Opinion: Gov. Bill Richardson: Not a detail type of guy

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Perhaps it’s best for the Republic that Bill Richardson’s presidential campaign flamed out. And had he defied the odds and gotten on a path to the White House, he apparently would have needed to pick a running mate who excelled at mind-reading.

The New Mexico governor left his home state last weekend on a short trip that included a stop in Kentucky to promote the candidate he has endorsed since exiting the presidential race, Barack Obama (Richardson did part of his stumping at the Kentucky Derby -- nice work, if you can get it).

One little problem -- Richardson neglected to tell his lieutenant governor, Diane Denish, a fellow Democrat, about his travel plans.

‘I don’t take it personally,’ she told the Albuquerque Journal. ‘He just doesn’t want to publicize that he’s out of state.’

But, she added, ‘I think it would have been better if I were notified’ -- in part because a section of the Manzano Mountains happened to be ablaze and she would have asked for a steadier flow of information about the fire.

A Richardson aide insisted no harm, no foul. ‘The governor is still the governor when he’s out of state. He’s still making decisions,’ Gilbert Gallegos told the Journal.

-- Don Frederick