Friday, October 23, 2009

Battlin' Bill the Blogger

Some legislators have said that Gov. Bill Richardson hasn't seemed all that personally involved in the current special session.

They're obviously not reading his blog

Most politicians' blogs are pretty worthless. Basically just cut-and-paste press releases. (The same goes for most politicians' Twitter feeds -- though at least with Twitter the 140-character limit per Tweet keeps it short.)

But in recent days, Richardson, who has been something of a punching bag in floor debates since the session began, is using his blog not just to brag about his "bold initiatives" and accomplishments for the working families, but to push back at some of his critics' rhetoric.

(Actually it's not Richardson himself doing the blogging, as the governor is referred to in third person.)

Take the latest entry on Thursday in which the blog responds to oft-repeated criticism over the administration's hiring freeze .
the mere suggestion that the Governor’s hiring freeze has been ineffective was good enough for those legislators to rush to the media to say: “We told you so.” Unfortunately, they didn’t bother to verify their facts.

That's pretty much the tone of the previous two entries this week as well. If it keeps going like this, I wouldn't be surprised too see the Richardson blog calling out "the media" as well, maybe even naming names.

Some reporters have complained about having trouble getting comment from the governor's office. (I'm talking about New Mexico reporters, of course. Richardson usually finds time when the national media calls.)

Perhaps from now on when we call with questions we'll be told, "just check the blog."