Bill Richardson on Saturday gave a debate performance a Washington Post blogger said may have been his best. Unfortunately, it won’t help him win the White House at this point. Neither will a second newspaper endorsement the governor picked up over the weekend.
“Will Richardson’s strong performance matter? Probably not,” Chris Cillizza wrote. “But he deserves credit for giving it.”
Richardson’s campaign, of course, said it will help. In a news release stating that Richardson’s support in New Hampshire is growing, campaign Manager Dave Contarino praised the governor’s debate performance.
“Americans got to see the four top Democratic candidates clearly define their positions and qualifications, and Bill Richardson was the clear winner,” Contarino said.
My opinion after watching the debate is that Richardson was good, but not brilliant. The format helped: He got to talk face-to-face with the other candidates and two debate moderators, and he’s always better in such personal settings. He had a few clever one-liners and appeared serious and knowledgeable on some questions. At other times, he rambled on, starting a new thought before finishing the previous one and then a third thought while many people I spoke with who watched the debate with were still on the first thought.
Richardson’s most memorable line came while the three frontrunners sparred over the meaning of the word “change” and which candidate will bring it.
“I’ve been in hostage negotiations that are a lot more civil than this,” he said.
The line drew chuckles. Richardson had a second memorable line later in the debate when he attacked Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards while they continued to fight.
“This is the kind of Washington bickering that the public turns off to, and with all due respect, as a governor I’m frustrated every time you guys and the president get nothing done because then the burden’s on my shoulders,” he said.
It was a smart way to point to his experience as an executive.
Poll numbers, newspaper endorsements
The debate will make little difference for the governor. Richardson’s Real Clear Politics Average of recent polls in New Hampshire today is 5.5 percent, while Edwards is at 18.8 percent, Clinton is at 29.6 percent and Obama is at 37.4 percent.
Richardson got a second boost on Sunday when the Claremont Eagle Times endorsed him over the three frontrunners. The daily newspaper with a circulation of about 10,000 wrote that Richardson “is the most qualified candidate in the areas that will matter most to our country over the next four years. … Democrats have a variety of choices before them Tuesday. None can match Richardson’s experience.”
Richardson was also endorsed recently by the Conway Daily Sun. He immediately sought on Sunday to capitalize on the new endorsement by campaigning in Newport, where the Eagle Times circulates. And he touted some new endorsements from visible New Hampshire Democrats who supported Chris Dodd before the senator dropped his bid last week.
But the newest polls all have Obama surging and the others, including Richardson, not gaining significant ground. It’s possible that the strong debate performance and the endorsements will give Richardson a slight boost when New Hampshire Democrats vote on Tuesday, but it won’t be enough to make him a true contender.
Prospects for another D.C. job
So the speculation turns to whether Richardson is gunning for vice president or secretary of state. Just before the ABC News debate, George Stephanopoulos reported that the Clinton campaign is “furious” with Richardson because it believes he made a deal with Obama in Iowa to send support to the senator in precincts where he wasn’t viable. Richardson personally denied on Sunday that such a deal existed, but many politicos believe it’s true.
You can read some pointed quotes from a longtime Clinton friend by clicking here.
During the debate, Obama and Clinton both had kind words for Richardson, and nobody attacked the fourth-place candidate who isn’t a threat to anybody. If Clinton is furious with Richardson, it wasn’t evident during the debate.
Does that mean Stephanopoulos was wrong, or is it a sign of Clinton’s professionalism? You decide.
Though he has no chance of winning, Richardson is coming into Tuesday’s vote on a high note. Perhaps his goal at this point is to make this respectable and improve his chances for another job in Washington.
Bill Richardson on Saturday gave a debate performance a Washington Post blogger said may have been his best. Unfortunately, it won’t help him win the White House at this point. Neither will a second newspaper endorsement the governor picked up over the weekend.