Union members cheer Richardson’s campaign pledges

Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson wasn't speaking to a local audience in Las Vegas on Tuesday, but it was a crowd he's hoping could help him in Nevada nonetheless.

Richardson addressed the national convention of the plumbers and pipefitters union, telling them he'd be a union-friendly president. The New Mexico governor was the only presidential candidate to address the convention at the Las Vegas Hilton of local officials of the union that has about 300,000 members nationally, with about 4,000 in Nevada.

Richardson told the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters he had a 96 percent rating for supporting unions, "and I don't know where you guys screwed up 4 percent of the time."

He got standing cheers for pledging to appoint a union member his secretary of labor, for vowing to put a stop to "trade agreements that send jobs overseas," and for saying, "When I am president, I will fire all the union-busting attorneys at the Department of Labor."

Richardson also touted nuclear energy as a potential part of the solution for making the country energy independent, a stance he has downplayed in Nevada, where officials have battled for years to prevent other states' nuclear waste from being stored in the proposed Yucca Mountain repository.

"Nuclear doesn't emit greenhouse gases," he said. "You've got to deal with the waste. But we have to shift our reliance away from oil."

Richardson also played down his plan for a quick and total exit from Iraq and played up his support for wounded veterans. "Perhaps my number one priority that deals with disengaging from Iraq will be ensuring that our VA is fully funded," he said.

Acknowledging that he's not leading the polling for the Democratic presidential nomination, Richardson told the group they shouldn't believe it's a two-person race.

"States like Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina may have different plans. ... It's not the chattering class in Washington that's going to decide," Richardson said.

He added, "America loves underdogs. America loves dark horses. These little states that are so trained in electing a president, I believe they're going to send a message."

Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2919.