Say Anything Blog

Former Clinton ambassador, and Cabinet Secretary, Bill Richardson, has decided to Move On (pun intended).

PORTLAND, Ore. — Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico delivered a forceful endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for president on Friday, urging Democrats to unite behind his candidacy to move the nation beyond its racial and partisan divide.

“My great affection and admiration for Senator Clinton and President Bill Clinton will never waver,” Mr. Richardson said. “It is time, however, for Democrats to stop fighting amongst ourselves and prepare for the tough fight we will have against John McCain in the fall.”

The endorsement offers a timely boost for Mr. Obama, who has weathered the most tumultuous two weeks of a 15-month campaign. He has been seeking to reassure superdelegates that his bid had not been thrown off course by a series of controversies, including inflammatory statements about the government and race in America made by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., his longtime spiritual adviser and former pastor.

It was Mr. Obama’s address on race, delivered in Philadelphia on Tuesday and intended in part to calm the furor surrounding Rev. Wright, that appeared to have swayed Mr. Richardson, who sent word to the senator that he was inspired and impressed by the speech.

This last sounds like political double-speak… code for the likelihood that Obama has quietly offered the VP slot to Richardson in exchange for his endorsement, an action which would forge the first minority ticket on our nation’s political history.  From a political point of view, it’d be a smart move… although there are far, far better persons, in either party, to be a mere heartbeat away from the presidency.