Bill Richardson

It's far too early for me to endorse any candidate for President in '08. I hope to wait until '07 is a little older, maybe even until '08 actually arrives. We've got a good crop out there. I've met Barack Obama, and found him to be an incredibly smart, incredibly charismatic guy, not to mention a captivating public speaker with a strong record in state and federal government. John Edwards' speech in Lawrence was inspiring, and his continued commitment to raising the profile of issues like poverty gives me hope for him and the nation.

But for now, I'm a Richardson booster. No other candidate on the field has actually managed to broker a truce in the midst of a genocide:

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan and leaders of several rebel factions in Darfur, the western Sudanese region, agreed Wednesday to a 60-day cease-fire in separate meetings with Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, a former American ambassador to the United Nations, according to a statement by Mr. Richardson and Mr. Bashir.

Richardson also negotiated the deal with North Korea that actually kept them from having nuclear weapons (until Republican congresses and the Bush administration welched on the deal). He's a popular governor of a swing state, his Latino heritage will help him reach an important part of the population, a group that neither party has managed to court and hold. And his experience as Energy Secretary gives him executive experience not just at the state level, but in federal government.

Assuming he doesn't come down with a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease, he could really surprise people during the campaign.

Note to Sam Brownback: Richardson has shown you the difference between big talk and big action. Yes, you have been a major congressional voice for action on Darfur, as well as other human rights vacuums. But Bill Richardson delivered.