Bill Richardson: Dems Top Choice in 2008

Although it's a bit early, I will make my prediction today that Bill Richardson, Democratic Governor of New Mexico, will be the Democratic nominee for President in 2008. He would likely be up against the formidable Hillary Clinton, but after the Democrats lose a few more seats in the House and Senate in 2006, they will be so desperate that they will do anything to regain the White House - even if they means abondoning the Dean-Pelosi-Boxer wing of the party.

Richardson clearly has the best chance of winning - he's less divisive than Hillary and will appeal to many Southern voters, hispanics and businessmen. He would have to downplay the huge security lapses at our nuclear labs while he was Energy Secretary and the Chinese were taking our nuclear secrets out the front door, but Hillary won't be able to exploit that weakness since her husband was in charge.

Most importantly, Richardson is a pro-growth tax cutter that some Republicans could live with. As governor of New Mexico, he reduced his state's income tax from 8.2 percent to 4.9 percent and cut the capital gains taxes in half. At the Democratic Governor's Association, Richardson said to The Washington Times, "I think that these issues of being pro-growth, pro-business and pro-sensible tax cuts is something the party should look at and should embrace." It's hard to argue with that.