Carson City Democrats

A Thank you from Senator Chris Dodd (printed in the Las Vegas Review-Journal)

From: Barbara Richardson

Dear Carson City Democrats,

You may not know this, but today is my husband's birthday.

It's not surprising if you don't know it. In the 35 years I've been married to Bill Richardson, I have never known him to want to make a fuss over it. In fact, this year he told me he didn't want to pay attention to it at all, since it comes on the same day as the CNN debate in Nevada.

Well, tough luck, Bill! Somebody has to make a fuss over you even if you're too busy to make a fuss over yourself!

So I asked Dave Contarino if I could e-mail you and the rest of Bill's supporters and ask that you all send him some birthday wishes online today.

Just write a little note or a joke or anything at all you think he might enjoy. Dave is going to have some of the folks on the campaign compile them all for me to surprise Bill after the debate tonight. I thought they would be fun to read to each other on the way home. You can do it by clicking here.

Knowing Bill as we do,...

Governor Richardson picked up Nevada's Plasterers and Cement Masons Local 797. The Las Vegas Review Journal has this story about the endorsement. The LVRJ reported the Governor's acceptance speech,

"I humbly accept your endorsement," a jubilant Richardson told union business manager Marc Leavitt and hundreds of cheering union members who stopped eating hot dogs and hamburgers to listen to the presidential candidate who spoke to them in both English and Spanish. "When I am president, the secretary of labor will be a member of a union ... and I will fire all union-busting attorneys" at the U.S. Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration."

Yesterday, Governor Richardson sent a letter to the State of Michigan, requesting his name be taken off the primary ballot. It was a move to emphasize his belief in the importance of the early decision states, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and most important to us, Nevada.

Today, three other candidates followed suit and pulled out of the Michigan Primary. Read the story here.

Nevada was chosen as an early caucus state because of our diversity, union presence, and the new importance of the West as a battleground. Michigan decided to break the rules established by the Democratic National Committee and scheduled their primary ahead of the Nevada Caucus's original January date - threatening Nevada's new significance in the selection process. By pulling his name off the Michigan ballot, Richardson is helping to protect Nevada's new importance. It should be no surprise that Richardson was first to fight for Nevada; while other campaigns have moved staff out of the state, he hired more staff and he continues to make meaningful visits the state often.

This should lead Nevadans to question those candidates (Clinton, Dodd, Kucinich, and Gravel) who remain on the Michigan ballot. Do they really value the new importance of Nevada and the traditional importance of the other official early states?

Senators talk and Governors do. When Governor Richardson was first elected Governor, New Mexico was not in the best shape. One of his highest priorities was to create new jobs for the state. He did that by providing incentives to companies that hired new workers that were paid above the prevailing wage and by encouraging job creation in rural New Mexico. The Governor has a new tv ad to highlight the fact that while others may talk about creating jobs, Governor Richardson has created jobs (over 80,000 in New Mexico)

In fact, Governor Richardson is already creating jobs in Nevada. This week, the Governor's campaign renewed it's commitment to Nevada. They released this statement:

"Senator Reid is right, the road to the White House runs through Nevada. Though other campaigns may waver, I remain committed to campaigning in Nevada," said Governor Richardson. "I hired the first staff, opened the first office, and made the first visit to Elko of any Democratic Presidential candidate because I know that Nevada matters. My growing staff in Nevada is there to reach out to voters one by one... read the rest of the statement here