Richardson, Kerrey, embrace Imus

Daily Kos Staff

Monday October 22, 2007 · 1:02 PM PDT

2007/10/22 · 13:02

Remember how Bill Richardson announced his presidential candidacy on Don Imus's show? Well, he's still a pal of the bigoted talk show host.

Only two major presidential hopefuls said Sunday they would go on the air with radio cowboy Don Imus if he returns to the airwaves in December.

Despite Imus' history of on-air racial blunders, Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said they would return to Imus' show, saying the talker deserves a second chance.

"Richardson strongly believes this is a society of forgiveness and second chances, and that the radio host has paid his debt for his mistake," said his press secretary, Tom Reynolds.

How sweet. "second chances". Except that Imus had a long history of bigotry. It wasn't a one-time slip.

You really can judge the character of a man by the people he stands with. And in this case, Richardson is choosing to stand with Imus. As is Nebraska's Bob Kerrey (who isn't looking likely to run for Senate, at this point):

In a Daily News Op-Ed yesterday, former Democratic presidential hopeful Bob Kerrey praised Imus' skills as an interviewer. Kerrey said he would welcome the chance to rejoin Imus - and cautioned Democrats that they spurned the show at their peril.

"Democrats in particular may fear the wrath of the Al Sharptons of the world and feel pressured to stay away," wrote Kerrey, now president of the New School. "We can't afford to start putting our interviewers through purity tests."

Apparently, to Kerrey and Richardson, it's totally unreasonable and simply not fair to shun racist, homophobic, and sexist bigots!

Richardson, Kerrey, embrace Imus

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