Richardson Names Names

Presidential hopeful Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., addressed Take Back America earlier this hour, and as far as I know, this was the first time he criticized Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards by name for not supporting his position on Iraq: "I would leave zero troops behind, not a single one."

Calling for a "New Realism For Foreign Policy," Richardson proposed replacing US troops with an "all-Muslim peacekeeping force," then convening a "national reconciliation conference" and a conference with Iraq's neighbors including Iran and Syria. "That's how we avoid a regional war," said Richardson.

He lambasted the original Iraq supplemental bill, the one that President Bush vetoed, for being ridden with "loopholes" that would allow some troops to remain indefinitely. He needled Clinton and Obama for voting for it, and Edwards for wanting that bill to be returned to the president's desk again and again.

The other half of Richardson's address laid out his strategy to combat global warming, which was released a few weeks ago.

He called for a new automobile fuel-efficiency standard of 50 miles per gallon, calling the proposal on the Senate floor of 35 mpg "weak." He pledged to sign the Kyoto treaty to slash greenhouse gas emissions, and boasted that his state already adheres to its provisions.