DES MOINES -- In a speech today, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will again play the experience card, arguing he is the candidate best prepared to lead. "I have learned that people are often sustained and moved by little more than an unshakable belief" in the ideals of democracy, Richardson plans to say, per prepared remarks.

Asserting that the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is a challenge put directly to the United States, Richardson will pledge to restore the country's standing in the world while urging a fundamental shift in foreign policy. "America must always lead in the name of freedom, and we should never allow our nation to perpetuate dictatorships or provide support to tyrants to oppress their people," he will say.

"Yesterday, I called for President [Pervez] Musharraf to step down. Today, as a nation, I am calling on the administration to stand firm for our ideals in the face of terrorism and in respect for the ideals Bhutto stood for. Anything less would send a dangerous signal to the world that terrorism alters our resolve," Richardson says in prepared remarks. In response to Bhutto's assassination, Richardson calls for a halt to all non-terrorism related military aide to Pakistan until Musharraf steps down and a technocratic government is in place.

The call for Musharraf's resignation provoked strong reaction from two Democratic opponents, Senators Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, both of whom serve on the Foreign Relations Committee. They maintain "misplaced faith" in the Pakistani leader, Richardson plans to charge. "Like the Bush administration, they cling to a misguided notion that Musharraf can be trusted as an ally to fight terrorism or to change his despotic ways."

Richardson has tacked continually to the left in recent weeks, most notably on the war in Iraq. Today, his remarks could continue to help him among those who have been anti-war from the start. "Make no mistake. This administration is losing the war on terrorism," he will say, giving the most anti-war voters real red meat. "Bush's foreign policy has failed, but not for lack of opportunity to make it better."

The tones Richardson strikes, of restoring America's standing and remaining above the fray, are similar to those laid out by other candidates. Still, as a former UN ambassador with myriad stories of hostages rescued, bodies of American servicemen returned and tense negotiations around the world, Richardson should be able to more credibly make the argument than other candidates.

"We cannot afford another president who is a foreign policy novice. We cannot afford another president who takes the easiest path, rather than the right path; a president who makes wrong choices because he doesn't know how to make the hard, but right, choices," he will say. Richardson stands at just 6% in the latest RCP Iowa Average.