OK, Bill and I are in a fight and possibly breaking up

I was drunk when I hooked up with Bill Richardson, and drunk hook-ups seldom become fruitful long-term relationships. Accordingly, the shine is coming off my Bill Richardson mania. And fast. I am the first to admit that I am an extremely opinionated liberal who ultimately doesn't know what I think and am easily influenced by good arguments from a decnt source whom I respect. E.g., if Paul Krugman told me to jump off a cliff, I would promptly do my best Wile E. Coyote impersonation. Same with The New Republic, who, unfortunately for Bill, have published in the current issue a gently scathing article entitle "The Paper Candidate." I can't link to it here because you have to be a subscriber to read it, but I can e-mail it (and any other TNR articles) to anyone who wants them. Same for Times Select stuff. This is technically an abuse of my subscription, but who gives a fuck. Power to the people, man. The more people who read Krugman and Friedman and TNR, the better, right?

I digress. The gist of the TNR piece on Bill is, basically, he's an idiot. Which is unfortunate, because I consider idiocy to be one of the most horrific crimes a politician can commit. Hence, Bill Clinton could ejaculate all over my furniture and I would not care because the man is a genius. But not all Bills are created equal. My favorite excerpt from the article, on the subject of the North Koreans: "Their U.N. guy calls. His name is Ambassador Kim. K-I-M. They're all named Kim." Um. no, last time I checked, there were a shitload of Parks, too.

There is much more to it than that, obviously, and like I said, anyone who wants to read the article, let me know. Long story short, I'm stepping up to the plate and confessing that my adoration was premature. I want so desperately to feel that good about one of the candidates. I'm starting to feel a little Obama-ish, to be honest. Friedman likes him. Krugman is cool with him. Will somebody please just make up my mind for me, since I am obviously of too weak a character to trust my own opinions?