Bill Richardson Calls for a Strong Focus on Immigration.

Gov Bill Richardson is beginning his 2008 bid for a Democratic nomination, it appears. Yesterday, he gave a speech in Palm Beach chock full of policy recommendations and general political philosophy. He is certainly searching for a niche in the 2008 March Madness in Iowa and New Hampshire.

My wife has known Bill R. since she and he both went to the same undergrad university. He jokingly claims she turned him down when he asked her for a date. [My wife claims she's forgotten.] We hosted a fund-raiser for Bill in DC back in the '80s and have stayed more or less in touch over the years.

Bill is a born politician and a superb diplomat. His non-confrontational style is revealed in his comments yesterday in Palm Beach. The news headline contains the lede Richardson blasts partisan divide:

Richardson, describing himself as "an optimist and a patriot," listed three key issues dividing the country: immigration, energy and foreign policy. His longest platform plank was on illegal immigration:

Immigration is "a divisive, nasty issue that is tearing us apart," said Richardson, who declared a border emergency in New Mexico, as did the governor of Arizona, "because the federal government is not helping" with patrols or equipment.

Four things would ease the crisis, he said:

• Strengthen border security "because we can't allow illegal people or drugs";

• Enforce the law. People who "knowingly hire illegals" should answer for it;

• Create a path toward legal status for the 12 million illegal immigrants already in the country. "Not amnesty," he said, and not citizenship that would place them ahead of those applying for it legally.

People who have jobs or go to school, who do not have criminal records and are not a drain on public resources could become legal. He applauded a compromise measure backed by President Bush, Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy. "What's the alternative? Are you going to deport them? You can't find them," Richardson said.

• "Lastly, we need a relationship with Mexico and Haiti" to deal with smugglers.

At the end of the fund-raiser twenty years ago, while the Cold War was still in an active phase, Bill Richardson sat in my back yard in DC under a magnolia tree about midnight after the paid guests had left and said "Immigration is our single largest foreign policy problem" and it will only grow during the coming years, he added. I was impressed then with his seriousness, and I believe he is the best candidate [including McCain] to confront this particular problem. His elderly mother lives in Mexico City and he is bi-lingual and one of the U.S.'s most seasoned diplomats.

Although I come down on the right side of the spectrum on most issues, I believe Bill might earn my vote for President if the Democrats forego their highly partisan base and nominate him for the top office.

The US needs a unifier and someone who can solve our "single largest foreign policy problem," in Bill's words many years ago.

It still is.