Bad Blood between Clinton, Richardson

It was hardly a surprise when Bill Richardson made such a big production about endorsing Barak Obama. It was becoming increasingly obvious that while the two remaining viable Democrat candidates were scratching and clawing for the remaining delegates in the Democratic primaries, John McCain, the Republican candidate has been busy doing the work of actually running for the presidency.

Richardson said as much on Fox News yesterday. I paraphrase, "While Obama and Clinton are busy trying to win the nomination, McCain is going international. This has to stop."

He has a point. McCain has been using the time remaining before the conventions to project the image of being the president - as a foregone conclusion. Mana from heaven. But that's the way it played out.

But what's been going on in the background? Richardson said on NBC Nightly News that when he broke the news to Hillary via a phone call, the discussion about his decision to endorse Barack Obama was "heated" and "tough". One can well imagine. Senator Clinton is well known for her shrillness and sense of entitlement. Who can forget, "We are the President!"

Richardson, for the moment, is the party's most visible champion for party unification; and he's taken his stand. Of course, it would have been too dangerous to trot out a has-been like John Kerry.

But Richardson is different. He's up and coming, he seems to have no skeletons in the closet, and... well, he's Hispanic. Well, half Hispanic, but let's not quibble. This is just a long range speculation of course, but it would be interesting to see if a successful Obama puts him on the ticket. After all, the two would represent the very two groups of constituents the Dems need to spark with just now - Hispanics and Blacks.