Bill Richardson

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Democratic firebrand James Carville exchanged op-ed pieces today in the Washington post, ostensibly regarding Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama for President, and Carville's characterization of Richardson as "Judas" for doing so. Richardson:

Led by political commentator James Carville, who makes a living by being confrontational and provocative, Clinton supporters have speculated about events surrounding this endorsement and engaged in personal attacks and insults.

While I certainly will not stoop to the low level of Mr. Carville, I feel compelled to defend myself against character assassination and baseless allegations.

Carville:

So, when asked on Good Friday about Richardson's rejection of the Clintons, the metaphor was too good to pass by. I compared Richardson to Judas Iscariot. (And Matthew Dowd is right: Had it been the Fourth of July, I probably would have called him Benedict Arnold.)

I believed that Richardson's appointments in Bill Clinton's administration and his longtime personal relationship with both Clintons, combined with his numerous assurances to the Clintons and their supporters that he would never endorse any of Sen. Hillary Clinton's opponents, merited a strong response.

This is too much fun for one guy to have. After the jump, I spoke to Jim earlier, I'll give you the high points, and I'll explain why Keith Olbermann might owe me an apology, and I will render a decision in this verbal prize-fight that (local TV anchor voice) might surprise you.

Exactly one day after Bill Clinton told nervous democrats to "chill out" regarding the protracted contest between his wife and Barack Obama, B.C. met with a group of California superdelegates. The meeting wasn't pretty. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

The former president went on a tirade that ran from the media's unfair treatment of Hillary to questions about the fairness of votes in state caucuses that voted for Obama. It ended with him asking super delegates to imagine what the reaction would be if Obama was trailing by just 1 percent and people were telling him to drop out.

"It was very, very intense," said one attendee. "Not at all like the Bill of earlier campaigns."

Said another invited super-delegate,

"It was one of the worst political meetings I have ever attended."

What set Bill Clinton off? A former Richardson delegate brought up the subject of James Carville's Judas remarks. Clinton could not contain himself about what he, too, sees as Richardson's betrayal.

"Five times to my face (Richardson) said he would never do that," a red-faced, finger-pointing Clinton erupted.

Richardson penned an explanation of his decision to endorse Obama in yesterday's Washington Post. Read it here.

But why is Bill Clinton telling everyone to calm down one moment, then blowing his stack the next?

Come hell or high water, James Carville is sticking by it. After angrily comparing Bill Richardson to Judas Iscariot (for backing Barack Obama in the Democratic race for president), he has refused to step back from his overheated remark. Yes, that's right, he seems to believe that deciding who you'd rather vote for after carefully examining each candidate for several years is tantamount to turning Jesus Christ over to the Romans.

The exceedingly strained (and overused) Judas metaphor is often invoked by those purists who favor loyalty over all else. Most famously, it was hurled at Bob Dylan during his famous 1966 concert by a folk fanatic irate at the mere presence of electric guitars. Watch:



Richardson ably handled his own heckler:

"That's typical of many people around Senator Clinton," Richardson said. "They think they have a sense of entitlement to the presidency."

But Dylan's response seems equally applicable to this present day invocation of Judas. Richardson might just have easily come back with "I don't believe you, James Carville. You're a liar." How else to describe those paid political consultants like Mary Matalin (not to be confused with Mary Magdalene) and Carville who'll say anything to score points for their bosses? Remember when Carville declared that if Hillary didn't win both Texas and Ohio, "this thing is done"? Yeah, he probably doesn't remember either.

I'll bet it was, via MSNBC:

Richardson described the conversation that he had with Clinton last night "tough."

"It was tough to make the call, but I did. It got a little heated. It got a little tense. But it was understood, and I'm proud of my decision."

He stressed that his decision to endorse Obama came a week before, but it was reinforced by the speech Obama gave on race last Tuesday. He cited his own racial background as a Hispanic to underscore why the speech was so significant.

"I'm a Hispanic and I felt that what he said about being a nation of what all of us being together really clenched it," he said.

Clenched it? Perhaps, but I bet it was really what clinched it for you, unless it was a teeth-gritting experience.

The Associated Press reports that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is endorsing Illinois Senator Barack Obama's candidacy for President:

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president ...

"I believe he is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America's moral leadership in the world," Richardson said in a statement obtained by the AP. "As a presidential candidate, I know full well Sen. Obama's unique moral ability to inspire the American people to confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad in a spirit of bipartisanship and reconciliation."

Richardson's endorsement is one of a handful of truly meaningful endorsements still up for grabs, endorsements that could actually translate to more votes for a candidate. Richardson has been buzzed about as a Vice Presidential candidate, was seen as having the best resume´ of the Democratic field, and is seen as being able to deliver a large amount of Hispanic votes for whomever he endorses.

This is a huge endorsement for Senator Obama, and it could not have come at a better time for him. Does Richardson's seal of approval signal that the DNC and the Democratic establishment have already made up their minds? Has Bill Richardson stuck a fork in Clinton's White House bid?

They've become almost like distant family over this long year-and-a-half campaign that still has another eight months to go -- the kind of family you pray won't actually show up at Christmas or Thanksgiving, but family nonetheless. Many have already left the 2008 race, and many more will be gone come Super Tuesday.

For those of us who follow politics, we know at least some of them by first name: Rudy, Barack, Dennis, Hitlery. And we know one of them by two first names, because that's how much Ron Paul loved Freedom.

Others, we didn't really get to know at all. They were like the fifth cousin who calls at 3:46 a.m. from the pay phone at Lincoln County Jail. It was best to just pretend it was a wrong number and go back to sleep.

Primaries are funny things (as I noted earlier today). They tend to be susceptible to dramatic convulsions due to various unpredicted influences. Candidates have provoked marked shifts in their numbers through entirely unplanned episodes - think of Hillary's recent near-tear-shedding epiphany, George Allen's Macaca-moment and Howard Dean's infamous scream-heard-'round-the-world.

Often, the actions of candidates have profound effects on their rivals. The most prevalent factor (apparently unless you're Fred Thompson) is simply whether or not a candidate is present in the race. Ross Perot and Ralph Nader (and, potentially, Ron Paul?) demonstrate the incredible impact of a third-party presence.

Usually, however, the sudden waves in the primary pool are caused by the jettisoning of a candidate from the race. Already, the present cycle has seen the departure of Sen. Joe Biden (D), Rep. Tom Tancredo (R), Sen. Brownback (R), Sen. Chris Dodd (D) and Gov. Bill Richardson (D) (and Stephen Colbert (I), if you insist). While these resignations have had little effect (as the candidates held little sway among voters), we've now reached the point at which major contenders will begin packing it in and calling it quits.

As I commented yesterday, Bill Richardson seems like a decent guy whose wealth of experience could make him a strong president. He's just not a very effective candidate, at least not this year. Well today comes word that the New Mexico governor will be bowing out of the race Thursday.... "after twin fourth-place finishes that showed his impressive credentials could not compete with his rivals' star power."

I'm a little surprised by how early his exit is. I didn't think he'd go all the way but I figured he'd have enough staying power to frame some of the debate going deeper into the primaries. Not this time.

Do you think Richardson will run again in four years?

More new ads! The first, from Bill Richardson, airing in Iowa is a :30 ad titled "A Way Out." View it here:

As we celebrate this long weekend of forced national gratitude, let us count the many terrible blessings of our political system. Every four years, those few of us who bother voting in the primaries get to pretend we have some important role as we cast our ballot for whatever candidate has raised enough corporate money to run television commercials for an entire year.

Let's gather together and say a prayer of gratitude for this long campaign's exciting collection of Leading Patriots running for our nation's highest office.

Fred Thompson, you have been on television, your latest wife is young and pretty, you helped Nixon during Watergate, and you also bravely provided legal and lobbying services to needy terrorists and abortionists. Thank you, Mr. Grumbles, for launching a loser campaign that ensures you'll never be president of anything, even though you pretended to be Ulysses S. Grant in a cable movie.

Barack Obama, you have done ... well, nothing that we've heard about, beyond running for president and writing a book about getting high. Thank you for proving, finally, that all it takes is good looks, an Ivy League diploma and a lot of corporate money to get somewhere in this country. Is it really so audacious to hope we might all become rich and famous? Yes, yes it is.