Bringing Bill Richardson’s leadership style to Washington

Obama has dropped Richardson as Commerce secretary ("this is not the Bill Richardson I thought I knew...") but a question remains: Does the Obama administration still embrace the "public-private partnership" thinking that in practice generates the sorts of conflicts of interest, appearances of impropriety, and opportunities for corruption in which Richardson now finds himself embroiled?

My Examiner column today explores that question.

When president-elect Barack Obama introduced his pick for Commerce secretary last month, he praised him, saying, “As governor of New Mexico, Bill showed how government can act as a partner to support our businesses….”

Those words have a different ring to them now that Bill Richardson has withdrawn from consideration amid an investigation into a donor who won a huge state contract.

Read the whole thing here.