Richardson's Fall

Politics is a rough business. Just ask Bill Richardson. In the first extended interview of Richardson since he withdrew as Obama's Commerce Secretary nominee, the Washington Post paints a somewhat sad picture of the governor.

Maybe it is dreary to me alone, but I find Richardson's past few months kind of amazing. Sure, he never had a legitimate chance at the White House, but as late as last year, he was the political king of New Mexico, and a strong contender to be a United States Senator or Secretary of State. Instead, Richardson passed on a Senate run (in my opinion, because he thought it would be small potatoes to someone who had already been in Congress and the cabinet; which is too bad, since he would have won in a walk), and Obama passed Richardson over for the SOS slot for Hillary Clinton, despite Richardson's primary endorsement of Obama. (While Richardson was not happy about the decision, deep down he had to appreciate Obama's political calculus in selecting his former bitter foe over a helpful ally, proving once again that in politics, expediency almost always trumps loyalty.)

Anyway, after reading this piece, I thought of that great line in "The Dark Knight", where Harvey Dent (or maybe it was Bruce Wayne, or both), says "you either die a hero, or you live long enough to become the villain." I hate to equate real-life matters to movies, and I am not saying Richardson is a hero, but clearly he is a man who may have stayed on the big stage just a bit too long, and as a result he finds himself as yesterday's news.