After several weeks of climbing in polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, a new survey of likely Democratic caucus goers in the HawkeyeState has Gov. Bill Richardson’s support moving in the opposite direction.
The Mason-Dixon Polling and Research survey, conducted June 13-16, has Richardson at 6 percent in Iowa. It surveyed 400 likely caucus goers and has a margin of error of 5 percent.
The drop follows several weeks of gains in polls in the two important states to between 8 and 10 percent. This is the first poll conducted in Iowa since two recent, nationally televised appearances that earned Richardson a lot of criticism.
The most recent poll in New Hampshire, conducted after those TV appearances, had him holding steady at 10 percent and only two points behind John Edwards.
The new poll in Iowa was also conducted days after Richardson began airing his third “job-interview” ad in that state. Richardson experienced huge gains in Iowa and New Hampshire following the release of the first two ads in that clever series.
Hillary Clinton leads the pack in the new Iowa poll with 22 percent. Edwards is second at 21 percent, and Barack Obama is third at 18 percent. No other candidate was above the margin of error.
The most significant development in the new poll is Clinton’s lead. Previous polls in Iowa had Edwards in first, which was significant because he trailed Clinton in most other states, but had a chance as long as he led in the earliest contest in Iowa.
The new poll also follows some other bad news for Richardson’s campaign in Iowa. His Des Moines office was vandalized on Tuesday. Read about it by clicking here.
Richardson focusing on Iraq withdrawal
Meanwhile, Richardson is continuing his attempt to stand out among Democratic presidential contenders by calling for a full withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq. His campaign has started a new Web site – notroopsleftbehind.com – and, in a speech given Tuesday in Washington, scolded his rivals who are current or former members of Congress for not doing enough to bring the troops home. Read about it from the Associated Press by clicking here, and read his speech to the Take Back America Conference by clicking here.
“With all due respect to my outstanding Democratic colleagues – Senators Clinton, Obama, (Chris) Dodd and (Joe) Biden – they all voted for timeline legislation that had loopholes,” Richardson told the group. “Those loopholes allow this president, or any president, to leave an undetermined number of troops in Iraq indefinitely. And this is the same legislation that former Senator Edwards says we should send back and back to the president over and over again until he signs it.”
Yes, it was Richardson who, several months ago, gained national attention for calling for all Democratic candidates to agree to no negative attacks at a time when Clinton and Obama were fighting. Richardson said Tuesday’s speech wasn’t an attack, but was an attempt to highlight the differences between him and the other candidates.
There’s a fine line between the two. Richardson is always trying to walk such lines. You can watch portions of the speech at the end of this posting and decide for yourself whether he’s a hypocrite or a tightrope walker.
Some good news for Richardson
Richardson’s speech was well received, and his simple, hard-line stance is gaining national attention. And there’s more good news for Richardson.
According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Richardson raised more money in the Cleveland area than any other presidential candidate during the first quarter of 2007.
Richardson raised $63,500 from that area in the important presidential-election state. Edwards was next at $52,675. But Richardson didn’t lead in statewide fundraising. Obama did, with more than $1.5 million.
Richardson on the campaign trail
Following Tuesday’s AFSCME forum and the conference in Washington, D.C., Richardson attended fundraisers in New York City. Richardson is taking a break today, with no scheduled campaign events.
On Thursday, he’ll be in Phoenix for a union town-hall meeting in the morning and will attend a fundraiser in Santa Fe in the evening. He will be in Iowa on Friday for a presidential candidate forum, the official grand opening of the office that was just vandalized in Des Moines and other events.
Here’s that video of the conference speech I promised:
After several weeks of climbing in polls in