Obama laments loss of Richardson's beard

CHICAGO, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A beard-free Bill Richardson was with Barack Obama when the U.S. president-elect named the New Mexico governor his nominee for commerce secretary Wednesday.

People noticed and wanted to know about the missing facial hair.

"I'm going to answer this question about the beard," Obama said. "I think it was a mistake for him to get rid of it. I thought that whole Western rugged look was really working for him."

Whatever reason, Richardson is now clean-shaven after having variations of a beard in his unsuccessful bid to be the Democratic presidential nominee.

"But we're deeply disappointed with the loss of the beard," Obama said.