Gov. Bill Richardson has been heralded by some as the dark horse and next big thing of the Democratic primary but yesterday he gave voters a reason to pause. While talking about embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to The Hill Richardson said the following on his position of asking for the resignation of the AG:

The only reason I’m not there is because he’s Hispanic, and I know him and like him,” Richardson said, adding, “It’s because he’s Hispanic. I’m honest. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.”

It would be very difficult to swallow if the President said he gave Donald Rumsfeld the benefit of the doubt on Iraq because “he is caucasian” or “white” and likewise it would be hard to swallow if Barack Obama said he gave a black leader the same leeway because of his race or Hillary Clinton because of their gender or any candidate because of a persons religion, ethnicity or creed.

Richardson, about an hour ago, made up his mind giving the following statement to the Associated Press:

After reviewing the attorney general’s behavior, I must reluctantly conclude that new leadership is needed.

It is still hard to ignore the gaffe by Richardson and if he does move up in the polls/fundraising that little quote could come back to haunt him in a big way. It would be the easiest move by Republicans who, on the issue of illegal immigration, see a fearful group of conservatives and moderates in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania & throughout the South, to warp that statement into many different things.

The statement does amount to a certain kind of racial profiling, one that gives preferential treatment to one group of people over another and had Richardson been a Republican that uttered those words I would be hard pressed to find a Democrat or a leader like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton who wouldn’t use it against him.