Bill Richardson

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SANTA FE, N.M.

His love of horses is evident. The lobby and hallways of Gov. Bill Richardson's office in Santa Fe are adorned with beautiful paintings of horses. "To relax, I ride my horse," he told me during a short car ride from his campaign headquarters to the state Capitol. "I go off to the mountains, where I can think alone. I get good ideas that way," he added. But he will not have much time for relaxation now that he is off and running for president of the United States.

The competition is tough. Sens. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and former Sen. John Edwards are among the other Democrats seeking the presidential nomination. "They're all my friends," said Richardson.

"So, what advantages do you have over them?" I asked.

"I have the experience," he said.

There is no disputing that. Richardson has an impressive résumé. He has been elected seven times to the House of Representatives and twice as governor of New Mexico. He was ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary under President Clinton, having been investigated both times by Congress before confirmation. Richardson has successfully negotiated the release of hostages and prisoners around the world, and has confronted ruthless dictators such as Saddam Hussein and Fidel Castro. His credentials are probably stronger than those of most of the presidential hopefuls from both political parties. The question is, then: Why is it that nobody knows him? "Because I don't have the money," he says. An ABC News poll on the presidential race has Richardson with 1 percent of the vote. A separate CNN poll has him with 3 percent. "At least I've gone up from one to three," he joked. "We are still a year away, and I can build a strong campaign in a year."

Part of his building blocks will be the use of the Internet as a tool to raise funds, spread his message and create a network of volunteers from around the country. He'll also be relying on bloggers, who have become increasingly influential in political campaigns. But more important, he feels he has the foundation to convince voters that he is their man.

"As governor, I've created jobs, improved schools and expanded health programs in my state," he said. And as a diplomat and power broker with vast international experience, he believes he has the key to resolving the crisis in Iraq: "We have to get out of there this year, but we also have to open diplomatic channels to create a dialogue between the three ethnic groups." Any dialogue should include, according to Richardson, other players in the Middle East, including Syria and Iran.

He is likely to have a hard sell on immigration, since he has been on both sides of the issue. He has criticized the border fence and called for comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to legalization of undocumented immigrants. But the governor also declared a state of emergency in his state because of the increase in illegal immigration, asking for more Border Patrol agents — a move some immigration advocates considered anti-immigrant. "I wanted to increase security in my state because there were not only undocumented workers coming through the border, there were drug dealers and thugs," he said.

Richardson's campaign has already created a buzz in the media. Together with Sens. Clinton and Obama, he forms the diversity trio — a woman, a black American and a Hispanic — who could make political history in this country. But he needs to be a lot more than a token Hispanic to draw the kind of attention and raise the kind of money he needs to become El Presidente.