Richardson In 08

At the recent MoveOn.org Virtual Town Hall meeting for the Democratic Presidential Candidates the issue of Iraq was discussed. Participating in the meeting were:

Sen. John Edwards

Sen. Joe Biden

Rep. Dennis Kucinich

Gov. Bill Richardson

Sen. Hillary Clinton

Sen. Chris Dodd

Sen. Barack Obama


MoveOn.org posted links to youtube.com "footage" of the virtual event and full transcripts of the event. I have to say that I am most impressed with Gov. Richardson's answers.

Mr. Richardson's position on Iraq is clear, which he emphasized again at the meeting; "...if I were President today, I would withdraw American troops by the end of this calendar year."

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The following is one of the answers given by Gov. Richardson:

ELI PARISER: Thank you, Governor Richardson. Our next question for you is from MoveOn Member Dave Conlon, a Landlord from Carrollton, Virginia.

Dave Conlon: It appears that stopping the funding for the war is the only way to stop the war. Are you for or against stopping the funding and why?

GOVERNOR RICHARDSON: It’s the constitutional right of Congress to start a war and to stop a war. We have a President that is not listening, that has threatened to veto very clear legislative language that basically says this war must end, and there should be benchmarks, and there should be withdrawal timetables.

I am for a time table of withdrawal. I would be for a cut-off of appropriations. What I would do, however, is one step further: this Congress several years ago, the Republican Congress, authorized this war. I would pass a Congressional resolution, de-authorizing the war based on the War Powers Act. I served in Congress for 15 years. I believe this is the cleanest and quickest way to deal with this issue, otherwise we’re gonna be in endless debates, vetoes. I believe it’s important we proceed with cutting off funds and ending this war, but de-authorizing this war based on the War Powers Act, I believe, is the most important step.

In resolution de-authorizing the war, you have a clear timetable, I would prefer it this calendar year, but if March 2008 is what Congressional Democrats have come up with to get the most votes, so be it. But there would be benchmarks, there would be very clear timetable for withdrawal. I would not support anything beyond 2008 of March… I believe that is too long. There would not be a residual force.

What would then happen is the Bush administration would probably say, “We do not observe the War Powers Act.” The next step would then be to take this case to the US Supreme Court. I believe that is a clear, cleaner course and the thrust of the American people would be clear. The position of the American people would be clear, the Congress would be clear, and I believe it would be a 50/50 chance in the US Supreme court. I admire what Congress is doing… I think they need to be stronger, at the same time we have to look at how we can end this war as quickly as possible.