Richardson says Clinton camp "really ticked me off"

SANTA FE, N.M. — Before he endorsed Barack Obama, before he drew the wrath of the Clintons and was compared to Judas, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson nearly endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton for president.

But Richardson hesitated, and as the Democratic campaign turned ugly, he grew angry.

There was the "3 a.m." TV ad, in which Clinton questioned Obama's personal mettle. "That upset me," Richardson said.

There were some ham-fisted phone calls from Clinton backers, who questioned Richardson's honor and suggested that the governor, who served in President Clinton's Cabinet, owed Hillary Rodham Clinton his support. "That really ticked me off," Richardson said.

Still, even as he moved from Clinton toward Obama — "the pursuit was pretty relentless on both sides," he said — Richardson wrestled with the question of loyalty. After 14 years in Congress and a measure of fame as an international troubleshooter, Richardson was named Clinton's U.N. ambassador and then Energy secretary. "Two important appointments," Richardson said.

He finally decided he had done his part and had settled his debt to the former president: He had worked for Clinton's election in 1992, helped pass the North American Free Trade Agreement as part of Clinton's administration, stood by him during the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal and rounded up votes to fight impeachment.

"I was loyal," Richardson said during an extended conversation this week in Santa Fe. "But I don't think that loyalty is transferable to his wife. ... You don't transfer loyalty to a dynasty."

Impressed by Obama

Richardson was impressed by the mostly positive tone of Obama's campaign and grew to appreciate the substance and depth of their private conversations. The more Richardson heard from the Washington, D.C., heavyweights backing Clinton, the more convinced he became of the need for a change inside the Beltway.

It has been three weeks since Richardson embraced the Illinois senator, an endorsement that continues to rankle and resonate, the significance, it would seem, going far beyond the preference of a governor from a poor, rural state.

But this is a family fight, between kin of the Clinton years, so perhaps the raw emotions shouldn't be surprising. "They're very similar in personality," said Art Torres, chairman of the California Democratic Party, and a friend of Clinton's and Richardson's. "There was a bond established and I think [President Clinton] feels a little hurt."

Attention to the endorsement might have passed quickly but for the strenuous protest of Bill Clinton and others. Speaking for the campaign, strategist Mark Penn suggested Richardson's endorsement came too late to be much help to Obama. "Everyone has their endorsers," he said.

But then James Carville, the pundit, strategist and longtime Clinton loyalist, hurled a lightning bolt by comparing Richardson to Judas and his surrender of Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

Soon after came an odd back-and-forth concerning a private conversation in which, supposedly, either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Richardson dismissed Obama as unelectable. (Neither party will discuss particulars, but Richardson said he never made that statement.)

Days later, just when interest in the endorsement seemed to wane, former President Clinton exploded in a rant about Richardson at the California state Democratic Party convention in San Jose. He later apologized, but his tirade in a closed-door session with superdelegates rekindled the story for several more days.

People close to Clinton said he views the governor's act as a personal betrayal. "I think [Richardson] really owes a big chunk of his success and his career to the Clintons," said an associate who requested anonymity.

"Look," Richardson responded, "I was a successful congressman rescuing hostages before I was appointed. I was a governor afterward, elected on my own."

Even more than the endorsement, Clinton's associate said, the former president was angry because he thought Richardson broke his word. The two men watched the Super Bowl at the governor's mansion — Clinton made a special round trip from California in bad weather — and the former president walked away convinced Richardson would endorse his wife or, at least, stay neutral.

Richardson was close to backing New York Sen. Clinton that day, although his advisers — many of whom backed Obama — urged him to wait. "I remember talking to the president and saying, 'I'm leaning. But I'm not there yet.' He denied pledging neutrality if he changed his mind. "Sometimes people hear what they want to hear," Richardson said.

His endorsement had been highly coveted, largely because of his stature as one of the country's most prominent Hispanic leaders. The pursuit began soon after Richardson quit the presidential race Jan. 9.

He retreated to New Mexico and the governor's adobe mansion. He sulked, grew a beard, rode his quarter horse and tended state business. "I didn't want anything to do with national politics," Richardson said, figuring he would keep out of the nominating fight until it was over. But slowly he re-engaged in the race, watching the debates and fielding calls from Clinton, Obama and their surrogates.

Difference in style

Their manner of courtship — one wooing, the other arm-twisting — seemed to reflect the candidates' different personalities and campaign styles.

Obama preferred the soft sell, calling Richardson every three days or so — "dialing the phone himself," Richardson recalled, "no operator" — for long discussions about policy and campaign issues.

The two developed a bantering relationship, building on the camaraderie they shared off camera during debates, when they would roll their eyes at some of their rivals' sillier statements.

Sen. Clinton was more persistent and tactical. There were eight or more phone calls a day, Richardson said: "Bill calling. Hillary calling, friends of mine that were in the Clinton administration, Clinton operatives, Clinton Hispanic operatives, New Mexico Clinton Hispanic operatives."

Some callers — who suggested Richardson had an obligation to back Clinton — did more harm than good. "I think the Clintons have a feeling of entitlement. ... that the presidency was theirs," Richardson said, and the persistent lobbying from what he called "Washington establishment types" convinced him of a need for fresher faces inside the Beltway.

And Richardson said there was never any talk of the vice presidency, or any other job, in an Obama administration. "I never say never in politics, but I'm not pining for it," he said. Nor, he suggested, would he settle for just any Cabinet post, having served before.

With his mind made up — and dreading the conversation — Richardson called Sen. Clinton a few hours before his endorsement of Obama was announced. Their discussion, Richardson said, "was proper but heated."

The two have not spoken since. Nor has he heard from Bill Clinton, who told people he was upset that Richardson did not call him.

The governor said he tried but never got through.

The response from the Clinton camp — "the ferocity, the intensity" — surprised him, Richardson said, although he knew he risked fracturing his relationship with the couple. His wife, Barbara, had warned him, he said.

"She also has great affection for the Clintons," the governor said of his wife.