I watched the Obama/Bill Richardson press conference so you don’t have to.

1) Obama finally called on Fox News for a question. (FNC had been shut out for five press conferences.) Wendell Goler asked about TARP and joked about Bill Richardson’s now-shaved beard. Obama basically said he would trust Hank Paulson not to draw down the second tranche of the bailout billions until he made some official announcement. Ha. Obama also lamented Richardson’s decision to get rid of the beard.

It was “Western” and “rugged,” Obama oozed. As opposed to bitter and clingy?

2) A Hispanic journalist asked Obama for his reaction to criticism from Latino groups that Richardson’s Commerce nomination was a token “consolation prize.” Obama unconvincingly argued that Richardson was the best person for the job, citing his, um, “diplomatic experience” (?) and executive experience as governor. As for Richardson’s knowledge of business and the markets, well, he served on a lot of corporate boards after leaving Washington. Oh, and he was the son of a Citibank exec.

Experience!