Yes, He Was Joking

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 504

At a union-sponsored Labor Day picnic today in Sioux City, New Mexico Governor and presidential candidate Bill Richardson told the crowd,

"Iowa, for good reason, for constitutional reasons, for reasons related to the Lord should be the first caucus and primary."

Not that there's anything wrong with the sentiment, of course, but the religious element in the quote struck me as, shall we say, out of character for the candidate. Never fear, though: Richardson's National Press Secretary Tom Reynolds assures me that the Gov was just joking. "But," Reynolds added, "the Governor does believe that Iowa is God's Country."

So, there you go: talk radio scandal averted. That is, until someone in New Mexico hears that God's Country is actually out this way....