If the king of lefty bloggers is to be believed, N.M. Gov. Bill Richardson will stake his 2008 presidential hopes on winning the primary in South Carolina.
According to Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, who runs the most popular liberal blog around, Daily Kos, Richardson will be joined by John Edwards and Wesley Clark in placing all bets on South Carolina.
That may be why former N.M. Economic Development Department public information officer Katie Roberts abruptly left that job in September to move to South Carolina. As I reported back then, Richardson’s people said that wasn’t why Roberts moved, but the South Carolina Democratic Party spokesman said otherwise.
Officially, Roberts was there to work for the Democrats’ gubernatorial candidate. But the state party’s spokesman told the Albuquerque Journal in September that Roberts’ move was at the request of Richardson, and said it would be good for the presidential hopeful to have a worker in the state who knew the lay of the land.
After working on a gubernatorial campaign and a recount, Roberts has certainly learned a lot. I couldn’t reach her for comment, but another source told me that Roberts hasn’t finalized future plans and isn’t currently in South Carolina.
Kos’ claim about South Carolina stems from Barack Obama’s jump into the 2008 presidential spotlight. The conventional wisdom, Kos claims, is that Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack will win his home state’s primary, and either John Edwards or Obama will come in second – Obama because his home state of Illinois is next door.
Nevada, Kos says, will be a battle between the union-friendly Edwards and the Southwestern Richardson. New Hampshire will be owned by New Englanders Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. In that state, Kos claims, “they hate Richardson because he pushed to insert Nevada into the calendar ahead of New Hampshire.”
“With Iowa out of the big picture thanks to Vilsack, and New Hampshire diluted by Nevada, South Carolina may well decide our nominee in 2008,” Kos writes. “Richardson thinks he can win the state (I’m not sure how), and he, Edwards and Clark will stake their entire bids on the state.
“But given the state’s large African American population, along with Obama’s popularity with female voters (yeah, they love him), it’s tough to see how the rest, splitting the dwindling white male vote, can overcome those hurdles,” Kos writes.
The only person who might stop Obama, Kos writes, is Al Gore.
These are just the predictions of one man, but his blog is currently so influential that he’s one man who has the attention of every politico in the nation.
If the king of lefty bloggers is to be believed, N.M. Gov. Bill Richardson will stake his 2008 presidential hopes on winning the primary in