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Richardson fits the bill for vice-president

By Matt | May 28, 2008

BARACK OBAMA, the man currently most likely to be the Democratic Party candidate in the 2008 US presidential election, could find a lot to like about Bill Richardson – and there’s good value in betting on the New Mexico governor to be chosen as Obama’s running mate in November.

Richardson is currently 10/1 at Ladbrokes – and that must be worth three points of anyone’s money.

It’s a mystery to me why people still talk about a ‘dream ticket’ featuring Obama and Hillary Clinton as the VP. It just won’t happen.

For starters, too much water has gone under the bridge in their bitter nomination battle. In my opinion Clinton has talked her way out of the job of Obama’s number two.

And what’s more; would you want to be president of the United States with a vice-president married to someone who used to have your job?

Therefore, despite the odds, I’m passing over Hillary as a potential candidate. And in choosing Bill Richardson as my preferred choice I’m going on three things:

his half-Mexican ancestry, which will give the Obama ticket more appeal with Hispanic voters;
his experience as Energy Secretary during the Clinton administration: oil – or rather the cost of it – will become a key issue during this election campaign; and
his experience in general – as a 60-year old state governor, Richardson adds the necessary grey beard to Obama’s youthful zest.

All that and the man is still 10/1. It wasn’t always that way, of course: Richardson opened up as the favourite to get the nod from the Dems until the subject of a Obama/Clinton campaign gathered serious steam when the two were neck-and-neck in the primaries a few weeks ago.

You can hear more about Bill Richardson’s chances to be the Democrat’s VP from Peter Kellner, the chairman of YouGov, who does the occasional podcast for William Hill’s US Election Betting website.

Selection
• 3 pts Bill Richardson to be Democratic vice-president candidate (10/1, Ladbrokes)

Topics: Political betting