Richardson's Comments - Debate November 15, 2007

From the New York Times

GOV. RICHARDSON: By the way, I'm Bill Richardson. I'm the governor of New Mexico. (Laughter, cheers, applause.) Nice to meet you all.

You know, it seems that John wants to start a class war. It seems that Barack wants to start a generational war. It seems that Senator Clinton with all due respect on her plan on Iraq doesn't end the war -- (audio break from source). (Laughter, cheers.) And I say that -- I say that because these are the fundamental issues.

Do our plans end the war? Do our plans make America energy independent? Do our plans give health care to every American? Are we creating jobs and economic growth? Are we resolving the real problems affecting this country? You know, let's stop this mud slinging. Let's stop this going after each other on character, on trust. Let us debate the issues that affect the American people -- (cheers, applause) -- and let us be positive. Let's be positive.



Driver’s License for Undocumented Immigrants

GOV. RICHARDSON: Well, my answer is yes, and I did it. You know why? Because the Congress -- I notice Barack mentioned the president, but the Congress also failed miserably to pass comprehensive immigration. And we need to have it in this country.

I did it four years ago. My legislature sent me a bill. I signed it. My law enforcement people said it's a matter of public safety. What we need is public safety, a reduction in traffic fatalities. We wanted more people to be insured. When we started with this program, 33 percent of all New Mexicans had -- were uninsured. Today it's 11 percent. Traffic fatalities have gone down. It's a matter of public safety.

Solving the Immigration problem

GOV. RICHARDSON: -- secure the borders, a stronger relationship with Mexico. Those that knowingly hire illegal workers should be punished, and a path to legalization. That is the solution.

MS. MALVEAUX: George Ambriz. He's -- you're a graduate student here, and you're also a mentor for children. I understand that you have a concern about immigration.

Q Yes, I do. (Speaks in Spanish.) It seems that many political commentators such as Lou Dobbs are guiding the debate and strongly shaping U.S. policy on immigration by insinuating a linkage to terrorism. As many people know, no terrorist has come from our southern border. Do you consider fighting terrorism and slowing the flow of illegal immigration coming from our southern border as intrinsically related issues?

MS. MALVEAUX: Governor Richardson, since you're the only on this stage who does not support even building a fence, why don't you take this one?

REP. KUCINICH: That's not true.

GOV. RICHARDSON: By the way, Dennis, you keep -- stop including me in all these votes. I've been a governor. I'm in New Mexico. (Laughter.) I'm not in Washington. (Applause.)

Here's my answer. You know, two years ago -- and I'm the only one that's dealt with the immigration issue directly.

You know, and by the way, with the Congress, let me just say, the Congress's approval rating is 11 percent. Now, you know who's higher? Dick Cheney and HMOs. (Laughter.)

My point is that, you know, let's talk about the need to bring this together. Dysfunctional relationships exist between the president and the Congress that needs to be corrected.

Here's my answer. Two years ago, I'm the first governor that declared a border emergency because the federal government wasn't doing its job in stopping the flow of drugs and people. But you know what? We should stop demonizing immigrants. We should stop doing that. (Applause.)

And I'm against the fence -- and I am against the fence because it will not work. The Congress only funded half of the fence, and it's not America.

What I would do is I would do four quick things. One, we have to secure the border. Double the number of Border Patrol agents. Keep the National Guard there a little longer; detection equipment, as you mentioned.

Secondly, those that knowingly hire illegal workers should be punished. (Applause.)

Third, we should have a relationship -- it's called foreign policy -- with Mexico. They're our friend. But we should speak frankly to our friends, and it should be something like this. "Mexico, give jobs to your people." (Cheers, applause.) "You know, at the very least, stop handing out maps on the easiest place to cross." (Laughter.) And then, lastly, a legalization plan -- a legalization plan --

MR. BLITZER: Thank you.

GOV. RICHARDSON: -- not amnesty, not citizenship, but a path to legalization that involves conditions -- learning English --

MR. BLITZER: Thank you.

GOV. RICHARDSON: -- paying back taxes.

MR. BLITZER: Governor, thank you.

GOV. RICHARDSON: This is a very important issue.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/15/us/politics/15debate-transcript.html?_r=1&fta=y&pagewanted=print

More on Bill Richardson

News on Richardson from the Albuquerque Journal

Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Richardson Watch
Albuquerque Journal
By Jeff Jones
.
He's running. We're watching.
Keeping tabs on Gov. Bill Richardson as he seeks the Democratic presidential nomination ...

UP IN NEW HAMPSHIRE: A new poll in the early-primary state of New Hampshire has Richardson at 12 percent, a single digit behind third-place candidate John Edwards and six points up from polling done in September.

The CNN/WMUR-TV poll released Tuesday put frontrunner Hillary Clinton at 36 percent, followed by Barack Obama (22 percent) and, if you consider the margin of error, the neck-in-neck Edwards and Richardson.

The TV poll in September had Clinton at 43 percent, Obama at 20 percent, Edwards at 12 percent and Richardson at 6 percent.

Richardson campaign spokesman Tom Reynolds told the Journal the new polling— along with some recent gains in Iowa— shows "clear momentum," adding, "This is exactly when we want to be doing well. We want to peak on Jan. 3 for the (Iowa) caucuses."

GRADING THE DEBATE: For the most part, Richardson's performance during last week's candidate debate in Las Vegas, Nev., drew neither heaps of high praise nor loads of heavy criticism.

Time magazine senior political analyst Mark Halperin gave Richardson a C-plus for his Nov. 15 outing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"Too rehearsed at times, but overall just fine," Halperin wrote on Time.com. "Still trying to distinguish himself as the only governor in the race, but he has trouble pulling it off in the short-answer format."

Halperin added Richardson made some "solid points about policy and his record."

A CYNIC'S VIEW: Salon.com's Washington correspondent Michael Scherer took a decidedly cynical view of the Las Vegas debate.

Here's Scherer's take from about the debate's 22-minute mark, when Richardson finally got a chance to speak:

" 'I'm Bill Richardson. I'm the governor of New Mexico,' says Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico. This is funny because he hasn't been able to speak until now. People laugh. Then Richardson slings mud. Edwards 'wants to start a class war,' he says. Obama 'wants to start a generational war.' And Clinton won't end the war in Iraq. For good measure, Richardson adds, 'You know, let's stop this mudslinging.' ''

...

Journal politics writer Jeff Jones

For complete articlehttp://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/263641nm11-21-07.htm

photo: http://newsfromrussia.com/img/idb/bill-8.jpg

Navarette Says Bill Richardson Rocks

It is unheard of that a candidate actually admonishes his audience unless they are doing something really drastic like scream obscenities. Richardson stood above the crowd at the Democratic debate in Los Vegas this week when he told everyone that the whole immigration situation was dysfunctional and that Congress was a mess.

Interesting that this information hasn't been in the papers (I haven't checked the Albuquerque paper)... I guess for the media, nice things don't count.

Richardson appeals for civil debate on immigration
Ruben Navarrette Jr., The San Diego Union-Tribune
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
What can I say? Bill Richardson rocks.

While John Edwards and Barack Obama were taking shots at Hillary Clinton during the recent CNN Democratic debate in Las Vegas, the New Mexico governor was focusing on his own candidacy and delivering one of the best performances of the night.

Even those who believe that Richardson is really auditioning for a vice presidential nomination would have to concede that the audition is going well.

Just think about the novel way in which Richardson, in answering a question from the audience about the tone of the immigration debate, did something that is practically unheard of in the dizzying pander-monium of the 2008 campaign: He scolded the audience and told them that not only do we have a dysfunctional border that is being breached by illegal immigrants, a dysfunctional system that makes it too hard for people to enter legally, and a dysfunctional Congress that won't tackle the issue in an honest and productive way, but even the way we discuss these issues is dysfunctional.

For one thing, too many Americans keep falling into old habits and repeating a historically familiar depiction of immigrants - legal or illegal - as inferior to natives, defective in their culture, slow to assimilate, prone to criminal activity and devoid of any positive values. Or, as Republican presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo contends in an outrageous television commercial, terrorists in the making.

Tancredo's point was not lost on the person who asked the question during the Democratic debate. George Ambriz, a graduate student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, noted that one thing shaping the immigration debate is the claim by some that controlling illegal immigration is linked to the war on terrorism. He then asked the Democratic candidates if they agreed that these two things should be linked.

Richardson seized on the question to make a pitch for more civility in our discourse.

"We should stop demonizing immigrants," he said. "We should stop doing that."

Amen. You don't hear that sort of thing often enough from politicians, even from liberal Democrats who like to portray themselves as more progressive on immigration policy than those retrograde Republicans. It should be clear by now that immigration is one issue that cuts across party lines and makes some Democrats sound downright Republican.

Nor would you expect to hear it from Hispanic politicians, many of whom might fear being tagged as overly sympathetic to illegal immigrants. That's the risk that Richardson faces whenever he talks about immigration.

The last time I heard something similar to what Richardson said, it came from someone who is an immigrant - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, like Richardson, has the advantage of living far from Washington and having the real-world perspective of a border governor.

Schwarzenegger has been saying for more than a year that Americans should channel their anger over illegal immigration toward the federal government and not toward immigrants.

I know what you're thinking - that these governors are wrong and that the angst that many Americans feel isn't over "immigrants," just "illegal immigrants."

Sure, sure. It's a lovely sound bite but one not based in fact. Anyone who believes that nonsense hasn't been paying very close attention to the immigration debate. It may have started off being about words such as "legal" and "illegal," but that lasted about 18 seconds. From there, the debate meandered into the cultural swamp. It became about the outrage that we have to "press 1 for English" and how it's bad manners to wave the Mexican flag and how cities should be able to outlaw taco trucks or dictate the number of people who can squeeze into a single-family house. It became about whether we should admit educated and skilled immigrants rather than those whose only qualifications are a strong work ethic and hope for the future. And it became about whether it is time to impose a moratorium on legal immigration to aid the assimilation process for those already here.

Once we went down that road, of course, things were going to get ugly. And, of course, the debate was going to be acrimonious. And, of course, the subtext of the discussion was going to go from anti-illegal immigration to anti-Mexican, just as it has. No surprise there.

That's why it is crucial that people speak out against this sort of thing, especially if they happen to be running for president. We ought to be grateful that at least one has - Bill Richardson.

Ruben Navarrette's e-mail address is ruben.navarrette@uniontrib.com.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/21/EDBRTG1HI.DTL

photo: http://www.campaignsource.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/2008RichardsonBtn.jpg