VIDEO - Bill Richardson rocks a crowd of NYCers

March is an insane month for the amount of political events you can go to. The proof is in the amount of political heavy hitters DL21C was able to wrangle during that month : Jon Kerry, Wesley Clark, John Tester, John Edwards, Bill Richardson. It is also an insane month for the amount of technology and media conferences you can get invited to, the most important (at least for me) being SXSW --but there's eTech and IDPI as well.

I missed almost all the events involving presidential candidates because of the amount of conferences I was involved in during the month of March. Once I was done with my last one, ARC's national conference on "Facing Race", I was free to enjoy a candidate or two by the end of the month. I wasn't able to make it to the John Edwards event (I was having some fun at a party with Nancy Pelosi).

So 3/26 was Bill Richardson's lucky number.

When I went to the Bill Richardson meet and greet, I didn't have too much of an informed opinion about the man. Granted, I have heard him discussed among latino groups as a compelling yet problematic politician given his insistence in calling himself not a latino but an American of Hispanic ascendancy. Politically there is a difference there yet, I had heard he was quite the progressive democrat as well. That information came from DailyKos, with Marko's political cheerleading. Given I have some ideological differences with Markos and the prior mixed messages about the man, I went in to this "meet and greet" with a bit of scepticism.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised.

Richardson came out as incredibly down-to-earth yet thoughtful man. He started his speech with "I'm not a rock star", and then proceeded to rock the house with his wit and political wisdom.

Sure, he echoed the platitudes of how our country is divided into red/blue states, yadda yadda; but what really impressed me was how attentive people were to his every word. The audience was listening.

Richardson has a needle sharp sense of humor that is self-effacing. He has the timing of a stand-up comedian, like a Seinfeld or a George Carlin. The man knows how to work not just a room but a whole audience.

Hillary, Edwards, Obama they all are good at orating (and let's not get into their being guilty of ponitificating most of the time). With Richardson you don't hear a speech. His wit turns a run-of-the-mill and scripted "stump speech" into a real conversation. The man is an exceptional public speaker and communicator.

I can see why Markos, after working with Howard Dean, would feel compelled by a guy like Bill Richardson. He really comes across as being authentic and at ease with his persona. It's hard to see him as a player --even though he's a F.O.B. Which, speaking of Bill Clinton, Richardson comes closest to him in style. Name dropping him a few times during his presentation doesn't hurt either in making the connection.

So it was refreshing to see such an energized audience. People were actively paying attention to everything he had to say, waiting for the next witty remark. They were eating it all up, energized with every new quip. If he didn't have the audience in stitches, they were "Amening" with his comments on Iran, Darfur or immigration.

Sure, Azi being a journo yadda yaddad his event but, since I am not a journo, I will go on record as saying that he's high on my list of contenders.

My favorite moment of the evening? It was lost by a damaged video file. I asked Bill Richardson what he thought about the effort by many in Capitol Hill to militarize immigration and turn it into a national security issue (I asked this as he had referred to national security and terrorism numerous time throughout his presentation). I was surprised by his reponse : We need to address poverty issues in the countries from whence many of our immigrants are coming. And he went on record as saying that the militarization of the Mexican border along withe wall were bad, bad ideas.

That's exactly what I wanted to hear.

Oh, and while editing the video, I was stunned by his statements on Human Rights. When you hear what he has to say you'll be screaming, "Can I have a witness". Nobody has talked or linked foreign debt, poverty, Darfur and mysogynistic policies along the Third World the way Richardson has.

So a shout out to Bill Richardson and a note to say : Governor, I am definitely keeping my powder dry.

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