Between Worlds, by Bill Richardson: on Principles & Values
In Guinness Book of World Records for most handshakes
In a political race, I am almost reflexively paranoid. It does not matter what the polls show. You have to work every minute of every day as hard as you can and leave nothing to chance.
We raised $7.5 million, and my finance chair said he we took in as much from Republicans as he did from Democrats. Over the course of the campaign,
I probably shook a hand for every one of those dollars. In fact, I shattered Theodore Roosevelt's long-standing record for handshaking and made it into the Guinness Book of World Records.
On New Year's Day, 1908, Roosevelt squeezed 8.513 hands; on September 16, 2002, I touched 13,392 in eight hours.
Source: Between Worlds, by Bill Richardson, p.296
Nov 3, 2005
New Progressivism: combine opportunity with accountability
Our ideas for serving the needs of the people of New Mexico today are coalescing around what we call "New Progressivism." It has its roots in the core values of the Democratic Party that have always stressed opportunity. Opportunity has always
been a cornerstone of any progressive movement; what is new is the accountability that we build into our programs.What we are proving is that we are pro-people and pro-business and pro-environment at the same time, something that progressives,
and Democrats, have traditionally found it difficult to do.
The objective of New Progressivism is to promote opportunity in health care and education and jobs in a fiscally responsible and efficient way to create a stronger community and quality of
life. The key points are:
- Invest in education, but also support accountability.
- Create opportunity with incentives that encourage quality jobs.
- Invest in healthcare programs coupled with cost-containment initiatives.
Source: Between Worlds, by Bill Richardson, p.358-359
Nov 3, 2005
Richardson's Rules for negotiating
Richardson's Rules- Share the credit. Politics and diplomacy are team sports. Acknowledge it.
- Be discreet and don't volunteer too much information.
- Your style can be informal, but you must show proper respect.
- Remember who your friends
were when things weren't going so well.
- Aim big. Always try to achieve more than you have to.
- When you're about to make a major change, cover your bases.
- It helps to be in good shape. You never know when you're going to be called to the
negotiating table.
- Deliver a strong message with dignity and without insults.
- Never lie when negotiating, because lies catch up with you. Be direct.
- Use the media if you need to, but keep your negotiations private.
- Have others deliver bad
news; it keeps you viable as a future negotiator.
- In most meetings, the law of diminishing returns kicks in after five minutes.
Source: Between Worlds, by Bill Richardson, p.363-5
Nov 3, 2005