In the past week, two major GOP pundits have written very favorable columns on Bill Richardson's 2008 Presidential candidacy. First, on Sunday, David Brooks wrote:
Then Bill Richardson walked onstage (at a "Cattle Call" of Democratic candidates). He was dressed differently — in slacks and a sports jacket. He told jokes that didn’t seem repeated for the 5,000th time. He seemed recognizably human, unlike some of his overpolished peers. He gave the best presentation, by far.
Then a heretical question entered my head: What if Richardson does this well at forums for the next 10 months? Is it possible to imagine him as a leading candidate for the nomination?
When you think that way, it becomes absurdly easy to picture him rising toward the top. He is, after all, the most experienced person running for president. He served in Congress for 14 years. He was the energy secretary (energy’s kind of vital).
He’s a successful two-term governor who was re-elected with 69 percent of the vote in New Mexico, a red state. Moreover, he’s a governor with foreign policy experience. He was U.N. ambassador. He worked in the State Department. He’s made a second career of negotiating on special assignments with dictators like Saddam, Castro and Kim Jong Il. He negotiated a truce in Sudan.
Most of all, he’s not a senator. Since 1961, 40 senators have run for president and their record is 0-40.
He concluded:
I wouldn’t bet a paycheck on Richardson. But I wouldn’t count him out. At the moment, he’s the candidate most likely to rise.
Similarly, in this weekend's Bob Novak column, entitled "Richardson Rising," he says:
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is viewed by Democratic insiders as rising to the top of the party's second-tier presidential candidates, becoming a leading vice-presidential prospect and an increasingly possible nominee for president.
Richardson's past service as a member of Congress, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and secretary of energy makes him a more experienced public servant than any of the first-tier Democratic candidates: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards. A Mexican-American and a Westerner, Richardson is seen as strong in the critically important bloc of states that include Arizona, Nevada and Colorado, in addition to New Mexico.
Democratic presidential candidate, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, right, gestures as he answers a question by George Stephanopoulos, moderator of a candidates forum held by AFSCME in Carson City, Nev., Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) While Richardson now trails his front-running Democratic rivals by a wide margin, his strategists consider him a strong competitor in New Hampshire. A victory in that state's first-in-the-nation primary could propel him to the head of the pack.
What's going on here? Is the Richardson campaign actually gathering steam?
I hate to agree with these guys, but maybe we should take their advice.