This Is Not the Bill Richardson I Knew

Aaaand another one gets thrown under the bus.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has withdrawn from nomination as President-Elect Obama’s Commerce Secretary. While Richardson claims to have been up-front about the baggage he brings to his nomination, Team Obama is complaining that Richardson didn’t disclose his true status as a political hot potato as he faces investigation from the FBI for, yes, you guessed it, pay-for-play:

“Sources tell ABC News that officials on the Obama Transition Team feel that before he was formally offered the job of commerce secretary, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was not forthcoming with them about the federal investigation that is looking into whether the governor steered a state contract towards a major financial contributor.”

So when Obama announced Richardson in November as his Commmerce Secretary pick and said,

“Bill has seen from just about every angle what makes our economy work and what keeps it from working better…”

…he probably wasn’t referring to the FBI investigation. And I agree with Ed Morrissy at HotAir (as I generally do) who commented,

“But beyond that, this is a pretty lame attempt to shift blame away from the incoming administration.  They should have done their own homework on Richardson once they heard about the investigation.  In the end, they have the responsibility to make acceptable appointments for Cabinet positions.  If the extent of the vetting Team Obama is doing is reading resumés and accepting explanations for federal investigations without question or further checking, then they’re pretty obviously incompetent at it.”

Team Obama-wan should have know better. Hoping that the mainstream media will actually investigate Obama’s cabinet picks (instead of treating them as pristine as Obama himself) is a rather shabby way to do business. Perhaps this fiasco will teach the team a much-needed lesson in how to do homework in a way that maximizes information gleaned and minimizes embarrassment to the President-Elect.

Sadly, it seems that Obama is about to begin his tenure as President of the United States by shedding nearly as much baggage as he did during his campaign.

Stoutcat