Richardson Pick Proves Hitch For Obama

Kathleen Sebelius On Short List To Replace N.M. Gov. For Commerce Post

(CBS/AP)  When he ran for president, Bill Richardson touted more than an adventurous style and impressive resume. He was the guy who embraced flaws as a strength, the one who said the American people "don't want blow-dried candidates with perfection."

A federal grand jury investigation into what could be a serious flaw, however, has led New Mexico's governor to a tough decision to leave the national political stage - at least for now.

Richardson on Sunday withdrew as Barack Obama's nominee to be Commerce Secretary - an unexpected hitch in what has been a generally smooth transition for the president-elect so far.

A federal grand jury is looking into how a California firm that contributed to Richardson's political activities won a lucrative state government contract.

The former U.S. diplomat sounded diplomatic in announcing his decision. He said he has done nothing wrong, but figured a dragged-out confirmation could slow down Obama's work. And so Richardson withdrew, spoke with pride about sticking with his job as governor, and told Obama he's still eager to serve down the line.

"The governor is confident that he will be cleared," said Richardson's spokesman, Gilbert Gallegos.

"It is with deep regret that I accept Governor Bill Richardson's decision to withdraw his name for nomination as the next Secretary of Commerce," Obama said in a statement.

Putting aside the setback, Obama said: "It is a measure of his willingness to put the nation first."

CBS News White House correspondent Bill Plante reports that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is said to be on the short list of possible replacements.

A federal grand jury is looking into how Beverly Hills financial services company, CDR Financial Products, earned a $1.5 million state contract after contributing to Governor Richardson's political action committees.

Richardson denied any wrongdoing, but said Sunday that the pending investigation threatened to stall the confirmation process for several weeks or months.

CDR spokesman Allan Ripp, in an exclusive telephone interview with CBS News, said, “The firm adamantly doesn’t practice pay-for-play under any circumstance on any playing field. It is pay for performance, pay for expertise, pay for track record, and pay for merit.”

As a result of Richardson's problems, questions are now surfacing over Obama's transition team's vetting process.

Richardson's withdrawal was the first bump in Obama's Cabinet process and the second "pay-to-play" investigation that has touched Obama's transition to the presidency. The president-elect
has not been implicated in either the New Mexico case or accusations that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich tried to sell Obama's former Senate seat.

CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer says this latest turn demonstrates to Obama how events can always thwart the intentions of an incoming Chief Executive.

"No president can completely control his agenda," he told CBS Early Show. "There's something here that we don’t know yet - the fact that Bill Richardson suddenly asked that his name be withdrawn, there's something coming down the road that he's going to have to deal with."

Obama meets with congressional leaders Monday about a massive economic recovery bill he wants passed quickly. Obama transition officials said Richardson's withdrawal would not affect the stimulus plan because the Commerce Department was not heavily involved.

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said he expected a new commerce secretary would be chosen soon but didn't have a timetable. Gibbs denied that those tasked to look into Richardson's background missed something.

"Everyone knew about this investigation," says Politico.com's Mike Allen. "The President-elect took a chance. The question is why. Did (Obama's) vetters ask enough questions? Did (Richardson) give the right answers?"

A senior Obama adviser said Richardson gave assurances before he was nominated last month he would come out fine in the investigation. But as the grand jury pursued the case, it became clear that confirmation hearings would be delayed at least six weeks until the investigation was complete, said the adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity about the discussions because they were private.

Aides to both men insisted Richardson made the decision to withdraw and was not pushed out by Obama. But one Democrat involved in discussions over the matter said transition officials became increasingly nervous during the last couple of weeks that the investigation could become an embarrassment to Obama, who ran on a clean government pledge.

Richardson, 61, is one of the most prominent Hispanics in the Democratic Party, having served in Congress, and in the Clinton administration as ambassador to the United Nations and Energy Secretary. As governor he has kept up an international profile with a specialty in dealing with rogue nations. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination this year, but eventually dropped out and endorsed Obama, who considered him for Secretary of State.

[omnibus66]

The term ''clean politician'' is an oxymoron.

Some get caught, some don''t.

[armor371]

Obama''s clean goverment pledge, what a joke. Look where he came from.

[jcd45]

I believe there is a scandalous story revolving around the stong club of Senators i.e Kerry, Kennedy Ried excetra..........include Pelosi in the mix along with Obama and his transition team to rid themselves of Hillary Clinton as the distinguished Senator from the great state of New York How you ask offer her the only position that would entice her to accept I also believe that Caroline Kennedy was heavily involved I also believe this meeting of the minds took plce way before the announcement of the selection..and also that Obama has made direct contact with the the governor of N Y AND HER REPLACEMENT KENNEDY is a done deal

[sandy19731]

Obama''''s clean goverment pledge, what a joke. Look where he came from.
Posted by Armor371 at 09:00 AM : Jan 05, 2009

And where is this perfect place that you came from?

[opedanderson]

What a bunch of baloney. They didnt know this about him?

Wright, Ayers, Rezko, Blago and now Richardson?

How many more before you Obama-bots start asking real questions about your Messiah????

[geeimbad]

As I read these comments, I don''t see opinions, I see hatred. "America", has spoken. Majority votes rules. Since your party or choice didn''t win, you have so much negative things to say. It''s obvious that most of you are republicans and there''s nothing wrong with that. You boast of being the better choice, so why can''t you be the better person and speak on facts. No one is perfect, certainly not your choice for Pres. Bush. There''s been countless Republicans that has been caught with their hands in the trap, but you don''t see anyone mentioning that. People, the times have changed so deal with it. You (the negative commenters) are of the past the we as "Americans" want to forget. It is because of you and your comments on Hawaii & Kenya that change (in your world) will be slow to come about. We as "Americans" shall change and we will move on while you sit your sorry @$$es back and wonder what happened. Yeah, we have freedom of speech, but when do you learn to work together to solve the problem instead of pointing the finger. Well, I guess you can''t if that''s all you''re used to doing.

[billrich11]

I''m loving it....This is so good for America.

I told you folks how nobody was concerned with what Blago was doing, merely with the fact he was recorded while doing it.

Especially right at a time when Barack NObama was busy collecting his hundreds of millions in "Pay to Play" fees for his cabinet.

Now we see Hillary being exposed in some of her hubby''s newly release financial reports for running a "Pay to Play" scheme with some up state NY land developer.

And, now we see my name sake getting caught running his on version of the "Pay to Play" politics we have all long known the old DumboCraphead Party to be all about.

[geeimbad]

You''re all like the kid at school who brought their game to school and when no one wanted to follow "their" rules they "Whined". Acknowledge there''s a new leader and turn your useless words into solutions for the economy. Usually the answers to these types of problems don''t come from the higher ups, its usually comes from us, the common people. Quit the bickering and maybe suggest "who would be a good "Republican" (maybe) replacement .

[xlib]

geemibad-Prof joseph olson of Hamline University School of Law, ST Paul, Mn points out some interesting facts concerning the recent election:
Number of states own by Dems-19 Rep 29
Square miles of land won by dems-580,000 Rep 2,427,000
Population of counties won by dems-127 million rep 143 million
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by dems 13.2 rep 2.1
Olson adds: "in aggregate, the map of the territory Rep won mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the country.
Dem territory mostly encompassed those living in government owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare.
This info has been making the rounds and has been found to be accurate as Olson got his info from Newsweek, hardly a conservative friendly magazine.
There is a typo on some giving the university as hemline. Check it out yourself.

[xlib]

geeimbad-Ah sweetie, no group whines better than the dems. As for my previous post, it''s real.
Some 40% of our population have already reached the "governmental dependency "phase.
Me, I don''t find that to be a good thing. Show me one country where this type of government has flourished, just one.
As for the "majority of the nation has spoken", yep, perhaps. Doesn''t mean it''s a good thing.
As for one Republican I am in favor of, well, Bobby Jindal (R-La) who just may save his state. After all, the dems had it for decades and look what they did. An entire population of people who can''t or won''t do a *** thing for themselves.

[nursehope]

So the hungry wolves licking their chops waiting for something to bring Obama down....it''s not going to happen folks. Richardson has not been found guilty. Obama was not involved with Blago per the investigators....keep trying....perhaps you should try planting someone or something to bring him down...so far this guilt by association thing isn''t working. Remember the Bush-Bin Laden relationship folks? Need I say more?

[xlib]

mindurownbiz-haven''t you gotten the memo where it says that dem politicans can never do anything wrong
or illelgal. Seems like the media has. Where''s the updates on blago??
Wasn''t richardson running for prez?? Didn''t he want to be VP?? You know, with the chicago thugs now running the government he would fit in just fine.

[verycold]

While I think many responding here don''t like Obama to begin with, I think it goes much deeper. The liberal media by refusing to take on democratic scandals with the same enthusiasm as those committed by republicans has caused the hatred for the other party to increase. If you look closely at the Blago crisis it is easy to figure out that the federal prosecutors coupled with the media stopped that investigation before a key democrat took the bait. Republicans know in their heart that no such favor would have been awarded to them. Stopping the investigation was a mistake in that the wire tapping wasn''t then able to flush out all the trash from Chicago politics.

Now with Richardson stepping aside the media and democrats are trying to spin this that Richardson is such an honorable man to put his country first. The truth is that this investigation has known to Richardson and Obama and still they decided to risk this fracture and nominate Richardson. What Obama and both parties are failing to get is that with each scandal Americans become more disillusioned. It has been 8 years of hating the republicans with all their scandals and poor performance and now we can see that democrats don''t have their act together either. There is no party of honor.

[xlib]

nursehope-so blind, so faithful. Drink your koolaid in the med room do you??
So, according to you, a dem politican can do no wrong, is that correct??
Share, tell us how that works. Please.

[credibility2]

Richardson knew all along that his pay to play bit was going to be an issue for him and Obama. I''m sure Richardson decided all on his own to drop out and oh, yes, for the good of the nation. I think all politicians are guilty of this. Richardson is just another statistic. Isn''t it interesting that the media isn''t hounding him like they''re doing with Blagojevich? Same party; double standard.

[geeimbad]

Xlib & MindURownBiz, No one is the Messiah. There''s only one. I''m not a Dem, I''m and independent and I make my choice on whats best for me as you do. I don''t have a problem with facts, i have a problem with the whining. So your choice is not "the" choice. You have 4 years to gather your troops and rally. The homeless, the welfare recipients and all other problems have been in place way before people started paying attention to which party they belonged to. These problems will not only fall on the Pres. Elect, but on his predecessors who did little or nothing to change things. Xlib, you sound bitter. Demographics? When did this become a factor-when your choice lost the presidency. I know where you''re going with this Demographics ***, let it go please. Don''t go there. Oh yeah, thanks for the "Sweetie". You sound like my grandmother in speech and in some of her ways.

[greeneyes222]

Same song, different tune.

It could be argued that somebody on the transition team didn''t do their homework. The Democrat party isn''t new, the nominees aren''t new, and the problems aren''t new.

Where''s the "change"?

[geeimbad]

xlib, now that I have read ur latest entry, I shall call it as I see it. You and the "koolaid" remark shows that you are ignorant to the fact that time has changed and we as people should change too. You fuel the flames of hatred when you make comments that does not pertain to the conversation. Stick to the debate and speak a little more intelligently. You seem as if you know what ur talking about but you express urself with anger. Time has changed, no one is beneath you or any other race. When will you see that we all are equal. I''m ex military and served 11 yrs. Overseas we don''t see the prejudices about race. Only when we come home to America, is it manifested so much. Just listening to you makes me wonder why I fight for your sorry @$$. It''s not for you, it''s for everyone else. Everyone has a right to choose and I except that but don''t stoop low to include race in any debate when it''s not warranted. You seem like a smart person with a lot to say. Try not to sound racist or angry and I''ll debate with you all day.

[brannigon]

Richardson Pick Proves Hitch For Obama? This isn''t the only bad decision he''s made! This is only one of many we''re going to see for falling for this man''s BS! Lets see how he''s going to back it up!

[geeimbad]

greeneyes222, You may be right. If there''s no change, then I guess you shouldn''t be surprised. I guess it''ll stay the same as the last 8 pitiful years.

[johndevinejr]

Same song, different tune.

It could be argued that somebody on the transition team didn''''t do their homework. The Democrat party isn''''t new, the nominees aren''''t new, and the problems aren''''t new.

Where''''s the "change"?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by greeneyes222 at 11:31 AM : Jan 05, 2009

The change will be that we will have a government that adheres to the Constitution and the rule of law.

We will change from a government of incompetence to one of intelligence. From a government that favors the top 10% to one that will allow the middle class to survive.

[ici2i]

well said geeimbad! The choice has been made and if there are sour grapes, they aren''t part of the solution. As for gov''t programs for t less fortunate including welfare, these assistance programs have been around for longer than most people have been alive and wasn''t assumed by the feds until the 60''s surviving multiple dem & lib administrations. It''s something a civilized society does for it''s citizens and far more generous programs exist in europe. Many towns hosted state funded poor houses until the feds took control. I''m certain if somebody did the research we''d see that most people want to work. With the current economic times and the failed trickle down theory of the repubs, the numbers on fed assistance is going through the roof. None of us can afford that so it''s time to work for solutions.

[perceptions5]

"Richardson Pick Proves Hitch For Obama"- CBS/AP

Got to love our Nazi like left-wing press..........just a "hitch" huh?

I wonder what "adjective" these liberal fascists would have used if it was Bush or a Republican.?

................crimminal corrupt press

[lili5044]

There is not one single politician with clean hands in this country. They are all a bunch of lying,scheming,money hungry,mongrels. What are you going to do about it? Just keep on a *******'' and the vicious circle continues. They will keep on looking you the (American Public) in the eye and tell you what ever you want to hear at the time. They will laugh all the way to the bank. And the beat goes on and on and on....... It''s a sad sad time.:(

[geeimbad]

iCi2i, perceptions5
Nice. Finally something positive that doesn''t warrant an angry outburst.

[hober_mallow]

Folks, we''re getting screwed by the Repubs and Dems alike.

Did any of you ever see a politician die poor?

Both parties are ripping us off.

[geeimbad]

lili5044
I can agree with that. We can only sit back and wait to see what choices/changes are made. If they''re not to our liking, then we vote again.

[geeimbad]

gctomajtom, we can''t say "If the republican elect" because there isn''t one. Lol. Just kidding. It doesn''t matter who the elect would have been. The opposing media would have eaten him alive too. No one is safe from scrutiny. I think most of the media is sitting a hoping there is really change. We can speculate forever, but we will never know until the time comes. Don''t be so anxious to put someone down. Give him a chance to try to correct some of the things that Bush/Cheney and past presidents have screwed up. Obama will not be able to correct all of it, but if he corrects one thing, he has accomplished something that Bush/Cheney has not.

[yankeerebel7]

I''m really loving this change we can believe in. LOL

[msay3]

Ummmmm what ever happened to the grueling form that people had to fill out in order to become a member of Obama''s cabinet? You know, the one that gave not only your own life history, but that of your ancestors as well....Seems like the people in charge missed a few things......Oh well, politics as usual...
Nothing new here....

[bobs1066]

Bill Richardson better hope he kept the receipt for the dough he had to pony up to get a cabinet post.

[xlib]

hey earache, sounds like you have the hots for Palin. Why the fixation?? She shouldn''t be an issue now. Your party is facing all kinds of issues. Why you have blago, you have harry dissing 3 black guys for the chosen one''s seat, you have this weasel, now those pesky people in the Middle East are acting up. There is no end to what the chosen one will face. No problem, the media will help him along and shield the faithful from any nasty business.
As for the vettin process, seems that your side missed ayers, wright, rezko, birth certificate, all kinds of stuff on the chosen one. No big surprise here. Probably just a new "journalist" that didn''t realize you don''t run negative dem stories.

[xlib]

rightbehind-why???

[geeimbad]

DaVicar3: It''s nice to hear you saying "The Presidents" name. Maybe someone out there doesn''t know it (i doubt it). U sound as if you''re upset too. Aww!! Don''t be mad just sit back and wait to see if your whining proves to be true. I seriously doubt it because the last 8 yrs of "your" choice has outdone any blunder for the last 12-15 yrs (exaggeration). At least let him take the reigns and make a mistake before you begin attacking the unknown. I can only say this; if no change comes about then nothing changes. If somehow, one thing changes, its a victory not for Dems or Repubs, but America. Stop sounding so bitter and angry because you couldn''t get your friends to get off the Barrack(say it with me) "hussein" Obama wagon. Your President. LMAO!!!!

Oh yeah, "yankeerebel7", what''s the matter, are you so used to last 8 yrs that you can''t comprehend what change is?

[xlib]

geeimbad-re-read my post and as per usual,you libs see racism everywhere. I merely posted a finding that was done by someone else. Again, I posted work done by someone else. Take or don''t take it. As for being angry, nope, I''m voicing my opinion, and I still have that right. I don''t want to live in a socialist society, and that is my choice. I refer to the chosen one because THAT is the way your msm has presented him. I did not vote for him because I am conservative and he is liberal. See racism if you must.
FYI, I am a nurse who volunteers in a soup kitchen and I tend to homeless (black & white) and drug addicts. Now, that being said, what I find racist is a party who spends over 40 years telling people that they can''t care for themselves. That''s racism. While you claim I sound angry, you sound elitist. Just voicing my opinion.
If you can''t read info presented by another side without playing the race card, shame on you.
Oh yea, there are a ton of white people who live in the demographic presented by Olson. And, demograpics do matter, they show us who voted and demographics have always been used in studies. Don''t like it, contact Newsweek.

[xlib]

lilli504-well said, a politican by very nature is perhaps the most corruptable human being on the face of the earth. Sad thing is, the left refuses to believe that fact.

[xlib]

geeimbad-you don''t need to fight for me, my husband, two sons and grand daughter will do just fine.
You know, racism goes both ways, don''t you???
Really, you need to point out what I said that YOU take as racism.

[geeimbad]

Xlib, I have no choice as to who or whom I fight for. I fight or have fought for America. You''re right, you do have a right to speak as do I. I sensed anger and I called you on it. Facts such as demographics has little to do with the problems that America face. Yet we sit and bicker about the problems. How about you giving a solution (because you sound as if you can) or a suggestion on how to solve one problem instead of echoing the problems of the past. How about you suggesting a way to fix the problem. No, that would be too much like helping the opposing party. Wouldn''t it be doing America a favor?
Back to the "you don''''t need to fight for me, my husband, two sons and grand daughter will do just fine" comment. Your family alone can''t do it. It will take yours, mine and a million other families to defend America.
Again, who cares about "race"? This conversation is about the choice of America. If you volunteer, as most of us do, then great. If I am going to speak on me volunteering to help, why should I include what race it is that I''m helping. You volunteer because you want to not because you''re sympathetic to a particular race. No race card played here.

[used2bfedup1]

And this is going to be accomplished by Hussein hiring every thug, goon, crony, hacker, sell-out, Boss Tweed, and con man in the Country???

Posted by DaVicar3 at 12:34 PM : Jan 05, 2009

Thats President Hussein to you Vicar!!!

Next we plan to have President Lieberman or Feingold then we can do President Santana

Now that would just burn you wouldnt it.

[used2bfedup1]

Pretty sure even a poor comedian like Al Franken would have been a better president than Bush.

Even actor Thompson.

[geeimbad]

ddhinnyc, (if you''re directing that to me) the only idiot so far on this blog is you . If not, then... let it go. If you have nothing to say as far as the issues, usually a smart person would hold their tongue. It just goes to show that someone of your caliber can''t express or explain himself/herself when it''s related to a conversation higher than the 6th grade. There''s no need for that, and yes I shouldn''t have responded as such, but you deserved it.

[glidescube]

Oh surprise surprise, another liberal caught for corruption.

Posted by lady_organs at 08:59 AM : Jan 05, 2009

And what do you call goign to war on a lie? What do you call having gay *** in a toilet stall and then covering it up?

What party and ideology did that disgraced Republican Alaskan Senator represent?

[questionnews]

Pretty sure even a poor comedian like Al Franken would have been a better president than Bush.

Even actor Thompson.

Posted by used2bfedup1 at 01:46 PM : Jan 05, 2009

Al Franken is a comedian?? I thought he was a talk show host. And a bad one at that.

[xlib]

geemibad-you used the race card and I can only think it was in response to the my first post citing the Olson report. A report you obviously took issue with.
As for a solution and helping the "other party", don''t care for partisonship. I''ll leave that up to the politians. As for me presenting solutions, I will quote the chosen one, "above my pay grade." All I do is encourage people to do for themselves, to take responsiblilty for thier actions in relation to health care. To show them they CAN do for themselves. See, throwing good money after bad programs as those brought to us by johnson (who I campaigned for!)does not work. The problems are complex and I don''t believe Republicans are solely responsible as I don''t believe the dems are solely responsible.
As for you seeing anger in my post. Well, that''s on you, all I did was present Olson''s work. AND demographics are important and are constantly being used in politics as well as medicine. If you don''t see it, nothing I can do for you.
I can''t argue for or aganist one party or the other. I know I didn''t like what I heard from obama during the campaign and I don''t like the way our country will probably go.
Maybe you just take another''s opposing view and just that, opposing view and not attach anger because the view doesn''t agree with yours.
And, re-read your first response to me where you used the race card. Not needed. I''ll leave that to the dems.

[xlib]

earache-obsess, naw, just asking a question. I see you don''t tolerate even the hint of negative report on a dem. Don''t worry, your media will protect you.

[billrich11]

Pretty sure even a poor comedian like Al Franken would have been a better president than Bush.
Even actor Thompson.
Posted by used2bfedup1 at 01:46 PM : Jan 05, 2009
==================


Yo, do some of you NObama worshipping left wing pinko un-American Libturd Crapheaded POS need some cheese to go with your whine??

[geeimbad]

Xlib, I "almost" fully agreed. Had to leave some room for another debate. Good debate.

[tigerrram9]

If any wrong doing in this investigation it will be on the state comptroller. Remember that the state comptroller handles the money and state bids, not the governor. Remember Sarah''s bridge to nowhere and
Trooper Gate? She had her hand on the money until congress started asking questions. I have faith that Gov. Richardson will come out okay in this grand jury investigation. I will keep an eye on this and I know the state comptroller will soon resign and others will follow, but the governor will be cleared.

[thgdriver1]

Strike two for Nobama and Associates INC. Change we can believe in is all I could hear from The libs and CBS. This is better then a raise in pay.

Nice choice Nobama! LMFAO!!

[usclimey]

I don''t see how any republiscum can possibly have the chutzpah to voice criticism of the democrats given what they have foisted on the country for the past 8 years. Obama has made more good decisions in two months before he''s even president than shrub made in his entire 8 disasterous years. BTW if anyone didn''t see it - you all have to read Frank Rich''s op-ed piece in the NY Times yesterday. The title "A Preident Forgotten, not Gone." It''s a perfect sum-up of the "Bush years."