Les Jones

Politics > Bill Richardson's Resume

I've been curious about Bill Richardson. He's the only major Democrat running for president who's a governor. That's a huge advantage.

Senators come with lots of baggage and no executive experience. Since JFK in 1960 no Congress critter has ever been elected president without being vice-president first. Before that it was Harding in 1920. The four most recent presidents who weren't vice-presidents first were all governors: Bush, Clinton, Reagan, and Carter.

Besides his current career as New Mexico's governor, Richarson is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Secretary of Energy, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. I learned all of that from this Matt Yglesias piece (thanks, Sven), which also details the challenge Richardson has in getting media attention.

I'm still reading up on Richardson and issues, but his record on gun control is mixed. He voted for the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, but has since been endorsed by the NRA. In 2003 he signed shall-issue CCW into law in New Mexico.