December 3, 2008
Finally official today, N.M. Gov. Bill Richardson was named President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Secretary of Commerce. Once a rival for the office, Richardson endorsed Obama for president while the race was still undecided between Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's choice for Secretary of State.
Is Richardson a good choice for Commerce?
Sure.
Is he qualified for the job?
Absolutely.
Does this selection demonstrate gratitude from the Obama camp to the Latino community for their support in the campaign?
Absolutely not.
Let's rewind the clock back to the primary election. Never before had the Latino community lined up so solidly behind a primary candidate the way we had for Hillary. In El Paso, she carried about 70 percent of the vote, in some precincts even higher than that.
Obama and Clinton were the only two left standing after a long and hard-fought primary that also had two other prominent Democratic candidates, Richardson and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. Richardson and Edwards backed out, but only Richardson endorsed one of the two final candidates while it still mattered.
Richardson's endorsement of Obama drew the ire of the Clinton family. Richardson went out on a limb for Obama. He endorsed him over the spouse of his former boss, a boss who Richardson served under as an ambassador and Secretary of Energy. He damaged a personal friendship to endorse Obama and he endorsed Obama while most of the Latino community was supporting Obama's rival.
Richardson was the most-prominent and highest-ranking Latino elected official to ever endorse Obama. Despite being behind Clinton in the primary, fervently in many cases, Latinos supported Obama in the general election overwhelmingly with 66 percent of the vote.
So what does Richardson get from Obama for all of that? Secretary of Commerce. That's pretty much a demotion from the positions Richardson held in the Clinton Administration.
I'm not saying that Richardson is owed anything because he's brown and speaks Spanish. Richardson is better than that. I'm saying that neither Bill Clinton, nor Obama, have given qualified Latinos a shot at major cabinet positions despite enjoying the support of the Latino community in elections. Bill Clinton had the chance to nominate a qualified Latino for the Supreme Court and passed on the opportunity. Obama had the chance to make Richardson Secretary of State and passed on the opportunity.
This is why Latinos often feel used in the political process.
It might not be popular to say, but Richardson is more qualified to be Secretary of State than Hillary Clinton. In fact, he's FAR more qualified to be Secretary of State. Hillary's international credentials amount to a short career in the Senate and being the spouse of Bill Clinton. Sure, she visited many countries and Heads of State, but in the capacity of First Lady, not as a diplomat.
Richardson has served as a legislator and an executive. He was in Congress and two cabinet offices. He served as the ambassador to the United Nations and governor of a New Mexico. Richardson has already built a strong reputation in the international community and was a point person on several key international negotiations involving nuclear weapons and the return of the remains of American servicemen.
Richardson is quite simply the most-qualified candidate for the job of Secretary of State; he just happens to be Latino. Does the President-elect not have the responsibility to select the most-qualified person for the job? So why was Richardson passed over for the position?
Simple, the insatiable lust to see the so called "Dream Ticket" administration.
I'm not saying Hillary isn't qualified and I'm not saying that she'll do a bad job. But she's not the MOST-qualified.
Now many will say that the Secretary of Commerce is not an inconsequential position. That may be true, especially if you compare it to something like Secretary of the Interior. But here's how you know it isn't true. When Obama had his press conference about the economy and he paraded out his team of smarty-pants? There was no mention of Secretary of Commerce. If Obama looked at the Secretary of Commerce as a key cabinet position, Obama would have made his selection before the news conference and that selection would have been included as part of his financial smarty-pants.
There were few people locally who were more ardent Obama supporters than I during the campaign season, but if the Obama administration doesn't start looking a little more like the America we live in, and qualified Latinos aren't allowed to compete for prominent positions, then my support may be short-lived.
***
Jaime Abeytia is a political blogger who writes the the lionstar blog