{"id":1910,"date":"2007-06-28T14:35:00","date_gmt":"2007-06-28T20:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/06\/richardson-claims-top-tier-status-as-deadline-looms\/"},"modified":"2007-06-28T14:35:00","modified_gmt":"2007-06-28T20:35:00","slug":"richardson-claims-top-tier-status-as-deadline-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/06\/richardson-claims-top-tier-status-as-deadline-looms\/","title":{"rendered":"Richardson claims top-tier status as deadline looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Days before the second-quarter fundraising deadline, Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> is arguing that he\u2019s become a top-tier candidate. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In a news release that was headlined \u201cGovernor Bill Richardson officially breaks into top tier,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s campaign pointed out late Wednesday that Pollster.com<\/a> added him to the list of the top Democratic presidential candidates.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Pollster.com explained the change by stating that Richardson<\/st1:city> is the only Democratic candidate making a substantial gain, and even though it\u2019s concentrated for now in Iowa<\/st1:state> and New Hampshire<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>, those are early, important primary states.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 his is the only trajectory that is clearly moving up,\u201d the site states.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Also Thursday, WHDH-TV in Boston<\/st1:city> and Suffolk<\/st1:placename> University<\/st1:placetype> released a poll<\/a> showing that Richardson and John Edwards<\/a> are tied at 9 percent in New Hampshire<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent, had Hillary Clinton<\/a> in first at 37 percent and Barack Obama<\/a> in second at 19 percent, with 16 percent undecided.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just feeling the momentum anymore, we\u2019re seeing the evidence,\u201d Richardson Campaign Manager Dave Contarino wrote today in an e-mail to supporters.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It does appear that Edwards\u2019 decline and Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s rise are about to intersect in the same spot. Which brings us to the money game \u2013 specifically, the Saturday deadline for second-quarter fundraising.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

According to Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s Web site<\/a>, he has raised almost $963,000 this week, just under half of his goal of $2 million. Edwards, meanwhile, has raised about $1.4 million toward his goal of about $2.3 million.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Edwards is at $8.1 million for the quarter. Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> won\u2019t release his total until the quarter ends, but there\u2019s a real chance his fundraising will keep pace with or surpass that of Edwards this quarter.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Coulter attack gives Edwards a boost<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Edwards\u2019 last-minute push for additional cash is being boosted by this week\u2019s public spat with Ann Coulter<\/a>. Edwards\u2019 wife got into an argument with the ultra-conservative politico this week on television, and the Edwards\u2019 campaign has sent out numerous e-mails asking for money to support Edwards in the face of Coulter\u2019s statement that she wished Edwards would be \u201ckilled in a terrorist assassination plot.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Her words, according to the Associated Press<\/a>, are motivating Democrats to give to Edwards.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Regardless, Richardson<\/st1:city> is on track to pull in $2 million this week, and the campaign, which knows full well the health of his bank account, is making increasingly confident statements about Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> being a top-tier candidate.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The statements appear to be building to something big. Why would the campaign make such confident statements a week or two before Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s fundraising total becomes public if the number is going to disappoint?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think the fundraising total is going to disappoint Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> supporters.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post has an alternative theory. Noting that Richardson and Clinton gave similar speeches on Iran<\/st1:country-region> at the same time on Wednesday, he speculates<\/a> that Richardson<\/st1:city> is angling to be Clinton<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>\u2019s running mate.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t the first time such speculation has reared its head. But Milbank doesn\u2019t back up the assertion that well, writing that Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> is \u201ca distant fifth for the Democratic presidential nomination.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Who\u2019s fourth? Al Gore? He isn\u2019t even in the race. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> is in fourth place. He still has a way to go to even come close to reaching third place, but he is the only candidate gaining significant ground other than Clinton<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>. His poll numbers are rising across the nation, even if the gain is only slight outside of Iowa and New Hampshire, and I\u2019m guessing we\u2019re about to learn that his fundraising base has increased significantly.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Debate tonight; Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> visit on Friday<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> has another chance to prove he can hold his own in a room with the big dogs tonight at the PBS Democratic presidential candidate debate, which is from 7-8:30 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. You can watch it on PBS or by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Because of his tireless grassroots campaigning, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> can keep rising in the polls despite mediocre showings at these debates, but to actually beat Clinton, Obama and Edwards in the primary, he\u2019s going to have to start performing better. Will we see improvement tonight?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Tonight\u2019s forum will address domestic issues, so Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> won\u2019t be able to rely on his foreign policy experience. We\u2019re likely to hear him say the words \u201cas governor\u201d a lot as he pulls out canned responses to questions.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He\u2019ll follow up the debate with one fundraiser in El Paso<\/st1:city> and three in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> on Friday, the day before the fundraising deadline. One of the Las Cruces<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> events is hosted in part by state Reps. Mary Helen Garcia<\/a> and Joseph Cervantes<\/a> and their spouses; another is hosted in part by Rep. Joni Gutierrez<\/a> and lobbyists David Kimble<\/a> and Domonic Silva<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Days before the second-quarter fundraising deadline, Gov. Bill Richardson is arguing that he\u2019s become a top-tier candidate. In a news release that was headlined \u201cGovernor Bill Richardson officially breaks into top tier,\u201d Richardson\u2019s campaign pointed out late Wednesday that Pollster.com added him to the list of the top Democratic presidential candidates. Pollster.com explained the change […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1910\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}