Bill Richardson Has A Cramped Writing Hand

by Stephen of the Thinkery

It's because he's been signing bills at a furious pace.  Of interest is the medical marijuana bill that he just signed.  What it does is set up a system whereby patients with a doctor's authorization can receive marijuana from New Mexico's Health Department.  I'm going to assume that this won't be appearing on anyone's formulary, though.

It's a fairly bold move, though obviously less so now that 11 other states have already passed laws similar to this.  But Richardson is apparently the first presidential candidate who has taken concrete steps in favor of legalizing medical marijuana.  What I do like is how he responded to questions about this (from the same article):

Richardson said he has been asked about the issue by only a few voters while campaigning in Iowa. He said the White House had urged him not to sign the bill. "I don't see it as being a big issue," he said. "This is for medicinal purpose, for . . . people that are suffering. My God, let's be reasonable."

He didn't try to cast himself as some sort of hero, nor did he try to clothe himself in Ultimate Political Boldness.  It's just a common-sense thing to do.  "People are suffering" and he had a chance to help them, so he took it.

Moving on to other things Richardson, Heath Haussamen's blog is an excellent stop for all things political in New Mexico.  Here's some of the other bills signed by Richardson in the last few days of the legislative session, taken from Heath's blog:

• Minimum wage.  It increases NM's wage to $6.50 in January and $7.50 one year later.  It's not perfect; it prevents cities and counties from making their own increases over the state minimum wage, but there's a lot more places relying on the federal minimum than places that have set a minimum over $6.50/hr.
• Cockfighting ban.  Good grief.  It took New Mexico until 2007 to ban this?  They were yakking about it before I went to college.
• Ethics bill.  There are several bills working their way through the legislature; one passed both the House and Senate and now awaits signing.  "House Bill 823 .   .   .   .  would require that public officials disclose, in cases of contracts and other business with the state, not only their own business but also that of spouses, children, parents and siblings. It also makes the act apply to judges, who are currently exempt from its provision that prohibits bribery."  I guess I'm not going to become a judge in NM after all.
• Whistleblower protection.  This is pretty good stuff.  Provides protection to people who expose governmental wrongdoing, including contractors for the state government.

Except for the cockfighting ban, Richardson has been supportive of all these measures during his tenure as governor.  I don't think he's a fan of cockfighting, it's just something that hasn't really been on the radar.  When he started to run for president, quite a few people pointed out that this would be an issue that could hurt him, so he took action.

Unlike the gaggle of Democratic Senators running for president, Richardson's campaign has proven to be a benefit to progressive values in New Mexico.  Like any governor in such a race, Richardson is running on his record and the fact that the people in his state just love him so gosh-darn much.  It's keeping him focused upon what New Mexicans want even as he tries to tailor his image and message to a national audience.

He's clearly the dark horse candidate in this race.  As I recently said at the Thinkery,  He's still a long shot for the nomination, but right now I'd say the list of possible VP picks runs something like this:

• Bill Richardson
• Someone else if Bill won't do it

But then I also pointed out that the rumors surrounding his behavior are not going away.  In the National Journal's campaign rankings, they mention the rumors with a double entendre that implies that Richardson's problems are with rumors that he's been unfaithful to his wife.  Before the national press got into it, those rumors hadn't been started yet.  But reporters are lazy, and trying to describe the nuances of certain behaviors, gestures, and vocabulary is hard.  Besides, Richardson is a Latino and a Democrat, so obviously he's sleeping around.

The longer he waits to address this issue directly, the worse it gets.  Now he has to defend himself against not only rumors that he behaves inappropriately, but also a misunderstanding of those rumors that allows his opponents to place him exactly where male Democratic candidates always get placed.  Richardson better wise up, or he won't have a chance to be partially vetted before withdrawing his name this time around.