Gov. Bill Richardson, who reached 10 percent in a New Hampshire poll last week, is now at 10 percent in Iowa, but his campaign is also facing what could become its first major controversy.
Richardson has often told, on the campaign trail, a story about meeting the mother of a New Mexico soldier killed in Iraq. The mother says Richardson’s version of their encounter is a lie, but the governor’s campaign isn’t backing down.
The newest poll, released Sunday by the Des Moines Register, has Richardson becoming a player in Iowa at 10 percent. John Edwards leads the Democratic candidates there with 29 percent, while Barack Obama is in second with 23 percent and Hillary Clinton is in third with 21 percent.
While Clinton is climbing in many other states, she’s dropping in Iowa. Her fall in that state threatens her campaign despite her popularity elsewhere, and Iowa is the only state keeping Edwards’ campaign alive. Since Iowa holds the first primary contest, it has the potential to sway voters in every other state.
No other candidate had more than 3 percent in the poll, which surveyed 400 likely Democratic caucus goers between May 12 and 16 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
The last few weeks have likely gone exactly as the Richardson campaign planned. He began his climb in Nevada, where a poll has him at 6 percent. He unveiled the first television ads of any Democrat in Iowa and New Hampshire, and saw his support jump to 5 percent in one Iowa poll. Then he unveiled humorous television ads as he continued traveling around the nation at an exhausting pace, and has since seen support jump to 10 percent in the polls in Iowa and New Hampshire.
“Our strategy is simple and it’s working,” Campaign Manager Dave Contarino said. “We have focused Governor’s time and campaign resources in those early states to demonstrate that once people hear of Bill Richardson’s extraordinary record and get to know him, support and the campaign’s momentum would grow.”
Richardson plans to use the momentum to his benefit by formally announcing his presidential run today in Los Angeles. That includes a new Web site you can check out by clicking here.
Will soldier’s mother throw a kink in plans?
But there’s the issue of the soldier’s mother.
Richardson has often spoken on the campaign trail about how he was inspired to create a $250,000 death benefit for the families of killed National Guard members in New Mexico by of the low amount Lance Cpl. Aaron Austin’s mother received from the federal government, the Associated Press reported in a weekend article.
Austin was 21 when he was killed in April 2004. Richardson says Austin’s mother, at her son’s funeral, thanked him for the federal check of $11,000 and showed it to him.
The mother, De’on Miller of Lovington, told the news service that never happened.
“Why would I discuss it with him at a memorial son for my son? I’m still in shock. I’m not busy thanking him,” she told the news service. “… I got the feeling he’s trying to use us to make us sound like little podunks or something.”
She had stronger words in a second Associated Press article.
“Bill Richardson needs to stop pushing this lie,” she told the news service. “Aaron’s name had better not be used again in any way. Not mine either. A full written apology is due me for this.”
Richardson, the news service reported, has gotten Austin’s name wrong at least once and his age wrong at least twice in speeches in New Hampshire, and he’s also said Austin was the first New Mexico soldier killed in Iraq, when he was the third.
Those who watch Richardson closely know attention to detail isn’t his strongest attribute and that he does, at times, embellish or rearrange facts to emphasize points. He usually gets away with it, but the dispute about whether Austin’s mother showed him a check could change that. It could upset veterans and the families of soldiers, and it may also cause the media to more closely scrutinize everything Richardson says to look for inconsistencies.
The Richardson campaign is standing by what the governor has said.
“Gov. Richardson learned of the low federal death benefit from Corporal Austin’s mother at the funeral,” Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley told the news service. “That inspired the governor to fight for a higher death benefit for New Mexico National Guard soldiers. He was proud to propose, support and sign legislation raising that benefit, which is now $400,000.”
Standing toe-to-toe with the mother of a killed soldier who is accusing you of lying is a bold move for a presidential candidate, but it may also be foolish. Time will tell.
Update, 1 p.m.
The Republican Party of New Mexico has jumped on this one with a news release:
“First and foremost, I want Aaron’s mother to know that we truly appreciate her son’s sacrifice for our country, and we’re sorry that she has to go through any more heartache,” Chairman Allen Weh said. “Gov. Richardson’s lack of respect for Aaron’s sacrifice is absurd, and I emphatically join Aaron’s mother in demanding an apology from him for the way he has treated this family and this fallen marine.”
Chris Atencio, acting executive director of the party, said, “It’s one thing when Richardson lies about being drafted to a major league baseball team, but it is entirely another when he tries to bolster his personal image at the expense of a brave New Mexican and his family who gave the ultimate sacrifice. And now his staff is implying that Mrs. Miller is lying. Again, we stand with Mrs. Miller in demanding an apology, and we hope he’ll heed her request that neither Aaron’s nor her name will be used by him again.”
Gov. Bill Richardson, who reached 10 percent in a