Richardson appears in Playboy…

B Turnor — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:25:46 GMT

This Richardson guy. Smart man. He's got it figured out. Too bad the rest of his party is heading down the toliet.

Richardson appears in Playboy…

Sierra, SF — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:39:41 GMT

'...“We’ve become the party of the poor instead of the party of the middle class...'

No ! We've become the party of corporations instead of the party of the people.
Blame the DLC, Carter, Gore, the Clintons, Lieberman, ad nauseum....

'...“In 2000 our party made a tactical mistake. We should have run under the banner of economic prosperity; instead, we ran under a banner of populism...'

Sorry, Al Gore was NOT A POPULIST !!
He was a phoney who selected Joe Lieberman to be his VP.
The problem with the 2000 election was that the nation was sick of the Clinton lies and scandsls.
That's why Al chose Joe Lieberman.
He was thought to be an upstanding man
(mistaking sanctimony for righteousness).

We NEED a REAL POPULIST, John Edwards !!

Edwards/Obama '08
What if the government looked out for people instead of corporations ?

Richardson appears in Playboy…

--NSMSNBC — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:40:32 GMT

I don't know about you Domenico, but I read Playboy for the articles. But ... if you're going to give us a synopsis of the articles here on FirstRead, I guess I'll cancel my subscription. : )

Richardson appears in Playboy…

Norm H, El Paso Tx — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:44:53 GMT

Looks like they finally found a way to get Edwards to buy the magazine.

Richardson appears in Playboy…

Julie in VT — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 21:39:16 GMT

Thanks for this - I'd like to read the whole article - does Playboy play on line? :)

Richardson appears in Playboy…

steve, potterville, michigan — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 21:46:12 GMT

I like the way Richardson thinks. After reading up on him, i'd vote for him over Ms. Clinto or Obama.
As a life long Democrat, I thinkthe party is moving in the wrong direction with either of those two.

Richardson appears in Playboy…

TC, Suffolk Virginia — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 22:04:53 GMT

Again, I have to stress that the Democrats need to correct their falures in past elections if they hope to win in 2008. On big mistake is that they think the rest of the country thinks like them. The result is that on the election night map only the Northeast and California are painted Democrat blue. You don't win the White House with the largest number of votes - you win the White House with the largest number of state by state electoral votes. The sure thing about Governor Richardson is he will put states Kerry and Gore could not win - like Florida and New Mexico in play for their combined total of 32 electoral votes. Richardson is Hispanic which automatically gives him a leg up in Florida. As Governor of New Mexico he will deliver that state too. If nothing else he forces the Republicans to spend money and resources there that they otherwise would not.

Just look at the record and you will see a long list of failed candidates from Northern states the Democrats thought they could sell on the country. Dukakis, Mondale, and Kerry . . . Al Gore was viewed as a Washington insider and even though he came from the South he could not win his own home state.

Just because Bush is unpopular, doesn't mean the Democrats can cakewalk to the White House. The Democrat Congress is unpopular too and that is where most of the Democratic candidates come from. If the Democrats are going to win they need to win states in the West and South and I don't see how these other candidates are going to do that.

Richardson appears in Playboy…

nuanced — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 22:07:41 GMT

Sierra, I don't agree with all those statements but choosing Lieberman was a BIG mistake on Al Gore's part. I think it could have made the difference in the election. Holy Joe was offending people left and right during the campaign and I know it cost votes.

Richardson appears in Playboy…

Adelia Trujillo Cisneros from Denver, CO. (Dee) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 22:21:50 GMT

The USA needs a Diplomat like Bill Richardson which includes the rest of the world.

Richardson appears in Playboy…

Adelia Trujillo Cisneros from Denver, CO. (Dee) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 22:22:21 GMT

The USA needs a Diplomat like Bill Richardson which includes the rest of the world.

Richardson appears in Playboy…

no Name — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 22:44:27 GMT

I have long been a "Eisenhower" "Nixon" republican,Richardson will get my vote in the Massachusetts primary!

Richardson appears in Playboy…

James Parker — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 22:49:20 GMT

Bill Richardson is, by far, the best Democrat running. The only one I've seen with a respect for the limits of power. His personal decency shows through with the way he rescued HRC, except that I believe she is REALLY one person who doesn't deserve to be rescued. The only one with respect for gun rights. Oh, just by far the most experienced.
And the only liberal.
All of the others, "progressives", worship the same god as their claimed arch-enemy, Karl Rove. The father of Progressivism is Theodore Roosevelt, who is Rove's hero. Fortunately for America, TR's progressivism died after only a few years, as America realized it was just a stop on the road to socialism.

Richardson appears in Playboy…

Margaret Oldham — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 09:21:49 GMT

Here's a novel idea. After the incompetance, arrogance, idiocy, malfeasance, corruption and all the rest of the Bush legacy, why don't we choose a president who is intelligent, well-educated, honest, competent, experienced and likely to look out for the people? That might be a better criteria than choosing someone we think we would enjoy having a beer with.

As for Richardson, he has been an effective governor here in New Mexico, so if he doesn't become the Democratic nominee, it is your loss and our gain.

Richardson appears in Playboy…

John S. Alexander, Edinboro, PA — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 12:22:47 GMT

The middle class is the Neo-poor so better get them back on the bus, they need somebody to work for them.

Richardson appears in Playboy…

Amy B Portland, Me — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 14:24:00 GMT

Hey, Norm, I'd rather sleep with Edwards than any of the Republicans, even Romney, who is the handsomest of them but also rather icky. Kidding aside, I support Edwards because he is the sharpest of the lot, and his values are All-American, the values we used to have: up-ward mobility, positive thinking, competitive and compassionate.

Richardson appears in Playboy…

Richard Fifield, Easton, PA — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 20:14:56 GMT

Gov. Richardson represents the type of Democrat that could perhaps get this constitutionalist-who-leans-Republican (most of the time, anyway) to vote for someone in his party. He has broad experience and, for the most part, a moderate approach to government. I am (of course) concerned that he supports more government involvement in health care and education than I believe is constitutionally valid, but his positions (to the extent I understand them) are more constitutionalist than those of any other Democrat with the possible exception of Sen. Biden.

Unfortunately, he has no more chance of being nominated by his party than does Ron Paul by the Republicans. The "star quality" surrounding Sens. Clinton and Obama (not particularly justified, but nonetheless omnipresent) practically ensures that one of them, and not the obviously better-qualified Richardson or Biden, will win the nomination.

The only possible saving grace from that is the fact that Sens. Obama and Clinton will be harder for the Democrats to elect in 2008.

Fortunately.

Sierra--You are quite correct that Al Gore was not a populist in 2000. He ran (badly) as the heir-apparent to the incumbent President Clinton. Anyone who had to "re-invent" himself or his candidacy a half-dozen times in the same campaign obviously had nothing to run on. Al Gore was "done in" in 2000 by his own ineptitude and Bill Clinton's excesses.

The fact that Gore chose Sen. Lieberman as a running mate had little to do with his loss. You animus against the gentleman from CT is obviously predicated on his refusal to denounce the Iraq war, and not anything else. That is hardly a reason to vilify him, even for the SITTs (single-issue tub thumpers)who think Iraq is the ONLY salient issue.

Populism is little more than a disguised form of class warfare. it was tried (unsuccessfully) during the Gilded Age and failed miserably as a political tactic. It is now usually trundled out by those who want to make political hay by turning people against each other on economic grounds.

I sincerely hope that John Edwards does not get the Democratic nomination. I say that because his brand of class-warfare politics will not only not succeed, it will further polarize and tear the country apart. The only good thing that might come from an Edwards nomination is a defeat for the Democrats next year, and even that may not be for the best.

Richardson appears in Playboy…

K C Sunrise, Nashville TN — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:33:01 GMT

Amy B . . . Hey, Norm, I'd rather sleep with Edwards than any of the Republicans,

This guy Edwards is really a hunk! He's already got them lining up in case something happens to Liz.