 "Photo: John Lucas")
New Mexico Governor and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson arrived in Austin on Wednesday afternoon, asking supporters to add to the modest pile of Texas campaign donations he has received.
He said he has garnered approximately $750,000 in campaign donations from Texan supporters.
The presidential run for the nation's first Hispanic candidate has been overshadowed by the high-profile campaigns of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
Yet Richardson stepped into the terminal of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport still adamant about his chances and his campaign's new higher education policy.
"My campaign should appeal to many Americans including Hispanics," he said. "For a long time Hispanics did not know I was Hispanic and the name 'Richardson' certainly doesn't help. But I hope citizens vote for me because I have the best plan for America and that while Senator Obama's campaign focuses on change and Senator Clinton's on experience, I bring both to the table.
"In addition to my already existing education policy that promises students greater access to higher education, I hope to establish a program where students can pay off college loans by committing themselves to one year of national service," he said.
Though Richardson's plan is still being developed by his campaign managers, he said he envisions the government paying up to two years of a college student's debt if he or she has spent one year volunteering at a hospital, with the AmeriCorps or Peace Corps programs or other community service.
"[Richardson] is rising, but he's still a long shot in the polls even though he's described by some as the candidate with the best resume. But I think his new plan is a great idea. It will be and deserves to be hugely popular with the university age group," said government professor Bruce Buchanan II. "There's a substantial chance he won't be nominated, but this policy might become too popular for the other candidates to not think about adopting it."
The governor's proposed plan to relieve the financial burden placed on college students would follow a financial aid bill passed by Congress Friday that provides loan forgiveness to students who work for 10 years in public sector jobs including firefighters, teachers and police officers.
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