Essential Estrogen

The Bill Richardson campaign, which is working to strengthen its ground game here in Iowa with additional field staff, has endured a bittersweet weekend.

On Saturday, a New Mexico Gold Star Mom, De'on Miller of Lovington, NM, accused Richardson of misrepresenting interaction between them at her son's memorial service in May 2004. Lance Cpl. Aaron Austin served in the U.S. Marines and lost his life in Anbar province, Iraq.

On Sunday, a Des Moines Register poll showed the Governor at 10 percent when likely Democratic caucus goers were asked to identify their first choice for president.

On Monday, using both English and Spanish, Richardson officially entered the presidential race at a press conference held in Los Angeles. In Spanish he told supporters, "With pride, I hope to be the first Latino president of the United States." The declaration prompted cheers from the Spanish-speaking attendees.

Later that same day, however, the Republican Party of New Mexico issued a press release in reference to the mother's statements.

"Gov. Richardson's lack of respect for Aaron's sacrifice is absurd, and I emphatically join Aaron's mother in demanding an apology from him for the way he has treated this family and this fallen marine," Chairman Allen Weh said in the release.

Richardson's Iowa Communications Director Tom Reynolds, who had not read the GOP release, responded to a paraphrase of the above quote that he was "disgusted" the Republican Party would use another person's grief for political gain.

"It is horrible what was happening to our National Guard members," he said. "The Governor - and most Americans - thought it was horrible when National Guard members gave their lives for our country the families they left behind were receiving $11,000. Gov. Richardson was the first governor to act to change that - first boosting the death benefit to $250,000. It now sits at $400,000. That's nearly a 40-fold increase.

"I believe the Republican Party is missing the forest for the trees."

While no one contradicts the fact that Richardson attended the service, the mom does disagree with Richardson's account of their private meeting on that day. The mom contends that she only spoke a few words to Richardson during the service when the Governor presented her with the flag and never mentioned money.

Richardson, who has often provided accounts of the meeting during campaign speeches, contends she thanked him for the initial death benefits she had received. While campaign staff and the Governor have publicly acknowledged sometimes confusing details of the story -- for instance, mis-stating the soldier's name -- they stand by the overall statement of events. Those events, according to Richardson, inspired him to push for legislation that made New Mexico the first state to underwrite $250,000 in life insurance for National Guard members.

"That's really the big picture," Reynolds said. "The governor has never had anything but praise and admiration for Lance Cpl. Austin's family. He doesn't want to take anything away from the sacrifice Austin and his family have made on behalf of this country."

Miller, despite subsequent reports of her showing Richardson an envelope during their conversation at the memorial service, has issued a forceful request that the Governor refrain from using her or her son's name in future speeches.

"The increased death benefit is one of the Governor's key accomplishments," Reynolds said. "He is very proud of his work on that and we're not going to shy away from his record of accomplishments."

His accomplishments, Reynolds said, are just one of the reasons the Governor's campaign is beginning to resonate with Iowans.

"We were extremely pleased with the poll results," Reynolds said. "We expected a push following his visits to the state and we expect him to continue to increase as more people get to know him and his record. We firmly believe he is best suited to lead our country.

"The ads have also been important because they have reflected the Governor's personality and have themes to which most people can relate. I mean, we've all been in those types of situations.

"Finally, we are gaining more traction as we are placing more staff in the field across the state."

Richardson, 59, has been New Mexico's governor since 2003. He also represented the state in Congress (eight times), was U.N. ambassador and served as President Bill Clinton's energy secretary and ambassador to the United Nations. Richardson was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times. His next trip into Iowa is scheduled for the weekend of June 2 when Richardson is scheduled to speak at the Iowa Democratic Party's Hall of Fame dinner.