Who else? There will be plenty of differing opinions on who won, or probably more accurately, didn’t lose Thursday night’s debate. Of course, in my opinion there was one clear winner: the Santa Fe Kid, the diplomat who knows where it’s at, the Gov we’ve all come to love, Bill Richardson. The rest of the debate was pretty much mastdebation so I’ve just pulled out the highlights, which happen to be a direct transcription of everything Richardson said. The quotes are unedited and awaiting your adoration.

Despite your opposition to the war do you believe you would vote to fund the troops?

No, let be very clear about my position. This war is a disaster. We must end this war. This is what I would do if I were president today: I would withdraw all of our troops, including residual troops by the end of this calendar year. I would use the leverage of that withdraw coupled with intensive diplomacy in three areas. One, a political framework led by the United States where the three religious entities in Iraq have a coalition government, divide oil revenues and possibly set up three separate entities. Number two, I would convene a security conference and I would invite Iran and Syria. They’re going to be tough, but we should be tough with them. And we have to have an international peacekeeping effort. And thirdly, I would have a donor conference. I would have other countries take over the reconstruction responsibility and the security of Iraq.

Who would be your model supreme court justice?

It would be Justice Whizzer White. (If you were confused like me, here is the Wiki link to Whizzer, which is apparently a nickname from his days as a running back at the University of Colorado)

How about someone who is among the living?

It would be, and in this particular case (the recent Supreme Court ruling banning partial birth abortions) Judge Ginsberg, who said that this was an erosion of a woman’s right to choose and degraded the ability of a woman to protect herself healthwise.

Gov. Richardson, you were one of the last people on this stage to call for the resignation of the attorney general, Attorney General Gonzales. You were asked by journalist why you were taking long to make up your mind about this you replied, “It’s because he’s Hispanic. I’m honest.” Is that the right way to make personnel decisions?

That’s how I felt. Now, what I said, too, Brian, was that I wanted to await Alberto Gonzales’ testimony before the U.S. Senate, before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He hadn’t had a chance to fully explain why No. 1 he politicized the Justice Department. Two, why he indiscriminately fired eight U.S. attorneys, including one in New Mexico who was just doing his job, and was being pushed to have some political indictments. And third, why is it that as attorney general he did not, he did act as the lawyer for the American people rather than as the lawyer and political advisor to the White House staff and the president? So, yeah, you know he came from nothing. I know the guy. Did it affect that he was Hispanic in what I said. Yeah I did, and I said so. I think American people want candor. They don’t want blow-dried candidates with perfection. That was the reason I held back. I did call for his resignation. Maybe I was last, but I wanted to give him a chance to explain his position. He didn’t do it, and I called for his resignation.

Gov. Richardson, you are currently if our research is correct, the NRA’s favorite presidential candidate declared in either party based on their rating system. Did anything about the massacre at Virginia Tech make you rethink any part of your position on guns?

The first point I’d want to make is my sincerest condolences to the families of those loved ones who perished in this unspeakable tragedy. You’re right, Brian, I’m a Westerner. I’m a governor of New Mexico. The second amendment is precious in the West. But I want to just state for the record a vast, vast majority of gun owners are law biding. This is an issue that deals with two fundamental problems in our system. The first is mental illness. We should ensure that all Federal and state initiatives deal with making sure that those with mental illnesses cannot get a gun. Secondly, I was for instant background checks. We have to make sure that those background checks are state and local. States must have proper funding to be able to detect those problems. Lastly in this country mental health is not treated the same as other illnesses. There should be mental health parity in this country, and we don’t have it, and we should finally find ways to ensure that our schools get the help they need to detect these mentally ill patients.

(Show of hands) How many of you in your adult lifetime have had a gun in their house?

(Richardson raised his hand.)

Gov. Richardson, you are perhaps the most strident on the position against raising taxes to pay for (some form of universal health coverage). How could it possibly be a domestic Marshall Plans some people say it must be without that kind of revenue?

Well as Democrats I just hope that we always don’t think of new taxes to pay for new programs. This is what I would do. And I’m a governor. I deal with this issue every day. I deal with the issue of guns every day. I deal with almost everything you’ve asked as a chief executive. This is what I would do. I would have the following principles: In our new healthcare plan, my new healthcare plan, no new bureaucracies. Every American shares along with big business, the state, and Federal government. I would focus on prevention. I would also ensure that the first thing we do is deal with the bureaucracies and the inefficiencies in our healthcare system. Thirty-one percent of our healthcare goes to inefficiencies and bureaucracies. If we had a health information system where doctors and nurses could share information about healthcare, we would save billions of dollars. I would also make sure that we would re-establish the doctor/patient relationship; eliminate those in the middle like the HMOs and others. My plan I believe would focus on prevention. We need to focus more on deterring diseases like diabetes, which make up 30 percent of our Medicaid costs.

What is the most significant political or professional mistake you’ve made in the last four years, and what lessons did you take from that mistake?

I’m impatient. I try to change institutions, my state rapidly. I’m too aggressive. One instance, in New Mexico I desperately wanted a year ago to increase the minimum wage to $7.50 and instead of pursuing diplomacy for which I’m known for, instead of consultation, I tried to ram it through my legislature. We finally got it done a year later. But if there is one mistake, and I’ve made a lot of mistakes, I’m not perfect.

While sitting in the Oval Office on the first day of your administration, name the first thing you want to accomplish by the end of that first day?

The first day I would get us out of Iraq with diplomacy. The second day I would plan a huge initiative on making America energy independent with an Apollo-like program to become more reliant on renewable fuels. I’d ask the American people to sacrifice in so doing. Third I would have a major initiative on climate change. Ninety percent (times up) reduce emissions by 2050. The fourth day I would take off.

Gov. Richardson, with your forays into diplomacy, four nominations for Noble Peace Prizes, when you consider that President Bush said he once looked into the soul of Putin, how would you do things differently with Russia?

What I would do is I would assess what are strategic interests are. What would I want from Russia? Number one, I want them to control some of the loose nuclear weapons in their domain. Number two, I’d want them to be more humane in dealing with Chechnya. Number three, I’d want them to be a stable source of energy for this country. Number four, I would want them to promote more democracy in their own nation. Now, my precepts in foreign policy are this; I think this president characterizes being stubborn isn’t a foreign policy and power without diplomacy is blind. I would focus my presidency on dealing with the real threats to America: international terrorism, nuclear proliferation. I’ve dealt directly with North Korea, I think we’ve made the situation better. Number three, I would deal with issues like Darfur. Why is it that America does not care about Africa? About genocide? About issues relating to the enormous amount of debts that are brought forth by international poverty.

(Show of hands) Do you believe there is such a thing as the global war on terror?

(Richardson raised his hand.)

Gov. Richardson, Fidel Castro is still alive. How do you feel about normalizing relations with Castro’s Cuba?

I have to answer a fundamental question that requires a presidential answer and that is I think you said that if two of our cities were attacked what would I do? I would respond militarily and aggressively. I will build international support for our goals. I would improve our intelligence. But that would be a direct threat on the United States and I would make it clear that that would be an important, decisive military response, a surgical strike, whatever it takes.

Grant you a few more for the answer on Castro.

I believe that what we need to do is a find ways to deal with a post-Democratic Cuba. It’s going to happen. The second thing I would do, Brian, is I would bring Cuban Americans in New Jersey and Florida into the dialogue. The third thing, is I would change the Bush administration policy, which is limiting family visits, which is limiting remittances from Cubans into Florida. But the reality is that we should be planning for a post-Castro Cuba, and that means re-evaluating the embargo. That also means finding ways that we ensure that Cuba becomes Democratic, with trade unionism, with free elections, and we should be engaged in a policy right now.