Choosing Sides

It may be a little early to settle on a candidate for President. I'm not the kind of person who makes these kinds of decisions rashly or blindly. As I stated below, however, I'm really interested in Bill Richardson. I'm going to an Arizona for Richardson meeting tomorrow, so we'll see how I feel after that. But for an example of what I like about him, look at his "No Troops Left Behind" site.

I don't know if this is political theatre or what, but if it is, it's the kind I can really get behind. He's giving the impression that he cares so much about the Iraq issue that he wants it done before he's even the Democratic nominee, let alone before he's president. He's also set himself in a very admirable position, because he is one of only two Democratic candidates not currently serving in the U.S. Congress (We've got 5 Senators, 1 Representative, 1 former Senator, and Richardson is Governor) -- Richardson and Gravel get to point at all the other 6 candidates and say "they could have ended it, and didn't. We did all we could." If the Congress does deauthorize the war, or bring the troops home, then they get to say they were behind that course of action, and Richardson in particular can claim that he actually had something to do with it.

If the war is over before the primary election, Richardson looks good because he has experience, has strong positions on other issues, and supported brining the troops home. If it isn't then there was nothing he can do about it, and he has a strong position on this issue. Remember that Iraq is a) the biggest issue hanging over the candidates' heads right now, and b) the one issue on which the candidates probably have the least disagreements. If Richardson can get that issue out of the way now, then everything other issue he's running on is something he can point to his own gubernatorial record for to show his past successes.