Adios, Bill Richardson

The only candidate without spawn is pulling out of the race today. He's also one of two candidates I've met face to face.

While we were overseas, Governor Richardson dashed across the planet to negotiate the release of an American in prison on drug smuggling charges. I met him at the Embassy just before he whisked the girl back to her parents.

Now you're wondering which other candidate I've met, right? Mrs. Clinton also visited that Embassy, along with her daughter. I doubt Chelsea remembers me as it was a while ago and they were on a whirlwind tour. All I can remember is thinking how pretty she was, even back then.

Chelsea's Café Chat

She's working the coffee shops of New Hampshire (primary TODAY!) where she ran into Governor Bill Richardson, who used to work for her Dad and is now running against her Mom. Here's how Marcella Bombardieri of the Boston Globe reports the conversation:

She quickly strode over to him, and the two shook hands warmly. She says something inaudible about “the debate the other night.”

Richardson: “Do you remember when I took you to that Navajo parade?”

Clinton: “I know! That was a great. It was a a long time ago.”

Richardson: “Ten years, maybe more. Fifteen?”

Clinton: “That was ‘92!”

Richardson: “Nice to see you!”

Clinton: “You too!”

Richardson: “You’re the best!”

Chelsea: “I try!”

First Ladies In Waiting

Darlene Superville of the Associated Press takes a closer look at seven of the First Lady wannabes, summing up the field like this:

A political consultant, two lawyers and a pair of battle-tested veterans of presidential campaigns are in the thick of the fight for the White House, urging their spouses on.

Two of the prospective first ladies are managing life-threatening diseases. One would be the first woman of color with the title. A third recently completed her latest humanitarian trip, to Vietnam.

All but one of them are mothers, including of young children. One's a grandmother of 10, too.

Americans have a variety of women to get to know in the campaign, quite apart from the very well known former first lady who's running for president in her own right.

Elizabeth Edwards is described as "an insomniac, (who) surfs the Web or shops online when sleep won't come; ebay.com is one of her favorite sites. She ... is often caught commenting on other peoples' blogs." Hey! That includes visiting me, right here! Stop by again, Mrs. Edwards!

The Weirdness of Race: Tiger Woods For President

Here's something else to love or hate about the hunky golfer who refuses to identify himself by race.* Ten years ago, on Oprah, he got everybody riled up by saying, "I'm a Cablinasian." As in Caucasian-black-Indian-Asian. "I'm just who I am," Woods said, "whoever you see in front of you."

It's getting harder to label Americans by race. Take Halle Berry, for example. Or Derek Jeter. And last night on American Idol, when Jordin Sparks said, "I've got an average family," and a photo of her black Dad and white Mom came up, I found myself wondering if she'd say she was African-American or white, or both, or neither. (Weird note to self: they all have black Dads and white Moms ...)

People are talking race about candidates Obama and Richardson, describing them as black and Latino, but Obama's white American mother fell in love with his Kenyan father at a Hawaiian university, and Richardson has a half-white, half-Mexican father and a Mexican mother. So does that make him Latino? Even though I know it's important for the black and Hispanic communities to feel represented (hey, the day we have an Asian-ish candidate, believe me, I'm going to notice), maybe the real question to ask is whether these guys would make good Presidents.

*Technically, Tiger's 1/4 Chinese, 1/4 Thai, 1/4 Black, 1/8 Native American, 1/8 Dutch, his wife Elin is Swedish, so do the math for their babies if you care about the numbers.

Photo Source: Fifi LePew

Richardson: We Like Funny

Presidents have to govern their countries, but do they have to make people laugh, or even smile? I think so -- most teenagers can relate better to adults who use smart, ironic humor. That's why these ads from Bill Richardson, the Governor of New Mexico, work for me, especially because they don't put anybody else down. Take notes, campaign crews for the rest of the pack.

Richardson's the only childless candidate in '08; he'd be the first President in 84 years without kids (Warren Harding was the last). He's been married to Barbara Flavin, his high school sweetheart, for 33 years. They met when he was hitchhiking and she gave him a ride ... hey, wait a minute, I thought we weren't supposed to do that.

MySpace Freedom of Speech Award Goes To ...

Before we get back to finding out where and how they live, here's an update on me and them in MySpace.

I tried to friend most of the candidates today and post something about this blog on their sites. John Edwards, Sam Brownback, and Mitt Romney added me and posted my comment after a while, but no HTML code allowed, so people can't click from their sites to this one.

Chris Dodd added me and posted my comment right away, without any long approval process. He also let me link right to this blog like an HTML maniac.

John McCain added me but didn't approve my comment. We'll wait and see what happens. No word at all from Obama, Giuliani, Biden, Clinton, or Richardson.

Results so far: Chris Dodd wins Sparrow's MySpace Award for Freedom of Speech! Sadly, once the Wackos start to post, he might have to change his ways ...