Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico will leave for Venezuela tomorrow to meet with Hugo Chavez.  Richardson hopes to convince Chavez to help negotiate for the release of hostages being held by rebels in Colombia.   The Governor met with President Uribe of Colombia recently.

We are reminded that Richardson had the deepest foreign policy experience of the entire lot running for president.  Now we are left with two candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, who have no important foreign policy experience.  She visits troops and he went to school in Indonesia as a child and that is what they point to as their foreign policy experience.   Since neither has foreign policy experience of any significance we are left choosing which candidate would better serve our interests abroad.  Obama would open communication with our enemies through diplomatic channels.  Clinton wouldn't talk to anyone and, by the way, she would bomb Iran to smithereens if they even look at Israel crossways.

As this race for the nomination between Clinton and Obama continues do you ever wonder why these two emerged as the front runners?  I do.  Some of you chose a relative newcomer and hung your hat on his calls for hope and change.  Others chose Clinton, a tried and tested insider with baggage we all knew about.  Much of our choices were driven by the media who manipulated their viewers and readers -- A Woman! An African American!  Firsts!  Fights!  Action! History In The Making! Two For One! Race! Gender! Horserace! -- and excluded other worthy candidates from analysis and inclusion in the early debate process.  

When Barack Obama is elected President in November we hope that one of the first choices for his Cabinet is Bill Richardson come January 2009.  Obama needs a great deal of heft.  Richardson has it.