Bill Richardson has won a series non-scientific polls on the influential, liberal blog Daily Kos that surveyed the site’s readers about who should be Barack Obama’s running mate.
The finalists who went head-to-head in the last poll were Richardson and U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va. Richardson won with 3,109 votes, or 56 percent, to Webb’s 2,406 votes, or 44 percent.
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“The governor is grateful for the strong show of support, but he is focused on helping Senator Obama become the next president of the U.S. and nothing more,” Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley said.
To get to the final poll against Webb, Richardson also beat Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in earlier rounds of polling. The polling began with 32 potential Democratic vice-presidential candidates.
Talk of an Obama/Richardson ticket has grown louder since the governor endorsed Obama last month. Before that, Richardson generally wasn’t well-liked by the readers of Daily Kos. The question is whether the reversal in the thinking of the site’s readers, who are generally active, progressive Democrats, is reflective of the greater mood in the party.
Tens of millions of people visit the site each month.
More important is whether Obama would consider Richardson as his running mate. The only comments I’ve seen from Obama about a potential running mate came when asked if he would consider Hillary Clinton for the VP spot, and he’s said it’s too early to think about that because he’s still focused on beating Clinton in the presidential primary.
Ken Camp, a Democratic activist who has been pushing Richardson as a vice-presidential candidate on a blog he started, said he’s happy with the poll results.
“As one of the most prolific bloggers on Governor Richardson for the past two years, I’m thrilled to see the Daily Kos community embrace Governor Richardson by voting for him for vice president over all of the other worthy candidates,” Camp said. “That a community where millions of people congregate to debate the issues of the day has lent its vote of confidence to Governor Richardson is significant.”
“This vote should not be taken lightly. Even on the campaign trail as I talked to people in my own state (Washington), and even in other states, those people who were supporting other candidates for president always said that Bill Richardson would be a great vice president if he wasn’t the nominee,” Camp said. “Let’s hope that this vote is the start of that process.”
The next question on Daily Kos: whether Richardson should keep his beard. Currently, 67 percent of those who have voted in the non-scientific poll say he should, while 20 percent say he should not and 14 percent say they don’t care.
Bill Richardson has won a series non-scientific polls on the influential, liberal blog Daily Kos that surveyed the site’s readers about who should be Barack Obama’s running mate. 
“The governor is grateful for the strong show of support, but he is focused on helping Senator Obama become the next president of the