Posted on 09/30/2002 12:47:33 PM PDT by mikeb704
Bill Richardson is the Democratic candidate for governor in New Mexico. He also served in Clinton’s cabinet. This apparently can be hazardous to a candidate’s political health. Janet Reno in Florida, Robert Reich in Massachusetts, and Andrew Cuomo in New York have all learned what the Clinton cabinet connection can do to one’s aspirations for public office.
Mr. Richardson was in Congress for many years and enjoys terrific name recognition. He has plenty of campaign cash. He’s leading in the polls. All of this isn’t enough. It seems he’ll do whatever is necessary to avoid sharing the fate of his former comrades.
So, like his former boss, he’s taken to using vicious tactics. His opponent for governor, a man named John Sanchez, came from an underprivileged background. Raised with seven siblings in a single-parent household, he lived in a small two-bedroom house that didn’t even have indoor plumbing.
As a young man, Mr. Sanchez started his own business. He also worked as an American Airlines flight attendant. Most people would think working more than one job to help your family is admirable. Not Bill Richardson. He’s accused Mr. Sanchez of doctoring up his biography, claiming to have run his own business while actually being a flight attendant. Proclaims the Richardson campaign: "While Bill Richardson was cutting taxes for New Mexico, John Sanchez was serving orange juice at 30,000 feet."
Mr. Sanchez has provided W-2 forms proving he worked at his roofing business and as a flight attendant simultaneously.
Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with serving airplane passengers. There are many less noble endeavors in life. Being an enabler to the sleaziest president to ever stain the White House is surely one of them.
You’ll recall that in 1997 Clinton was eagerly assisting a worthy young intern named Monica Lewinsky to find a job. Something different from the humdrum duties she’d so splendidly performed in that small area next to the Oval Office.
So one afternoon Clinton’s secretary faxed Ms. Lewinsky’s resume to the United Nations. Less than four hours later, the United States Ambassador to the UN, Bill Richardson, took time out from his demanding schedule to call Monica and schedule a job interview.
The interview was held at a Watergate Hotel suite of Richardson’s. He later said, "She was impressive." I’ll just bet. " I remember my chief of staff being impressed with Ms. Lewinsky’s gregariousness, her ability to express herself. She came very well-prepared."
Within days, she was offered a $30,000 a year position at the UN. Why would the United States Ambassador to the UN be so personally involved in hiring a low-level employee at such a relatively small salary? According to Richardson, it was "a very normal procedure" for him. Oh, yes, that’s quite believable.
It’s every bit as credible as the Richardson assertion that he was cutting taxes while his opponent was pouring OJ. Now I suppose it’s possible that, over a number of years in Congress, Richardson did at one time or another actually vote once – maybe even twice - to reduce the tax burden. This was not, however, as he might say, "a very normal procedure" for him.
The National Taxpayers Union gave Congressman Richardson an "F" for his Congressional votes in 1995. The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) advocates the principles of free enterprise and limited government. In its ratings on taxes, CEI noted that Richardson had voted the organization’s preferred position zero percent of the time for all of 1994.
New Mexican taxpayers finally got a little relief when Richardson resigned from Congress to join the Clinton cabal. Now he counsels that, "It’s important that the president’s legacy not be squandered because his own people remain silent and scattered." Yet Richardson gives the impression he wants Clinton to remain silent, at least in New Mexico. He’s not asked the former president to campaign for him. Perhaps he doesn’t want voters to be reminded of that fabulous legacy that must not be squandered.
Unlike his opponent, Richardson didn’t come from an impoverished background. Billy went to prep school in Connecticut, doncha know? He graduated from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He’s never had to hold two jobs. So it’s easy to belittle a man who has. And it’s easy for Richardson to think that he, not someone so common as a combo roofer-flight attendant, deserves to be governor.
What we need more of in public office are real people who’ve had real jobs and real life experiences, not professional politicians who think they’re superior to working people.
Thanks.
And in Klintoon's world, those are the only purposes that matter.
No recuerdo.
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