USA: New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson officially launches his lbid to become the first Hispanic to occupy the White House

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson pledged to put diplomacy at the heart of his foreign policy if he is elected as the first Hispanic president of the United States. On Monday (May 21) Richardson formally launched his long shot campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008. "The United States faces huge challenges both here and abroad, and I'm running for president because this nation needs a leader with a proven track record, an ability to bring people together to tackle our problems here at home and abroad," he told cheering supporters in Los Angeles. Richardson is 59. He has been campaigning for months but has largely only registered in the single digits in national opinion polls, trailing front-running Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois. Like other Democrats, Richardson has blasted the Bush administration for its handling of the Iraq war. At the party's first debate last month he called for withdrawing all U.S. troops by the end of this year. During President Bill Clinton's administration, Richardson served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary, in which he gained a reputation as a skilled negotiator. He also was a member of Congress for 14 years. "We need a president who is not dismissive of diplomacy, but someone who embraces it as the primary instrument of our foreign policy because he has practised it and knows how to and gets results," Richardson said. He launched his campaign in pivotal California, which has a large Hispanic population. The state has gained new prominence in the November 2008 election, joining several other states that have moved up their primary elections to Feb. 5.

ITN Source | May 22, 2007

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