Bill Richardson

Secretary Bowles? Not interested

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 11:53:10 -0500

Could there have been another Bowles in a Democratic administration?

Gov. Beverly Perdue said that she heard the Obama administration had made a run at Crandall Bowles to be U.S. Commerce secretary, but that Bowles said she was not interested, Rob Christensen reports.

Bowles is the former CEO of Springs Industries. She is also the spouse of Erskine Bowles, the president of the University of North Carolina. Erskine Bowles was head of the Small Business Administration and White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton.

Obama has had difficulty filling the commerce post with both New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg withdrawing their names.

Former Washington Gov. Gary Locke was nominated instead.

Quick quiz: What's the difference?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:57:16 -0500

What's the difference between these two sets of names?

Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Bill Richardson and Tom Vilsack.

John Edwards, Chris Dodd, Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich.

Answer after the jump.

Easley to attend Obama summit

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:56:44 -0400

Gov. Mike Easley will attend an economic summit for Barack Obama.

MSNBC reports that Easley will be one of 16 Democratic governors meeting today in Chicago today to discuss the state of the economy, including possible running mates Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, Ted Strickland of Ohio and Bill Richardson of New Mexico.

Earlier, a spokeswoman for the governor said that he might not be able to go because of ongoing budget negotiations.

Easley: Wright not an issue in North Carolina

bniolet — Sun, 04 May 2008 14:01:31 -0400

Gov. Mike Easley said the Rev. Jeremiah Wright will not be an issue for North Carolina voters.

Easley appeared on Wolf Blitzer's CNN Late Edition with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Easley supports Hillary Clinton. Richardson supports Barack Obama. Blitzer asked Easley about Wright, Obama's controversial former pastor, according to a transcript of the show.

EASLEY: It's not going to be an issue in North Carolina in the primary. We don't take that race state. We know the Republicans down here, maybe you don't know that Republicans are running ads on that already and trying to -- some are trying to tie it to our Democrats running for governor to replace me. But it will be an issue in the fall if he's the nominee. But it's not going to be in this primary. And Senator Clinton has not tried to make any political gain out of it. I admire her character for that.

The most important thing, I think, is that Senator Obama finally did what he had to do. He has two competing interests here. He's got a spiritual adviser and friend for 20 years on one hand. On the other hand, he's got a man who said some things that he just cannot condone, needed to denounce.

Those are the kind of tough decisions you have to make in politics and in executive positions. I think he made the right one this week. But it's not going to -- it's not going to be an issue.

The only thing I want people to understand is that the African- American churches in North Carolina, this is not emblematic of that. They are -- they're welcoming, they're open, they're uplifting. It's based on scripture. It's about forgiving God, a good god and I don't want people across the country to get the wrong idea about the African-American churches.

Voting begins in New Hampshire

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 08:54:43 -0500

John Edwards has already got two votes in New Hampshire.

Voting in the state's presidential primary began at midnight in the tiny town of Dixville Notch. Ballots by all 17 registered voters have already been counted.

Among Democrats, Barack Obama got seven votes; Edwards, two; and Bill Richardson one. Hillary Clinton did not receive any.

Among Republicans, John McCain got four votes; Mitt Romney, 2; and Rudy Guiliani, one.

The results are statistically meaningless and ultimately unimportant, but Dixville Notch has long used the publicity to promote the local ski resort, which Dome heartily recommends.

The final (meta-)Four

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 09:00:00 -0500

A good ACC sports analogy from the New York Times' Matt Bai:

Until last night, I thought the most creative spin I'd ever heard from a losing candidate came from Joe Lieberman, who declared, after finishing fifth in New Hampshire: "We're in a three-way tie for third!" But then I got the e-mail from Bill Richardson in which he exulted, after garnering 2 percent of the vote: "We made it to the Final Four."
Well, yeah, I guess that makes sense, if the Final Four consisted of Duke, North Carolina, Florida and the Maharishi University of Management. Sometimes it's just better to say you lost and move on.

Biden's son looks for converts

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:28:03 -0500

DES MOINES, Iowa—Silver-haired Bill Smith, in his brown Bill Richardson T-shirt, is standing by the bleachers when his son T.D. walks over to introduce Beau Biden.

T.D. is a Biden supporter. Beau Biden, son of the Delaware senator, does a little flirtation with with Smith.

If you folks don't have enough support, he suggests, come to us. Under the arcane math of the caucuses, candidates have to have enough support to be "viable." If they fall short, their supporters go elsewhere. That's when the serious wooing starts. Beau Biden's visit was like a first date, Jim Morrill reports.

Smith, 63, is keeping his options open. He's not sure what the Richardson group will do, if they do anything. Heck, he can't even keep his family together.

While T.D. is a Biden guy, son Tyson is caucusing for Chris Dodd. And Smith's wife Jeanie is going for John Edwards. Politics is the family sport.

"It's what we do here," he says. "When we don't have the Winter Olympics in Iowa, this is what we do."

If you're just tuning in...

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:00:16 -0500

It's been a busy day here at the Dome, so here's a quick guide:

Final poll before caucuses: Obama: 31, Edwards: 27, Clinton: 24 ... Intrade prediction market favors Obama, Clinton, then Edwards ... Asheville button maker says Obama, Edwards tied at 29 percent, with Clinton at 27 ... Second choices of Democratic caucus members could make the difference ... The New York Times reports that Bill Richardson's backers will go for Obama as their second choice ... Edwards has the best ground game ... But turnout will make a huge difference ... ... Especially among young voters ... Even the Magic Eight Ball doesn't want to guess what will happen ... Most Americans think an Edwards win wouldn't boost his campaign much, but an Obama win would ... A Democratic consultant agrees, saying Edwards would have to win another state to prove himself ... Edwards plans parties in South Carolina and New Hampshire, but they'll be working in Nevada ... It's going to be a cold night in Iowa, regardless.

Eight Ball on Richardson

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:52:29 -0500

Will Bill Richardson tell his backers to vote for Barack Obama as a second choice?

Already, an Iowa reporter has said that the New Mexico governor is considering supporting the Illinois senator in precincts where he can't reach the 15 percent threshold.

Now, the New York Times quotes an unnamed "senior Obama campaign adviser" saying that in exchange, Obama will give some of his extra supporters to Richardson in precincts where he has too many. (Officially, an Obama spokesman denies the report.)

That's not exactly a prediction, but Dome avoids unnamed sources, and anyway it remains to be seen whether it will happen, so we dragged out our old friend, the Magic Eight Ball.

Will Richardson's backers vote for Obama? we asked. Its answer: Yes, definitely.

Hot button issue in Iowa

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 11:23:01 -0500

DES MOINES, Iowa—Can't wait for tonight's Iowa caucus vote?

Well, here are the latest results of the number of campaign buttons sold to Iowa Democrats. Barack Obama and John Edwards have 29 percent, Hillary Clinton supporters have bought 27 percent, Bill Richardson 8 percent, Joe Biden 4 percent and Chris Dodd 2 percent, Rob Christensen reports.

The survey is calculated by Jim Warlick, an Asheville native and long-time Democratic activist, who runs one of the nation's larger campaign button companies.

Warlick has been conducting such polls for 20 years. and claims the survey has a good track record of predicting outcomes. The tally was for the period ending 5 p.m. Wednesday.