Bill Richardson's Three Penny Opera!

As you know Bill Richardson served with the Clinton Administration as Secretary of Energy and as our nation's Ambassador to the United Nations. He was a close friend and confidante of the Clintons. When the Clintons left office in January 2001, Bill went on to hold several private sector positions until he was elected as the Governor of New Mexico in 2002. Governor Richardson won a second term as Governor in 2006. Back in December 2006 Governor Richardson filed papers to establish an "exploratory committee" and then announced that he would be seeking the democratic nomination for President of the United States. Although I am sure that Richardson's announcement caused the Clinton's to sit up and take notice, you have to remember that at that time, Hillary was the "Annointed One" of the democratic party and Barack Obama was being afforded little notice.I doubt that either Bill or Hillary lent any real credence to Richardson's chances at that time. It didn't take long for Richardson to see the writing on the wall after the early primaries and he withdrew from the race and went back to New Mexico. Bill and Hillary patted him on the back and congratulated him for a good campaign and simply assumed that their longstanding relation with the New Mexico would guarantee his endorsement for Hillary in the coming months. Unfortunately (for Hillary) Governor Richardson "political instincts" are a sharp 20/20 and Obama's early primary wins did not go unnoticed. Being the nation's only Hispanic Governor, Hillary and Bill then actively courted Richardson's endorsement but after looking at the numbers Bill endorsed Obama in early December 2008. I am still unsure as to whether or not his endorsement of Barack Obama played an integral role in Obama's ultimate election but is sure as hell was an embarrassing slap in the face to the Clinton's. Of course Bill and Hillary played the political professionals and publicly shrugged off Richardson's betrayal of trust but not so their political bull dog, James Carville. Carville likened Richardson's endorsement of Obama to that of the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas Iscariot who sold out his friend for 30 pieces of silver. Carville took a lot of media heat over his remarks but, to his credit, he simply remarked that he meant what he had said. He explained that he used the example of Judas because Richardson's endorsement came near the Christmas Holiday. He remarked that had Richardson waited until July to make his endorsement he would have called him Benedict Arnold! As the primaries continued, Richardson saw only a bright future for himself as it became more and more apparent that Obama might just pull this election off. Richardson saw himself as a lock for an appointment to Obama's cabinet as Secretary of State. The problem was that even though the numbers showed no hope for Hillary, she wouldn't quit and go away. Hillary stayed the course and rode the primaries to the bitter end and her supporters were quite vociferous when she finally gave up the ghost to the point where Obama now had to find a way to heal the friction between his and Hillary's camp to ensure a general election victory. Obviously a substantial bone would have to be thrown to Hillary to bring about the "healing process" for the democrats. You have to know that while these back room discussions were taking place between Obama and Hillary's people, Bill Richardson was sitting in his office seeing his dream of Secretary of State quickly going up in smoke! As we all know, Hillary took first prize and Bill was relegated to grinning and bearing it as he was offered, and accepted, the position of Commerce Secretary. I am sure that there were many reasons Hillary accepted this appointment but I am sure that one of those reasons was to ensure that Richardson did not attain his original goal. Now while all these appointments are being made it should be noted that a seven-page questionnaire was being sent by the office of President-elect Barack Obama to those seeking cabinet and other high-ranking posts which is said to be the most extensive — some say invasive — application ever. Obviously it wasn't all that extensive as the little matter of the Richardson's problems in New Mexico with a Grand Jury investigation looking into a "pay for play" matter did not surface until Richardson announcement yesterday that he was declining the appointment of Commerce Secretary. I am sure that "The Chosen One" is not completely happy with the Richardson mess cropping up so close on the heels of the mess in Illinois with Governor Blagojevich. Although I will never be able to prove it, I am sure that Bill and Hillary are somewhere sharing a drink with James Carville laughing themselves silly over Bill Richardson's curtain call in this three penny opera!