LAT: LOVE STORY, Bill R. spills the beans on Obama nod!!!

The LA Times has put out a blockbuster piece detailing the back story on Richardson endorsement, from the man himself, Bill Richardson. This is a must read, as Bill gives a blow by blow account of how he strayed. As with more and more folks, his shift after nearly endorsing Clinton was a combination of being won over by Obama... combined with a growing unease about the Hillary campaign. What really fascinated me though, was the fact that the more I read the more it reminded of a love triangle, with the Clinton's in the roll of the jilted spouse that Richardson left for Obama.

More plus quotes below.  

This paragraph pretty much summed up how Richardson went from almost endorsing Hillary to formally endorsing Obama;

He was impressed by the mostly positive tone of Obama's campaign, and grew to appreciate the substance and depth of their private conversations. The more Richardson heard from the Washington heavyweights backing Clinton, the more convinced he became of the need for a change inside the beltway.

Richardson explains that immediately following his withdrawal from the race he went into a funk and swore of national politics for the duration, something as a Deaniac that I understand perfectly. He soon got drawn back in though, and then the calls from both camps started coming...

Their manner of courtship,one wooing, the other arm-twisting---seemed to reflect the candidates' different personalities and campaign styles.

Obama, Richardson disclosed, called him personally about about every three days to discuss policy and campaign issues at length, and their relationship grew and deepened. Meanwhile he got 8 or more calls a day from the Clinton camp, from Bill and a host of others, some of whom implied he owed his whole career to Clinton and now was the time to pay them back. These tactics started pissing him off, and he began to feel that the Clinton's thought Hillary was entitled to the nomination.

And then there was how the Clinton's campaigned, probably because Richardson was steadily growing closer to Obama he was pretty upset about the 3am call. And over time he drifted closer and closer what to him was an agonizing decision. He revealed that both he and his wife really treasured their relationship with the Clinton's, in fact she had hung pictures of the two couples together around the house... as well as warning him of the personal consequences of endorsing Obama. As a matter of fact they haven't heard from the Clinton's since, something that has clearly hurt Richardson who prominently referred to the rupture. Hammering the point home the article ended with this plaintive line;

He's very much a part of my life, Richardson said of the former president. The pictures are still hanging in the mansion's private quarters.

And then of course, the article describes the effect on the jilted Clinton's, including Bill's surprising explosion a few days after the endorsement while meeting with some superdelegates, which now makes more sense given this context.  

Sounds like a classic love triangle to me, check it out for yourselves and weigh in below.

http://www.latimes.com/...