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CAMPAIGN 2008: Democratic ‘resume candidate’ hopes to ride energy issues to White House

03/27/2007

CAMPAIGN 2008: Democratic 'resume candidate' hopes to ride energy issues to White House

Greenwire

Alex Kaplun, Greenwire reporter

In a pack of Democratic presidential hopefuls, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson wears the tag, "resume candidate"—pundits' shorthand for a politician who's rich in experience but likely to be short on votes.

Richardson—who was a congressman, Energy secretary and United Nations' ambassador before becoming a two-term governor—is hovering in the low single digits in most polls. But he is hoping primary voters will tire of "rock star" candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) and give him a try.

"You just have to look at what happens to front-runners a year before a primary, they don't end up winning," he said in an interview after a recent speech to energy investors in New York. "Insurgent candidates with a platform, new faces, emerge. And that's how I plan to win."

A key to Richardson's strategy: rising American worries about energy.

The former Clinton administration Energy secretary said energy will be a huge issue in the race and help distinguish him from the pack. His stump speech touts his efforts to make New Mexico "the clean energy state." And he points to several pieces of legislation he says will move the state far beyond what the federal government is doing to promote renewable energy.

Such boasts would have rung hollow in previous campaigns. But many observers say energy issues will be more visible in 2008, given national jitters about the security and cost of its petroleum supply and the global drive for clean alternatives to fossil fuels and their greenhouse-gas emissions.

"I find a lot of, what I call, living room interest when I talk about energy," Richardson said of recent trips to New Hampshire and Iowa. "Obviously, Iraq is number one and I suspect it's going to stay number one ... but I believe right under that will be energy security and energy independence. So it will be a very relevant campaign issue."

But even if that turns out to be true, voters may struggle to tell one candidate's position from another's. Just about every entry in the Democratic field is offering an energy platform that calls for expanded use of renewable power, improved energy efficiency and some effort to curb climate-warming greenhouse gases. Groups promoting energy issues

Some environmental groups are working to force candidates to articulate clear and detailed positions on climate and other energy issues. The League of Conservation Voters, for example, recently launched its "Heat is On" campaign to try to teach voters about climate in key early primary and caucus states and encourage them to raise the issues with candidates.

The New Hampshire-based group Carbon Coalition has launched a similar effort to raise the issue, pushing towns to adopt a climate resolution calling for a national and local effort to curb emissions.

Their efforts are showing some results, as candidates respond. Most recently, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina offered a climate change plan this week that LCV called the "most comprehensive global warming plan of any presidential candidate to date."

Carbon Coalition director Roger Stephenson said voters now expect more than stripped-down stump speeches on these issues. "The retail politics allow us voters and residents to expect candidates to put flesh on the bones in some of their promises," he said.

"I recognize that many legislators feel that they can make promises and that the environmental community is never satisfied and is always raising the bar," Stephenson added. "But this isn't about the environmental community, this is New Hampshire voters knowing they have an opportunity and an obligation to ask for more from their political leaders."

For his part, Richardson said that even if candidates' platforms sound similar, he has a major advantage over the other Democratic hopefuls: He's achieved some results.

"What I tell [voters] is I've done it, I just don't give speeches," he said. "I've done this, I know how to do it and it involves diplomacy and I know diplomacy too." Home-state record

Richardson often points to a pair of bills he signed this year. One mandates that 20 percent of New Mexico's electricity is drawn from renewable sources by 2020 and another creates the country's first renewable energy transmission authority.

On climate change, Richardson points to his joining four other Western governors to sign an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to incentives his state has offered to bring in renewable energy technologies.

Environmentalists have praised Richardson's efforts.

"This is an area where he's been consistent in both the first and second term," said Sandy Buffett, executive director of Conservation Voters New Mexico. "I think it is something he truly has passion for, he truly believes in a clean energy economy."

Buffett, whose group endorsed Richardson's re-election as governor, also said that despite the state's historic reliance on the oil and gas industry, environmentalists generally have been pleased with Richardson's efforts to limit the environmental effects of drilling operations.

"He has held them accountable and increased the standards for oil and gas operation," she said. "Of course, the environmental community has maintained friendly pressure to make sure we got those things."

Still, despite the exuberance of environmental groups, some political pundits question whether the issue will play a big enough role in the primaries to give Richardson an advantage.

"The overall energy policy of the country is usually a big snooze," said Tom Carroll, a Democratic political consultant in New Mexico.

Still, Carroll said he expected a faction of Democratic voters to be highly interested in the environmental impacts of energy policy, forcing the candidates to articulate a clear message on these issues.

"The 'green' aspect of energy has become paramount in most political campaigns," Carroll said. "There's no question that a renewable policy and an energy policy to solve a future energy crisis will be a critical component of every candidate's platform." Energy and diplomacy

Richardson's energy policy stretches beyond simply being a part of his domestic platform. He vowed the issue would be a dominant theme in his foreign policy agenda.

In the New York speech, Richardson promised to strengthen relations with friendly nations in hopes of lessening U.S. dependence on petroleum from hostile and unstable regimes (Greenwire, March 15).

It is at this intersection of foreign policy and energy that gives Richardson the opportunity to tout what he sees as his other key strength—diplomatic experience. During the Clinton administration, Richardson not only served as U.N. ambassador, he was also dispatched to negotiate with regimes in North Korea and Iraq.

And Richardson said that as president he will use that experience to push for global solutions to climate change.

"As president, it is the perfect area where my backgrounds converge—I would lead an international effort to fight global climate change," he said. "I would reconvene the Kyoto signatories and say we have to go beyond Kyoto, we have to make some adjustments to Kyoto. It may be too weak." 'Inconsistencies'

Some political observers who have followed Richardson's career say he has enough political skill and determination to break through with voters who currently are not giving much consideration to his candidacy.

"You are dealing with a politician who understands the game, and he knows how to play the game," Carroll said. "His problem is that it's a very, very strong field for the Democrats."

But Carroll anticipated that, as in previous years, primary voters will consider candidates beyond the front-runners, and Richardson's success may hinge on his ability to capitalize on that moment.

"He will always be a credible candidate, and if the public turns and looks at him ... then he could find himself getting great traction," Carroll said. "I think he's going to look very, very good to the electorate next January, when people are going to decide, really decide what they're going to do."

One major question about Richardson—according to both Democrats and Republicans—is his fund-raising ability. With Clinton and Obama expected to bring in tens of millions this year, experts say Richardson will need to show strong fund-raising results if he hopes to remain a viable candidate.

Richardson raised more than $14 million for his gubernatorial re-election in 2006, a record for New Mexico. But it remains to be seen whether he can show the same strength nationally. The campaigns are slated to release their first-quarter fund-raising totals next month.

And Richardson is not without his critics who say voters should question his record. Whitney Cheshire, a Republican consultant in New Mexico, said Richardson's "inconsistencies" could haunt him. She said Richardson could face questions about his handling of security leaks at the Los Alamos National Laboratory during his tenure as Energy secretary.

And Cheshire said, even as Richardson stumps for increased use of renewable energy and lessened reliance on fossil fuels, many of his accomplishments as governor are due in large part to unprecedented state revenue from oil and gas ventures.

"He's had a huge kitty that he could basically decide what he wanted to do with," Cheshire said. "Almost the entire time he's been in office, we've had exceptional revenues from the oil and gas industry."

Republicans have also criticized Richardson for putting self-promotion above sound public policy. They say the governor has lacked a clear position on many key issues, instead often choosing the path that will bring him the most political benefit.

"I think him calling himself a moderate really covers up a lot of inconsistencies," Cheshire said.