Opinion: But does he like long walks on the beach?
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There’s no ‘lust in my heart’ moment, but Bill Richardson lays himself bare, so to speak, in the December issue of Playboy -- a bit of exposure that isn’t likely to help him lure many female voters away from Hillary Clinton.
Since the site carries a fee to read the interview, conducted by Jeff Greenfield, we thought we’d give you a few highlights from the press release:
“The first week I’m president I would take on three issues, and we would have to come up with solutions -- bipartisan solutions. One is Iraq. We’ve got to get out. The second is our $9 trillion deficit. Third is Social Security and Medicare.” “I don’t try to imitate [Bill Clinton]. This has always been my style. But yes, there’s a little bit of Bill Clinton in me. One of the things that used to drive me nuts about him, though, was how he would try to convince his enemies he was a good guy. He’d sometimes spend more time talking to his enemies than to his friends. I don’t believe I’m like that, but I do believe you try to seek common ground in order to convince somebody.’ “I like sports. I’m a regular person. I don’t make any pretenses. I like the arts -- I like modern art -- but I’d rather spend time watching a football game or a baseball game. I go to the opera and leave at intermission. I like to smoke a cigar.”
There’s more but you get the idea. In the interview Richardson comes across much as he does in one-on-one encounters, sounding a little brash at times, but engaging.
For those of you who like to see candidates’ words with fewer pictures, Richardson also has joined the parade of published political authors with the release of ‘Leading by Example’ -- his take on how to fix the nation’s problems.
The debates, a book and now a Playboy interview -- fortunately, politicians never fear over-exposure.
-- Scott Martelle