Bill Richardson Talks Elections and Iraq

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a former Democratic presidential candidate, had his brain picked by Institute of Politics fellow David Yepsen and members of the Harvard community yesterday afternoon, answering questions on issues ranging from why he supports Senator Barack Obama to U.S. policy toward dictators.

Yepsen, a columnist for The Des Moines Register, hosted Richardson as part of his study group on “Picking Presidents,” which was moved from its usual location to accommodate the larger crowd.

Richardson arrived over a half hour late for the talk, slated to start at noon, and quickly told listeners that he was going to forgo his scheduled appearance on CNN’s Situation Room to be able to stay longer. Yepsen interviewed Richardson, and then the governor took a handful of questions from audience members.

Not surprisingly, many of the questions Richardson fielded centered on the race for the Democratic nomination for president.

Richardson, who recently endorsed Obama despite having worked as secretary of energy under former President Clinton, called the senator from Illinois a “symbol of America’s diversity.”

When Yepsen asked what he would say if Obama asked him to be his running mate, Richardson responded, “If it doesn’t work out that’s fine, but I’m ready to do everything I can to get him elected.”

On the topic of the presidential race, Richardson also talked about eliminating superdelegates altogether, financing elections publicly, and making the schedule of primaries more certain.

But Richardson’s talk was not limited to the national elections. He also touched on what he thinks the country should do in Iraq, foreign policy decisions that do not take other countries’ treatments of human rights into account, and the importance of education.

Jarret A. Zafran ’09, president of the Harvard Democrats and former Richardson supporter, played a big role in working to bring Richardson to campus and organizing the event in collaboration with Yepsen.

“It’s been kind of a dream of ours for a long time to have Bill Richardson come and speak with us,” Zafran said.

Zafran also said the speech reflected how he sees “eye-to-eye [with Richardson] on pretty much every issue.”

“The places where he places emphasis are really the key priorities for the country: energy, education, our moral leadership in the world,” Zafran said.

—Staff writer Victoria B. Kabak can be reached at vkabak@fas.harvard.edu.