Bill Richardson for President?

Ok, so being willing to shelter and protect the protesting Democrat state Senators from Texas maybe shouldn't be the sole qualification used to determine who gets to be president, but I gotta tell you, right now I really like Bill Richardson a lot.

Not only has he welcomed the Democrats from Texas to his state, but he's providing him with security while they're there - led by the head of his own security detail. And that's not all.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson vowed that state police here would arrest and charge with attempted kidnapping anyone who tried to remove the Senate refugees.

And he also indicated that authorities here might consider filing conspiracy to kidnap charges against those who might send the bounty hunters here, according to several of the legislators who spoke with Richardson, a Democrat.

Still, it's not any governor who would put himself in the middle of this kind of a feud, or that would stand up to Tom DeLay and his desire to get more Republican seats in Texas. For that, Richardson deserves some recognition.

One other thing I've read about him, but have unfortuantely lost the reference to (I'll update this post if/when I find it), is that he - perhaps jokingly, but these days, who knows - suggested that maybe New Mexico should consider it's own redistricting plan if the Texas one goes through, to help balance out the gains by Republicans in Texas and Colorado.

Of course, as sweet as the idea of revenge seat-taking sounds, it would be just as wrong for a Democrat-controlled state government to redistrict their state in mid-decade as it is for Republican regimes to do so, so I do hope he's meant the comment facitiously, but it's still a nice bit of fantasy wish-fulfillment to dream about.