Looks like a group photo of the Iowa electors who chose to vote for our governator, Bill Richardson, in the primary.
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But there's more to this story:
I visited my doctor Friday morning (for some needed assistance) and he, smiling from ear to ear, told us about his son's experience with Richardson Party Politics.
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Seems the young fellow, a state employee, took some time off and went up to Iowa to help Bill get votes.
Before he left, he contacted the people in Richardson's campaign and was told he would be reimbursed for travel expenses both ways, and would get bed and board paid for while he was there working for his "hero".
Apparently, someone "forgot" to pay him (and his mates who went with him), so he wound up calling Dad and asking for some money to buy food and get home. Dad laughed and laughed, suggested he find his way back home by bus, promised to feed him when he got back.
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I looked at Doc skeptically, and he admitted sending bus fare to the lad. But that was all, he grinned at me. "He's learning about honesty and politicians" was the explanation.
To make the story complete, our local newspaper ran an article on Saturday, stating that the governator had closed the Iowa office and asked his "volunteers" to follow him to New Hampshire.
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Now, the "volunteers" were as successful as they could be with what they had to work with in Iowa. We know that Obama won the contest with Hillary a distant third.
Bill? Oh, he got fourth place. With almost 2% of the total vote.
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Now, it seems to me that any reasonably intelligent person, who could only get such a piddling number, would understand that he was not liked and would not be able to get the votes needed in any of the Eastern states. He should be able to figure out that those voters were neither impressed nor believed his fairy tales.
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I gained a lot of respect for Iowa voters after this fiasco (on Bill's part). They weren't fooled by his rhetoric, they didn't buy his "qualifications", they didn't believe in his pie in the sky.
I suspect that the almost 2% were those who devoutly wanted the idiocy of Iraq ended as soon as possible, regardless of any consequences down the line. (No, I don't believe in G. Bush's war. But that's another posting.)
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In a way, it has now become a painful embarrassment for us New Mexicans. And Bill won't realize that his "team" made the biggest effort, spent the most money they ever have and still couldn't sell him to the people. His statement "On To New Hampshire" is not a rallying cry. Considering the Iowa results it sounds more like a painful wail, a "I coulda been a contender" kind of stance.
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Somehow, I think the New Hampshire voters will see through his act, will note that he has been gone from New Mexico for almost a full year while the state has more than enough problems that are not being taken seriously by him. After all, if he can't care for a state of 2 million, how could we entrust 300 million souls to him? He is, once and for all, a carpetbagger in the worst sense of the term.
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One more word of advice Bill: the American people are really, really worried about the economy and your record of spend, spend, spend, even if we don't have it, won't stand you in good stead.
