Richardson battles the politics of perception

Is Gov. Richardson mostly the victim of bad timing -- and bad luck? (Photo by zaxI4/Flickr)

ALBUQUERQUE — The best-case scenario is that Gov. Bill Richardson is just the victim of terrible luck.

The argument goes like this: If it weren’t for the pay-to-play taint and that other prominent scandal involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich — and President-elect Barack Obama’s understandable desire to avoid any more fuel to that political fire at the very start of his opportunity-filled presidency — Richardson would still be headed for the cabinet.

In other words, the politics of perception did him in.

Specifically, the perception is that Richardson essentially sold more than $1.4 million worth of state contracts in exchange for more than $100,000 in unseemly (but legal) donations to his political pursuits from the very owner of the company that got the contracts. It can be argued that the timing of the contracts being awarded, followed by the donations made, has the whiff of pay-to-play.

We can all agree that’s one ugly perception.

But it’s important to note that New Mexico’s governor hasn’t been charged with anything. Nor has anyone on his staff. And, unlike the Blagojevich fiasco, those inclined to smell a pay-to-play rat certainly don’t have recordings of Richardson saying anything unseemly — let alone illegal.

As the federal investigation at the center of Richardson’s abortive nomination to be U.S. commerce secretary plays out over the coming weeks or months, new evidence of criminal wrongdoing may yet surface.

If it doesn’t, however, Richardson will have lost his shot a returning to the national spotlight because of the political equivalent of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Still, the immediate damage is real, not perceived.

“It is a big setback for him,” University of New Mexico political scientist Christine Sierra told the Independent. “It’s going to be very difficult for him to reclaim his position on the national stage.”

Yet, statements issued yesterday by Richardson, Obama and especially Lt. Gov. Diane Denish all imply — or flat-out say — that the governor is still on his way to Washington, D.C. That the pesky investigation into pay-to-play allegations is but a temporary bump in the road.

“I think that’s wishful thinking,” Sierra said.

The Albuquerque Journal first reported on the federal investigation into California-based CDR Financial Products Inc. and how the firm managed to win lucrative state work advising the New Mexico Finance Authority (NMFA) on the structure of $1.6 billion in transportation bonds. That was back in August.

The NMFA is comprised almost entirely of Richardson appointees.

According to the Journal, on March 19, 2004, CDR was approved by the NMFA as an adviser to the state on complex bond swaps. Six days later, CDR President David Rubin cut a check for $10,000 to the Democratic Governors Association, which was led by Richardson at the time.

Three months later, Rubin’s firm — Chambers, Dunhill, Rubin and Co., which does business as CDR — contributed a hefty $75,000 to Si Se Puede! Boston 2004, a Richardson PAC formed specifically to pay for the governor and his staff to attend the Democratic National Convention in Boston that year, in addition to numerous parties hosted by Richardson aimed at raising his political profile nationally.

Later that same year, Rubin donated another $25,000 to another Richardson PAC — Moving American Forward — which was formed to register Latino and Native American voters in the run-up to the 2004 presidential election.

Over the same time period, CDR pocketed more than $1 million from the state.

Then in October, the Journal reported that CDR never had a contract to do the initial work.

“The staff recommended and the board approved the company to do the work,” NMFA director Bill Sisneros told the Journal. “But we have been unable to locate any contract.”

If that’s not a legal problem, it’s yet another ugly perception problem.

Adding to the problem, shortly after the contribution to Si Se Puede! Boston 2004, a second contract went CDR’s way. According to the Journal:

Five days after the contribution, on June 23, [NMFA's] financial officer, Keith Mellor, wrote a memo to the authority board recommending Rubin’s company receive a sole source, no bid contract to manage” the transportation bonds escrow account.

NMFA went on to unanimously approve that contract, and CDR earned more than $440,000 as a result.

“A negative consequence of all this is that it will feed the public perception that politicians are corrupt,” Sierra pointed out. “What it does is it diminishes hopes and enthusiasm in the political process. That’s what I think is the major loss here. These kinds of scandals, or the perception of dirty politicians, really undermine people’s trust in government.”

Richardson’s charmed political life — he’s arguably the most successful politician New Mexico has ever produced as well as the nation’s most prominent Latino politician — has at least temporarily lost its charm. And his career is on the ropes pending the outcome of the federal investigation. But could the current scandal provide him with the perfect opportunity to get back up and fight on?

Maybe.

As the Legislature prepares to convene it’s 60-day session on Jan. 20, advocates are already planning to push an ambitious ethics reform agenda that includes campaign contribution limits, an independent ethics commission, and public financing of elections.

Should Richardson embrace those proposals, and others, he could get in front of the issues that effectively thwarted his nomination to be U.S. commerce secretary.

At least, that’s what Steve Allen, director of Common Cause New Mexico, thinks.

“We’re one of just a handful of states that don’t even have campaign contribution limits. Whether or not Richardson did something overtly illegal, the truth is that our campaign financing system is corrupt and needs to be dramatically reformed,” Allen told the Independent. “I do see this as an opportunity for the governor to push campaign finance reforms, including an expansion of public campaign financing to statewide executive offices, to the very top of his priorities for the upcoming session.”

Richardson’s aggressive advocacy for such reforms could counter the cynics who always smell a rat when they hear about politicians taking money from folks who later come asking for all sorts of things — including contracts worth more than $1.4 million.

But in the meantime, Richardson’s biggest problem isn’t one of perception or would-be reform — it’s the outcome of the federal investigation.

And on that front, a story in today’s Washington Post offers a cautionary detail.

“[FBI] agents are said to have communicated that the governor’s top aides — and even Richardson’s actions — were under scrutiny. At least two sources familiar with the investigation said some evidence raises concern about the propriety of the Richardson administration’s interactions with a donor.”

As the high-stakes investigation continues, Richardson’s political future hangs in the balance.