By KATE NASH
Scripps Howard News Service
Friday, May 11, 2007
Usually, you don't get to sit in on someone else's job interview.
But Gov. Bill Richardson wants all the world to know his qualifications for president.
So two of his new campaign ads feature the governor in a mock job interview _ nervous expression on his face included.
In the first, an actor who interviews Richardson doesn't ask too many questions, instead ticking off his qualifications as if it's run-of-the-mill stuff.
"Fourteen years in Congress, U.N. ambassador, secretary of energy, governor of New Mexico, negotiated with dictators in Iraq, North Korea, Cuba, Zaire, Nigeria, Yugoslavia, Kenya, got a cease-fire in Darfur, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times," the interviewer says, taking a bite of a sandwich and then talking with his mouth full.
"So, what makes you think you can be president?"
The ads began airing in Iowa this week.
They are part of the campaign's focus on Iowa. So far, the governor has traveled to the Hawkeye State at least twice in hopes of landing votes in the Jan. 14 primary.
The ads likely will convey Richardson's experience and his sense of humor to Iowans, said University of Iowa political science professor Rene Rocha.
"They are instrumental in establishing a biographical reference for Richardson, who remains relatively unknown among the general public and among Iowans," he said.
"So to the extent they are successful in conveying that, they could be beneficial to the campaign."
However, Richardson now has to take his credentials and turn them into votes, Rocha said.
"Success in Iowa has always been about building a grass-roots organization."
The second ad is a continuation of the first, in which the interviewer asks Richardson, a second-term Democrat, to describe all he's done for New Mexico.
Richardson is eager to make a list, highlighting job growth and educational improvements.
The kicker of the ad is when the interviewer says, "For what we are looking for, you might be a little overqualified."
During the 2006 gubernatorial race, Richardson struck political gold with a Western-themed ad that depicted him as the new sheriff in town.
He gleaned national recognition for the ad, posted on his campaign site, in which the governor saddles up to a bar and quips, "Give me a milk."
That ad, like the new ones, was produced by Putnam Murphy Media in Alexandria, Va.
Steve Murphy said the ads were shot in New Hampshire.
"We were looking for a concept that would highlight the governor's record and at the same time poke fun at where his candidacy is today," Murphy said.
(Contact Kate Nash of The Tribune in Albuquerque, N.M., at www.abqtrib.com.)
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