  The only force that could still save my vote for Kerry rather than Nader reemerges as a political strength.
urlLink The New York Times > Magazine > The Life of the Party? : "Because his state has a rather small population and because he has served in public office since 1982, Bill Richardson is fairly visible in New Mexico, but the crowd at Palacio Bar was still surprised when he popped in during a late-night pub crawl last month. The governor was at the tail end of a supersaturated day in Las Cruces -- morning press conference, power lunch, three speeches, two dinners, a fund-raiser, 39 constituent meetings at five minutes a pop -- but 16 hours later, at 10:30 p.m., he was still rippling with the energy of a fire hose.
''I'll have your best tequila,'' Richardson shouted as he walked in the door. At 56, he was older than most of the startled patrons by a coefficient of two. A biker walked by. ''Que pasa, muchacho? '' the governor asked. Palacio Bar was the second of two bars Richardson visited that evening. The first, El Patio, was packed with white kids in backward baseball caps; the second, this biker joint, was almost all Latino. Richardson's ability to move between worlds is one reason his name is on Senator John Kerry's short list of vice-presidential candidates.
It also helps to explain why he was selected as chairman of the Democratic National Convention this July and why his name is mentioned as a Democratic candidate in 2008, should Kerry lose to George W. Bush this fall. The biker Richardson addressed was clearly delighted. ''Hey,'' he answered, then turned to the bar. ''Whatever the governor's drinking is on my tab! '' He turned back to Richardson. ''But give me one of your cigars.'... '" 
