Posted: January 7, 2008 7:12 PM
Richardson Keeps on Keeping on in Hopes of Heading West
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After placing a distant fourth in the Iowa caucus with 2 percent of the vote, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson hopes to survive Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary to eventually reach friendlier turf.
While fellow lower-tier candidates Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., dropped out after the Iowa caucus, Richardson said he will take his campaign as far as he can.
“I’ll keep going because the rest of the country — Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, California — are next,” Richardson told New Hampshire’s WMUR “So this is a state-to-state race.”
But the financial strain is already starting to show. Over the weekend, his campaign let some campaign staffers go, citing an extremely large Iowa staff as the reason for the cuts. The campaign would not say how many people were fired. Richardson appeared with the front-runners, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., at a Facebook/ABC News/WMUR forum on Saturday night. One of the most heated exchanges of the night was over the need for change.
“Whatever happened to experience? Is experience kind of a leper?” Richardson said during the debate. “We all are for change. But the question is, examine the record of those that, in the past, have produced change and that have taken responsibilities.”
Richardson is traveling all around New Hampshire Monday, stopping at a Dunkin Donuts in Manchester, meeting with the mayor of Portsmouth and visiting the Timberland factory in Stratham. He will finish out the day with get-out-the-vote efforts in Manchester and Portsmouth.
-- By , NewsHour with Jim Lehrer | Comments | Link
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I was born in New Mexico, but grew up in Caliornia. Richardson is from California and is working out of New Mexico. He is generally doing a good job there as governor, and has served our country well in various posts.
I think he is shooting for Vice President, or at least to be a "king" ("Queen"?) maker. He certinly comes across as the "peace-maker" in the debates, but seems to have made deals with the Obama campaign. But MAKING DEALS is a big part of politics.
I like him, have contributed to his campaign, but at this point do not favor him for President.
I like Edward's passion, populist persuasions, moral conviction. He is smart, articulate, and has the right values. However, I favor Obama over Edwards, and I'm not sure why. It's more "gut" than "head" on my part.
I very much like Hillary, and she and Obama would be a winning ticket without a doubt. That couple is my prediction for eventual nominees for the Democratic Party, but I'm not sure who will head the ticket. Seems Obama will.
I give the Republcian ticket to Romney and McCain, but they will have a lot of making up to do, but that can wait.
American democracy is great fun, as well as being deadly serious!