Thread: Bloggers bash Richardson's `Press' appearance

Roundhouse Roundup, 05/31/2007 - Bloggers bash governor's `Press' appearance


Steve Terrell


By STEVE TERRELL | The New Mexican

Thu May 31, 2007 1:29 am

The reviews are in, and there's little joy in Blogville over Gov. Bill Richardson's network-television performance Sunday on Meet the Press.

A quick survey of Google's blog search shows overwhelming criticism about the presidential contender's answers when asked about his initial support for the Iraq war, changing his opinion on the latest immigration bill, serving on oil-company boards, shifting positions on gun laws, his response to a dead Marine's mother who says she's been politically exploited and New Mexico's embarrassing rankings in national statistics on poverty, crime and education.

Connecticut journalist Colin McEnrow, who blogs on the Hartford Courant's Web site -- and says he ``kind of likes'' Richardson -- wrote, ``I have to assume that, when they cut to a break, Richardson vomited into a waste basket. It was that bad.''

Comments on the liberal Daily Kos blog also largely were critical. One Kos commentator was ``flabbergasted'' by the interview, writing in all-lower-case: ``he's obviously a very bright and talented guy, but he was absolutely terrible in an hour long, one on one setting. he seemed to embody so many of the common stereotypes about dems, especially the ones about not taking firm positions. # get thee to a media trainer, bill.''

Mainstream Web media also was harsh. MSNBC's First Read had this to say about the appearance: ``If you missed Bill Richardson's appearance on `Meet' on Sunday, the campaign is probably pleased.''

Slate's John Dickerson wrote perhaps the most blistering review, saying Richardson ``self-destructed.''

``Richardson is a world-famous hostage negotiator, so it was poignant to watch him fail to rescue himself from his own hostage crisis,'' he wrote. ``By the end of the hour, he wasn't answering questions so much as swatting at them. # Sometimes, he contradicted himself within just a few breaths. After explaining why he changed positions on the assault-weapons ban, he broadly asserted, `I don't change my positions.' ''

Missed opportunities: Some bloggers complained the show's host, Tim Russert, was too rough on the governor. Some even charged the interviewer tends to go softer on Republicans.

But there were a couple of times that Russert let him slide.

For example, when he played the Richardson ``interview'' ad, he could have questioned why Richardson was bragging about getting a ``cease-fire'' in Darfur when that agreement he helped negotiate was being broken before the ink was even dry.

And when Richardson gave his standard ``I had to make a living'' answer when asked about serving on oil company boards, Russert could have said, ``What? Henry Kissinger was paying minimum wage?'' (During that period when he was on the oil company boards -- between jobs as energy secretary and governor -- Richardson was senior managing director of Kissinger McLarty Associates, an international consulting firm headed by the former secretary of state.)

Stee-rike!: What seemed to get the most reaction, however, is the grave national issue of Richardson's torn allegiance between the Boston Red Sox and The New York Yankees. This not only upset fans of both teams, but those who said his statements make him look like a pandering politician.

A New Hampshire blog called No Looking Backwards railed against Richardson's latest baseball dilemma in a post called ``How to Be a Carnivore and a Vegetarian.''

But all the above is wrong: At least according to Richardson's campaign Web site, which found some blogs that praised Richardson's performance.

One, called The Appletonian, boldly declares the governor ``did pretty well.''

Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley blogs that ``Gov. Richardson was candid and direct and handled the tough questions well. He looked very Presidential.''

But Shipley might have been on an intense caffeine and sugar high: ``The coffee in the green room at NBC is great and the pastries are sinful -- I had too many while watching the governor's appearance.''

More Bill TV: Richardson will surely have an easier time on his next national television appearance. C-SPAN, cable television's public-affairs network, plans to show the Iowa Democratic Party's Hall of Fame dinner Saturday, where Richardson and some of his rivals are scheduled to speak. That begins live at 5:30 p.m. MDT.

The next night, Richardson is to participate in a Democratic presidential candidate debate in New Hampshire on CNN, which shows here at 5 p.m. Sunday.

Adios Villaraigosa: Besides those reviews of his Meet the Press appearance, the Richardson campaign got some bad news this week when Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor of Los Angeles, endorsed U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., in the California primary.

Richardson supported the Hispanic mayor's 2005 campaign, during which New Mexico's Democratic Party sent six staffers to Los Angeles to help with the effort. Richardson launched his campaign in Los Angeles this month, though the mayor was conspicuously absent.

``I know Bill Richardson quite well, and I think I'll say his strength is his experience and his record, not his ethnicity,'' Villaraigosa told The New York Times.

But apparently that strength wasn't strong enough to get the endorsement.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/62282.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The New Media is hard hitting. They are not out to win the approval of anyone and their opinions and reports are not paid for by advertisements that dictate the content.

Dixie

Originally Posted by Dixie

The New Media is hard hitting. They are not out to win the approval of anyone and their opinions and reports are not paid for by advertisements that dictate the content.

Dixie

Even better, the New Media doesn't have to kiss anyones ass to get "access" like the Old Media does.

If we could just get everyone to change the channel at 6pm to something different than the propagand seen on MSM. Can you imagine if no one watched ABC, CBS or NBC for a couple of months? Wouldn't that do them in?

Tim Russert cremated Richardson...Normally it would just take a fly swatter to do the job but Russert used a baseball bat!

One thing that REALLY disturbed me was that Richardson took full credit for upping the death benefits of our military! THAT IS A LIE! Don Imus was almost 100% responsible for upping the benefits from $12,000 to $500,000!!! Imus shamed and humiliated the goverment every single day on his program until a few Congressment and Senators decided to do something about it! The Imus ranch for children with cancer is in New Mexico and Richardson tried to cozy up to Imus for years! But to take credit for the death benefits is unconscionable.

Another thing RUssert failed to mention was that during the Wen Ho Lee Los Alamos spy hearings, Sen. Byrd excoriated Richardson on national tv like nothing I have ever seen before or since. Byrd said during the hearings that Richardson should NEVER BE ALLOWED TO HOLD PUBLIC OFFICE AGAIN! All one needs to do is ressurect video of those hearings and Richardson would be outta here!

He is a phony liar...and soooo dumb!

``Richardson is a world-famous hostage negotiator,

Truth is that, as Richardson has exposed all by his lonesome,
Richardson is a world-famous racist.

His self-aggrandizement was nauseating. His baseless attempt to refute the claims of the dead Marine's mother, was particularly appalling. Obviously, he lacks integrity.