The endorsement of Gov. Bill Richardson is a prize being sought by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and Richardson says he may or may not endorse before Tuesday’s caucus in New Mexico.
Is he does issue an endorsement, he’ll do it by the end of the week, he told the Washington Post.
“I might. I might not. How’s that for an answer?” the newspaper quoted Richardson as saying on Monday. “If I do endorse, it’s going to be a gut feeling. It’s not going to be about statistics, about past ties. I’ve been on the campaign trail with both of them. I feel that I know them. I feel I know the issues. I feel I know what makes them both tick.”
The newspaper reported that Clinton called Richardson Sunday night, as did Bill Clinton and Clinton supporter and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. Obama called twice Monday morning, and later that day Sen. Edward Kennedy, an Obama supporter, also called.
Richardson has close ties with the Clintons – Bill Clinton appointed him to be U.N. ambassador and energy secretary – but Kennedy campaigned for him when he was elected to Congress in 1982 and, according to Richardson, Obama helped him out during a presidential debate last year.
“I had just been asked a question – I don’t remember which one – and Obama was sitting right next to me. Then the moderator went across the room, I think to Chris Dodd, so I thought I was home free for a while. I wasn’t going to listen to the next question,” Richardson told the newspaper. “I was about to say something to Obama when the moderator turned to me and said, ‘So, Gov. Richardson, what do you think of that?’ But I wasn’t paying any attention! I was about to say, ‘Could you repeat the question? I wasn’t listening.’ But I wasn’t about to say I wasn’t listening. I looked at Obama. I was just horrified. And Obama whispered, ‘Katrina. Katrina.’ The question was on Katrina! So I said, ‘On Katrina, my policy…’ Obama could have just thrown me under the bus. So I said, ‘Obama, that was good of you to do that.’”
Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said today that the governor has still not made a decision on whether he will issue an endorsement or, if he does, who he will choose.
Meanwhile, Clinton is set to announce another round of endorsements, these from state lawmakers, today at a news conference in Santa Fe. That event will be held at 1 p.m. at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.
And the Obama campaign’s national co-chair, General Tony McPeak, will be in Albuquerque and Las Cruces today to discuss foreign policy with Obama supporters and undecideds at events that are open to the public.
The Clinton campaign unveiled late Tuesday a new ad that will air in the Albuquerque market. Obama was the first to run television ads in New Mexico, but both campaigns have been running ads for several days.
Here’s Clinton’s new ad, designed to be an intimate look at her motivation for service:
The endorsement of Gov. Bill Richardson is a prize being sought by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and