January 10, 2008
Richardson Rides Into The Sunset
UPDATED.
"As we head out West, the fight goes on!" Bill Richardson declared after a disappointing fourth-place finish in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. But in New Mexico this afternoon, the governor was singing a decidedly different tune as he bid his presidential campaign adieu.
"It is with great pride, understanding and acceptance that I am ending my campaign for president of the United States," he told a crowd of supporters after being introduced by his wife, Barbara, and Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M. Calling his unsuccessful bid "an experience I will treasure and I will never forget," Richardson said, "I believe we made our case to the people. A case for change, but guided by an experienced hand."
Despite his evident disappointment in failing to drum up enough support in the early primary states, Richardson went on to praise his opponents, calling them "the most talented field of my entire lifetime, running to change the direction of our country. And in the end, one of them will."
In his speech, Richardson also endorsed Udall for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Pete Domenici, effectively ending speculation that the governor would launch a Senate bid himself.
In reporting on Richardson's impending exit, the governor's hometown paper, the Santa Fe New Mexican, noted this morning that Richardson "wasn't getting national media attention like the front-runners and was barely a blip in election-night mania."
Richardson alluded to that lack of attention in his exit speech. "It was my hope that you would hear it from me directly and not from a news organization," he continued, referring to early reports of his planned departure from the race. But it's often "the ending of something that garners the most intense interest and speculation," the governor added, getting in a dig at the media for largely bypassing him in favor of "rock star" candidates like Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. (The latter even managed to steal some of Richardson's thunder today with the announcement of John Kerry's endorsement.)
In the very early days of the race, Richardson was seen as one of the most viable second-tier contenders for the Democratic nomination. Pollster.com shows a steady rise in support for the governor in Iowa during the first half of 2007. But in the most recent months, as Clinton and Obama's already formidable star power began to rise even further, his numbers fell sharply. Richardson won just 2 percent of the vote in Iowa and 5 percent in New Hampshire.
The governor staked his campaign almost entirely on his résumé -- arguably the most impressive of the Democratic field. He was the only candidate in that race who could claim experience both on Capitol Hill and in the governor's mansion. As a former energy secretary and U.N. ambassador, he also wielded credible authority on two critical issues of the '08 race -- energy and foreign policy. Richardson sought to capitalize on his experience -- and his congenial personality -- with a light-hearted ad campaign that featured him literally applying for the job of president.
But as his support began to dwindle in the post-Labor Day push, Richardson switched tactics and tried to set himself apart from the rest of the field on the issue of Iraq. After a September debate in which neither Clinton, Obama nor John Edwards were willing to pledge a full withdrawal from Iraq within their first term, Richardson began touting himself in ads and on the trail as the only major candidate proposing an immediate end to the war, with no residual troops. That message never really stuck with voters -- an indication that Democrats are not as married to the idea of a full and precipitous withdrawal from the war as some speculated earlier in the campaign.
The departures of Sens. Joseph Biden and Christopher Dodd and now Richardson seem to suggest a lack of enthusiasm on the Democratic side for seasoned candidates whose résumés are more impressive than their stumping skills. But there's another explanation: With the Democratic candidates largely in agreement on most major issues, and with Democratic voters largely satisfied with their field, it's not surprising that the party has coalesced around the most well-known and well-funded candidates, who are also seen as the strongest contenders in the general election. Richardson's departure leaves the Democrats with a heated three-way race between Clinton, Obama and Edwards for South Carolina, Nevada (where Richardson had hoped to do well) and the Feb. 5 contests.
Despite his disappointing support on the campaign trail, Richardson is still viewed as a strong contender for vice president, particularly because of his wide range of experience and his potential appeal to Western and Hispanic swing voters.
A member of the former President Clinton's administration, Richardson is particularly viewed as a likely partner for Hillary Clinton if she wins the nomination. Reports that the Richardson camp urged supporters to give their second votes to Obama in the Iowa caucuses have cast that scenario into doubt. But Ed Romero, national finance chairman for the Richardson campaign, told the Albuquerque Journal before today's announcement that he had already begun making calls on behalf of Clinton, whom Richardson has ardently defended on the campaign trail and in numerous debates.
For more on Richardson's life and career, see the Journal's five-part series on the governor and the Almanac of American Politics' biography (subscription).
Photo courtesy of Flickr user grendelkhan.
Posted at 4:00 PM
Posted to:
Bill Richardson, Campaigns, Democrats, WH 2008
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