary people like you and I, people who would normally look the other way while undeserving politicans with more money than clout secure their party's nomination. I refuse to be responsible for allowing that to happen. Won't you join me?
In my summation, most of the candidates on either side of the aisle lack a diverse resume and moderate platform. Read below to understand how Richardson delivers on both fronts.
As far as experience goes, there is no candidate more qualified than Richardson. Bar none. He has a plethora of legislative and executive experience dealing with both domestic and foreign policy. For those not privvy, here is an abridged retelling of his resume: Richardson served in Congress for 14 years, served as Secretary of Energy *and* ambassador to the United Nations under the Clinton Administration, is now serving his second term as Governor of New Mexico (re-elected with 69% of the vote, mind you), and has gone on diplomatic missions to over a dozen countries, successfully negotiating with such notorious regimes as North Korea, Saddam-era Iraq and Sudan. These efforts achieved such success that Richardson has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize a total of 4 times.
If it sounds to you as though Richardson is well-equipped to deal with all the myriad problems the next president will be confronted with, you'd be correct; many of the issues other candidates are vowing to deal with, Richardson has already dealt with as Governor. All this sounds great, but that track record means nothing if the man is not electable, right?
The most glaring problem I see with most of the front-running Democrats is that they are considered polarizing figures. Most polls show a Republican candidate breezing by Clinton or Obama in a general election. The Democrats need a candidate that can appeal to a broad section of the populace, via a sensible platform with across-the-aisle appeal. Though Richardson is a Democrat, his moderate platform sets him apart from all of the other Democratic contenders. According to the National Rifle Association's grading criteria, Richardson is the Association's favorite candidate. As well, Richardson is the only Democratic candidate to favor continued tax cuts, and speak out against what he sees as his party's propensity toward raising taxes. However, he has done more than simply speak. Richardson has created over 80,000 jobs in the State of New Mexico by cutting taxes. I believe he can do the same as President.
Although Richardson has started his campaign overshadowed by the astronomical fundraising of the Democratic front-runners, he raised $6 million in the first quarter of 2007, while still in his exploratory phase. After Richardson formally announced his candidacy a week ago, his poll numbers doubled, and momentum is still in his favor.
Bottom line: Richardson can win, but he needs support from ordinary people like you and I, people who would normally look the other way while undeserving politicans with more money than clout secure their party's nomination. I refuse to be responsible for allowing that to happen. Won't you join me?
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