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Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Report From the Associated Press
Richardson Reportedly Quits Presidential Race
By Jeff Jones And Michael Coleman/
Journal Staff Writers
Stung by dismal showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, and scraping the bottom of his campaign war chest, Gov. Bill Richardson apparently is ending his bid for the presidency.
Richardson's national campaign finance chairman Ed Romero of Albuquerque told the Journal Wednesday that he has been informed the governor will have a news conference today announcing his decision to withdraw from the race for the Democratic nomination.
Romero added that he is already making calls on behalf of Hillary Clinton, who won the New Hampshire primary election Tuesday.
"I have not spoken with the governor, but I do have information that he is to announce in the morning his withdrawal from the race," Romero said.
While Richardson's campaign spokesman Tom Reynolds refused to confirm anything to the Journal — "The campaign has no comment," he said Wednesday — The Associated Press also reported late Wednesday that Richardson would throw in the towel.
The AP cited two unnamed people close to the governor in New Hampshire as its sources in reporting that Richardson would announce the decision today.
Richardson's results fell far short of his stated goals in both early states, despite having spent most of his time and money in Iowa and New Hampshire.
He apparently was unable to afford television advertising in the waning days of the New Hampshire campaign. However, he said before leaving the Granite state that he would continue campaigning for the nomination in Nevada, where Democrats hold caucuses on Jan. 19.
Told by a Journal reporter late Tuesday as he was leaving New Hampshire that some people had suggested it was time to quit the race, Richardson said, with a hint of annoyance, "What people? Who's saying that?"
"We're going to spend a couple days in New Mexico and then get ready for Nevada. I want to see how we do out West," he said.
Romero, former ambassador to Spain and longtime New Mexico political kingmaker, said he's proud of how Richardson ran his campaign for the 2008 Democratic nomination.
"He was a long shot. We didn't go into this with any grand delusions," he said. "I'm very proud of the campaign he ran, how he ran it. It just wasn't in the cards."
The AP said the governor's decision was reached after a meeting with his top advisers Wednesday in New Mexico. However, governor's office spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said in Santa Fe Wednesday evening, "No decision has been made."
The report followed Richardson's 5-percent finish in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, the second major voting event of the 2008 presidential season.
The New Hampshire performance was his second fourth-place finish in less than a week. Richardson won only 2 percent of the vote in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3.
Richardson flew home to New Mexico on Tuesday night, but he remained out of reporters' view Wednesday.
A 30-day session of the New Mexico Legislature convenes in Santa Fe on Tuesday.
"I think the governor is making the right decision," said Albuquerque pollster Brian Sanderoff of Research and Polling, Inc.
"He should be remembered as the candidate who for most of the race was at the top of the second tier," Sanderoff said. "He shouldn't be remembered as the candidate who stayed in too long."
Richardson formally announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in January 2007 and spent most of last year away from New Mexico on the campaign trail.
Richardson said in advance of both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary that he needed to finish in the top three of each contest, but he ran fourth in both events, with Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards continuing to dominate the race.
Richardson only briefly climbed out of the single digits in the polls and turned in uneven performances in televised debates.
He arrived in New Hampshire on Friday politically wounded from the distant fourth-place finish in Iowa. He was one of the four candidates in Saturday night's Democratic debate in New Hampshire and many New Hampshire voters told him it was his best debate performance of the campaign.
Richardson spent the bulk of his time and money in Iowa, but he also invested heavily in New Hampshire, with a paid staff of more than 40 and eight field offices.
Voters in Iowa and New Hampshire seemed to enjoy the affable governor and spoke highly of his credentials as a governor, former congressman, U.N. ambassador, energy secretary and diplomatic troubleshooter.
It was quickly clear in the campaign that candidates like Clinton and Obama were stirring more excitement and Richardson often joked that, "I'm not a rock star."
But Richardson, already well known as a tireless campaigner, vowed to outwork the other candidates.
In the end, his personality, experience and plain old hard work couldn't trump the broad name recognition and well-honed messages of his better-funded Democratic rivals.
His presidential bid shortfalls in New Hampshire and Iowa were his first political losses since his very first race in New Mexico, when he lost the 1980 contest for the 1st Congressional District seat to longtime incumbent Rep. Manuel Lujan Jr., R-N.M.
Journal staff writer Trip Jennings contributed to this report.