High Ambition: Richardson Eyes the White House - Part 4

If you're interested in Bill Richardson's rise to power, you owe it to yourself to read this profile of him which has been running in the Albuquerque Journal for the last 4 weeks (with one week remaining). --MC

High Ambition: Richardson Eyes the White House - Part 4

By Thomas J. Cole Journal Investigative Reporter
Copyright © 2007, Albuquerque Journal

Editor's note: This is Part 4 of an in-depth biography written by Journal reporters Leslie Linthicum and Thomas J. Cole, who spent months researching this project. It is appearing over five weeks in the Sunday Journal.

SANTA FE— Twenty days after being sworn in as governor, Bill Richardson walked through the cherry-wood doors and onto the blue carpet of the House of Representatives to deliver his State of the State Address. He made his way slowly through well-wishing lawmakers and past desks decorated with flowers for the Legislature's first day of the 2003 session. "The wind was blowing strong that opening day," recalls Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque. "It was the wind of change."
After eight years of a Republican governor known more for saying "no" than pushing change, there was a new sheriff in town. This governor, a Democrat, packed an ambitious agenda: cut taxes, abolish the state board of education, help seniors with prescription drugs, crack down on drunken drivers and more. Wearing a dark suit, white shirt and blue tie, Richardson stood in the well of the House to deliver his address, the giant silver seal of the state of New Mexico serving as a backdrop. He quoted lyrics from Bob Dylan's '60s protest song "The Times They Are A-Changin'," warning lawmakers not to "stand in the doorway" or "block up the hall" as he pushed his agenda. "We won't be impeded," Richardson said. The governor departed briefly from his prepared text to deliver another message: "We will move so fast you're not going to see us."
The hard-charging Richardson, known to some as King Bill or GovZilla, has seemingly been on the move ever since that January day in Santa Fe.
Richardson consolidated power in his office, rewarded loyalists, brazenly punished opponents and polished his image as a tireless self-promoter while tightening controls over information.
Richardson has used his power to seek and get change in virtually every corner of New Mexico life, from slashing income taxes to creating pre-kindergarten to planning for a spaceport.
Even some Republican heavy hitters have been impressed with the breadth of his accomplishments. [continued here]