The governor of New Mexico also allowed for plenty of schmoozing time before his speech. Here Richardson greets Gary Sanders, longtime fixture on the Johnson County political scene.
Richardson with Iowa City Council candidate Terry Smith. It may have been the first appearance at a Democratic event in recorded history for Smith, who was a registered Republican little more than a year ago. Later, as Richardson spoke, I spotted Smith in a classic odd couple seating arrangement next to peace protester David Goodner.
It was during the Richardson speech that the combination of humid weather and body heat started reaching discomfort levels. The smart folks stood outside, sticking their heads in through open windows.
The first known local Richardson names have been named: Soil and Water commissioner Kelley Putman and longtime party activist Maureen Donnelly.
Richardson rolled out the usual stump speech lines ("With me you get experience and change," etc.) Big applause lines seemed to be his call for no residual force in Iraq and for scrapping No Child Left Behind.
The main critique of Richardson's speech seemed to be its length. Even the next speaker, Chris Dodd, commented: "I thought I was back in the Senate and Bill Richardson was giving a filibuster." But Richardson got off the best quip at the cattle call nature of the day, reports County Supervisor Rod Sullivan. Richardson was leaving as Dodd was arriving, and he rolled down his window and yelled over to Dodd. "Hey, Chris. Chris!" Dodd noticed and looked over. "Chris! What are YOU doing here?"
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