Richardson Isn’t Interested in Being Just a Hispanic President

While the residents of West Liberty often have their thumbs in the political pie, their town hasn’t always been a traditional stop on the road to the White House. This cycle, however, things appear to be changing.

“It just feels so good to have candidates come here,” said resident Dave Bradley, who made phone calls to drum up attendance for the Bill Richardson event roughly 200 attended. “It is great when you don’t have to drive 30 miles down the road.”

The New Mexico governor’s visit on Thursday evening marked the second time this year the town has been visited by a Democratic presidential hopeful. The other candidate to visit was Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut. It is no coincidence that the two visiting candidates are both fluent in Spanish.

While Latinos and Hispanics constitute roughly 4 percent of Iowa’s population overall, they comprise more than 40 percent of West Liberty’s residents. The local newspaper, the West Liberty Index, prints in both Spanish and English, and there is a small radio station that broadcasts primarily in Spanish. Roughly one-half of grade-school students are Hispanic. The only city in Iowa that has Latinos as a larger percentage of the population is Conesville, a town less than 20 miles away.

It came as little surprise then, when a middle-aged Hispanic man stood and said he could ask his question more easily in Spanish.

“You say it any way you want to,” Richardson said. “I’ll translate it if you want to say it in Spanish.”

Once the question was asked, Richardson told the audience the man wanted to know “what Latinos gain” and what “assurances” the Hispanic community had if he became president.

“I never have run and said, ‘Hey, I’m Bill Richardson and I’m a Hispanic candidate.’ I’m an American and very proud to be so,” he said.

Richardson then shared a humorous story about his 93-year-old Mexican mother. During a weekly Sunday phone call, she asked if he was still governor. He reassured her that he was and reminded her that four months earlier he had announced he’d was running for president. She then asked, “President of what?”

“I tell that story because I feel I have a very similar background as many of the Hispanics here,” he said. “I will not just be a Hispanic president. I will be a president for everybody. We are who we are, and I’m not going to try and pretend to be something I’m not. I am going to find ways to deal with the fact that one out of two black and Hispanic kids don’t graduate from high school.”

Richardson reminded the audience of his earlier remarks on immigration and his belief that neither deporting 12 million undocumented workers nor providing them immediate amnesty was the answer.

“I believe we are all members of the same world community,” he said. “I believe the American dream should be open to all, but that there should be fairness. I promise you that I will with pride talk about my heritage. I am American — I always have been.”

Local residents Dave and Carol Bradley are pictured with Richardson in the above photo.