I’m Not Ready To Settle, I Still Want It All

I was invited to join a blogger meet-up with Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico last week and I have to say, he’ll make an impressive Presidential candidate should he choose to run in ’08.  I can’t say that I’m a supporter, but I did like what he had to say about immigration, the minimum wage and energy policy, particularly how it relates to foreign policy and national security.  I have always felt that if our economy were not based on access to cheap oil as it is now, our foreign policy, even under the Bush administration, would look much different.  I was happy to hear Bill Richardson acknowledge the importance of renewable energy and even more thrilled to hear him describe climate change as a security issue.

He did say he supports an Apollo like project for renewable energy and that he thinks subsidies for nuclear power should be scrapped.  Funding the science and discovery of new technologies is where we should be focusing our attention, it’s the right thing to do for the planet, for the stability of our country and because it will support new industries that will help grow our economy and provide more jobs.  The Governor talked a bit about how he’s done just that in his own state with great success.

When asked by David Goldstein of Horse’s Ass if he considered himself a DLC Democrat, the Governor gave a typical politicians response, “No, but I am going to their convention.”  I guess I can’t blame him for trying to cover all the bases, but I just can’t get behind another moderate as long as there’s still an option of choosing a real progressive (go ahead and read that as Russ Feingold).

Of all the candidates that the pundits are espousing as “frontrunners” for the Democrats in ‘08, I’d have to say that Bill Richardson is one of my top choices, but I’m still holding out for the real liberals to make a splash.  As good as Governor Richardson is on renewable energy, a real liberal (like Russ Feingold) is guaranteed to be better.  I’m still not willing to give up on the idea that what this country needs now, more than ever, is some good old-fashioned liberal policy to get us back on the right track.  Richardson would be fine, but we could get someone great.  

Like my friend Will from Pike Place Politics said as we were leaving the meeting, “I haven’t been pinned yet.”  And neither have I, there’s still plenty of time to play the field.  It’s way to early to settle, I’ll save that for much later.