HORACE LANGFORD / PVT New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson meets wellwishers at Honeysuckle Park Saturday afternoon. Advertisement

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson got off to a good start on his campaign speech in Pahrump Saturday.

During his introduction, Nye County Democratic Party Chairman, Loyal Watkins, reminded the audience how Richardson, as U.S. energy secretary, provided help to nuclear workers suffering illnesses. Richardson said he was very proud he approved that measure.

"Many times workers were contaminated. They had ... a form of cancer from exposure to some of the nuclear weapons that are out there," Richardson said of the Nevada Test Site. "When I was secretary of energy I sponsored a program. Today it's compensated over 20,000 workers, $2.6 billion. I'm very proud of it because in this country we've got to protect the American worker."

Richardson quickly launched from that into his program for helping the American worker: universal health care, protecting pensions and keeping wages high enough to keep up with inflation.

Richardson touted his credentials as the only westerner in the presidential race. While he said he visited Nevada numerous times, he still stumbled over his pronunciation of the word "Pahrump," a word that more presidential candidates are learning to pronounce with the Jan. 19 Democratic caucus just months away. Richardson is the third presidential candidate to visit Pahrump, following Sen. Chris Dodd, D.-Conn., and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D.-N.Y.

The New Mexico governor, however, had some unique campaign positions as a westerner.

Richardson said a national water policy is needed, connecting water-producing states in the East with areas that need water in the West; he also advocates elevating water policy from the Bureau of Reclamation to a cabinet level post.

Richardson outlined a tax incentive policy to lure companies to rural areas.

"If they pay over the prevailing wage, I would give them another tax incentive. You know, rural areas in this country somehow are forgotten," Richardson said.

Richardson said he's a hunter and supports the Second Amendment, grateful that comment raised some applause in this part of the country.

"We got to do something about crime in this country, but the key is not necessarily taking guns away from people. The key is in instant background checks," he said.

Richardson repeated comments by made by other candidates, about using Nevada's abundant potential for renewable energy like wind and solar power. It's a national security issue, he said.

When it came to the greenhouse effect, Richardson conjured up an alien theme Nevadans could relate to as well as New Mexicans: "The planet is starting to say, 'Hey, earthlings, be kinder to me.'"

America needs to be the world leader again in diplomacy, not just militarily, Richardson said. He claimed to be the only Democratic candidate who would pull all the troops out of Iraq.

"Our troops have done a magnificent job, but there is no military solution, there is a political solution, and we're losing time in grasping that political solution where you get the three groups in Iraq together," Richardson said. "An average of 65 Iraqis are dying every day. The month of July there were 80 casualties, American men and women, some from my state, some from yours," Richardson said. "We need to focus our foreign policy on the real threat to America: international terrorism, building international support to fight terrorism."

"We will also be an America that cares, not just about what strategic interests are in the Mideast and what Exxon wants, but we will care about genocide in Darfur," Richardson said. "That has always been America's role as the conscience in the world and also as a leader."

The lack of health insurance by 47 million Americans is a tragedy, Richardson said. He said a third of the cost of health care goes to administration of the HMOs and insurance companies.

"We need universal health care for everybody, no matter who you are, whether you're a farmer, whether you're a ditch digger, whether you're a CEO or a teacher, whether you're black, brown, white, disabled, pre-existing condition, every American deserves the finest health care," Richardson said.

The governor said he'd invite everybody to join the best health care plan in America, the one that's offered to congressmen. He proposed lowering the age of eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 55. States should be in charge of Medicaid programs, Richardson added. Veterans would receive a Heroes Health Card, making them eligible for health care at the nearest hospital instead of traveling to the VA hospital, he said.

More investment in medical research is needed, including stem cell research, Richardson said, while schools should get rid of junk food and reinstitute physical education as preventative health care.

The candidate fielded a few queries from the press during an impromptu session after the speech.

In response to a question on immigration, Richardson said he declared a border emergency with Mexico two years ago as governor of New Mexico. He said four things are necessary to control immigration: more funding for enforcement agencies like the U.S. Border Patrol; punishing companies that hire illegal workers; getting Mexico to provide jobs and stop handing out instructions on the easiest way to cross the border, and legalizing the 12 million illegal immigrants who are here.

"I'm against amnesty, I'm against full citizenship. But if they fulfill certain conditions, they can stay," he said.

Richardson reminisced about the days when he served in the Clinton administration, when the country had a balanced budget, 22 million new jobs and a surplus was put into the Social Security trust fund.

"I have proposed a constitutional amendment over a four-year period to balance the budget and have a line item veto," Richardson said.

While Richardson addressed a crowd of perhaps 65 people at Honeysuckle Park instead of the 250 that saw frontrunner Hillary Clinton at Skate Zone last month, Richardson expressed optimism about the race. After all, seven of the last presidents were governors or ex-governors, he said; the last senator elected president was John F. Kennedy in 1960. Five years ago all the western governors were Republicans, today five out of the seven are Democrats, he said.

"We gained nine points in the latest Nevada poll, we're third in New Hampshire and Iowa," Richardson said of his own campaign.