Pubdate: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Author: Michael Janofsky A CANDIDATE TRIES TO KEEP HIS TROUBLES BEHIND HIM ALBUQUERQUE, April 9 -- After a short speech on Monday night he invited questions, and it came as no surprise, he said later, that no one in the audience mentioned Wen Ho Lee, nobody asked whether China had succeeded in buying nuclear secrets, and Bill Clinton's name never came up. That is the way it usually goes, Bill Richardson said, completing another day in his campaign for governor of New Mexico. The state has too many other problems, he maintained, for voters to worry about ancient political history, even if he played a prominent role in it. A former congressman, onetime ambassador to the United Nations and secretary of an Energy Department that struggled with security shortcomings, Mr. Richardson, 54, is now the only Democrat running. His popularity is so strong and his fund-raising efforts have been so successful that the two other Democratic aspirants dropped out. That has given him a clear path to the November election to face the surviving Republican among three competing in a June 4 primary. Gov. Gary E. Johnson, a Republican well known for his efforts promoting drug decriminalization, is barred by law from seeking a third term. For now, none of the Republican candidates seem strong enough to win, and certainly none can match Mr. Richardson's political portfolio: 15 years in the House of Representatives followed by four as the highest-ranking Hispanic in the Clinton administration. Two of the Republicans, John A. Sanchez and Robert M. Burpo, are state lawmakers; the third, Walter D. Bradley, has been lieutenant governor for eight years. But they have none of Mr. Richardson's political baggage, either. That means he could have a fight on his hands in a state that showed dramatic ambivalence in the 2000 presidential election. After a recount, Al Gore carried New Mexico by all of 366 votes, making this the only state he won in the interior West. "No primary, it's a plus," Mr. Richardson said before addressing parents and supporters of a thriving private school here. "In the past, the Democratic candidate for governor was so wounded going out of the primary. This will give me a chance to unite the party sooner." One challenge for Mr. Richardson is to convince voters that he can leverage his national and world experience to help a state that lags most others in vital areas like per capita income, job creation, teacher salaries and health insurance for children. Mr. Richardson places blame for New Mexico's troubles on a governor "obsessed with drug policy" to the exclusion of other issues, an accusation dismissed by Republicans, who complain that the Democratic-controlled Legislature thwarted many of Mr. Johnson's efforts to tackle the state's biggest problems. In any event, Mr. Richardson said, those problems account for the kinds of questions he most often faces while campaigning. He answers with proposals for restructuring the tax code to attract businesses, creating a high-tech corridor in the Albuquerque area and promoting charter and magnet schools. "That other stuff?" he said of his Energy Department tenure. "Never comes up. Non-issues. The only time I hear about it is when I do national interviews." Or when Republicans take aim at him, in attacks he expects to intensify. John Dendahl, the Republican state chairman, said questions about Mr. Richardson's leadership skills, as reflected in the Energy Department's problems on his watch, could emerge as the Republican nominee's best weapon. "I wouldn't want to run on that record," Mr. Dendahl said today, contending that Mr. Richardson presented a "target-rich environment" for the winner of the Republican primary, not least because of his close relationship with Mr. Clinton. Mr. Richardson says he inherited the problems at Energy and, despite the events that ultimately brought Mr. Clinton's impeachment, bristles at the notion that the former president could be a liability. He said he was even weighing the possibility of inviting Mr. Clinton into the state to campaign for him. "I feel grateful to him," Mr. Richardson said. "He put me in two cabinet positions. I'm proud of my service. He's my friend, and I probably will invite him." But "Clinton is not the issue here," the candidate also said. "I have to run my own race." Mr. Richardson is one of four cabinet officers from the Clinton administration who are running for governor this year. Former Attorney General Janet Reno is a candidate in Florida, former Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich in Massachusetts and former Housing Secretary Andrew M. Cuomo in New York. Julia Payne, a spokeswoman for Mr. Clinton, said he would do "whatever he can to get Democrats elected." F. Chris Garcia, a professor of political science at the University of New Mexico, said Mr. Richardson's record, a source of pride to many New Mexicans -- especially Hispanics, who make up more than 40 percent of the state's population -- might be too much for a Republican to overcome. Professor Garcia predicted that only "a major error or blunder" would cost Mr. Richardson a victory in November. But he wondered whether the Richardson campaign path was "too smooth" for now, posing a risk of overconfidence. "He might not do all the things he has to do," Professor Garcia said. "If he appears to be too good to be true, people may start looking to see if that's a possibility." Mr. Richardson said he was taking no chances, planning to start a big media campaign after the Republican primary in June. "This is a wildly independent state that shifts dramatically every four years," he said. "And we have so many problems. I want to be viewed as someone with the new ideas to address them." - --- MAP posted-by: Alex