Something About Bill

A version of this article appears in this week's SFR.
Hearing Voices
Loose talk from and about Big Bill on the campaign trail.

By Nathan Dinsdale

“It’s not going to work. If you’re going to build a 10-foot-wall, know what’s going to come next? An 11-foot ladder.” – Gov. Bill Richardson, talking to voters in Dover, New Hampshire about building a border security wall on Sept. 2, as quoted by Fosters.com.

“I brought the Red Sox some good luck.” – Richardson, as quoted in the Sept. 3 edition of The Citizen of Laconia (New Hampshire) newspaper, joking about his appearance at a Sept. 1 Boston Red Sox game in which rookie pitcher Clay Buchholz threw the first Red Sox no-hitter in five years.

“You want to arrest somebody? Arrest me.” – Richardson, condemning federal authorities for arresting a terminally-ill cancer patient in New Mexico for possessing medical marijuana, in a speech at a backyard campaign event in Plymouth, New Hampshire on Sept. 2 (as quoted by The Citizen).

“He did not answer my question,” – Plymouth resident Fran Taylor, reacting to Richardson’s response to her question about what the governor would do to help Iraqis who’ve aided American efforts in Iraq but have been denied entrance to the US, in the Sept. 3 edition of The Citizen of Laconia. Richardson instead reportedly gave a lengthy oration on establishing a peace accord in the region.

“Iowa, for good reason, for constitutional reasons, for reasons related to the Lord, should be the first caucus and primary. And I want you to know who was the first candidate to sign a pledge not to campaign anywhere if they got ahead of Iowa. It was Bill Richardson.” – Bill Richardson, as quoted in a Sept. 4 story in the Des Moines Register, talking to a crowd at the Northwest Iowa Labor Council picnic.

“That was a little weird. I don’t know what God had to do with choosing Iowa among other states. I found that a little strange.” – Sioux City resident Joe Shufro, reacting to Richardson’s picnic speech, in the Sept. 4 Des Moines Register.

“This process is completely out of control and only an agreement by the candidates can restore sanity…Anarchy in the nominating process does nothing to further the cause of changing America.” – Richardson, in an Aug. 31 statement announcing that he would be the first of the Democratic presidential candidates to sign a “Four-State Pledge” to not campaign in any state that schedules it’s primary or caucus ahead of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

“I don’t see how anybody who believes he or she should be president of the United States of America could get tricked into signing a pact to ignore tens of millions of diverse Americans by a selfish, four-state alliance of party insiders.” – Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman, responding to the “Four-State Pledge” signed by Richardson, in a Sept. 1 story in the Miami Herald.