A new team for a new America

This may be even more newsworthy than we realize:

Declaring that Sen. Barack Obama is an "extraordinary American," Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico endorsed Obama for the Democratic nominee for president on Friday.

Sen. Barack Obama received the endorsement of Gov. Bill Richardson on Friday.

Richardson -- who sought this year's Democratic nomination for president himself -- joined Obama at a rally in Portland, Oregon, where the senator from Illinois is campaigning.

"Barack Obama will make a great and historic president," Richardson said, Obama standing at his side. "[It] is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our nation and you are a once-in-a-lifetime leader."

Yes, but "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" for whom?

Here's a hint: take a look at a picture of our only (so far) Hispanic governor taken while he was running for President:



And here's the AP picture that accompanies the CNN article linked above:


See the difference? The new 'n improved Bill Richardson is all Hispanicized now. It's a new image for a new era -- maybe the era Bill Clinton talked about in the post below.

So I wonder: might we be looking at an Hispanic/African-American coalition to lead America into the 21st century? The only thing that tops Obama as "a great and historic president" would be an Obama/Richardson ticket. Can the largest and second-largest minorities constitute a new majority? Can two Mensheviks make one Bolshevik?