The End of the Line for Richardson?

Tue, January 08, 2008 - 11:16 AM

After hailing his distant fourth-place showing in Iowa as a victory of sorts, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson appears to have slowed down in New Hampshire what had been a final blitz for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Richardson’s campaign, lingering in single-digits in the polls, shortened his campaign schedule in the state that hosts the country’s first presidential primary and could deal the final blow to Richardson’s candidacy.
Aides had been spinning the Iowa results (Richardson won two-percent) as a ‘making of the cut,’ saying caucus-goers put Richardson in the ‘final four.’ Their strategy went: Richardson could make the top-three in New Hampshire and then sneak into the top two by the time Nevada comes around January 19.
If it seemed unlikely then, it could seem even more unlikely after tonight. Real Clear Politics, averaging the most-recent polls, shows Richardson winning only six-percent in New Hampshire. And if western states are ‘Richardson Territory’ as his campaign has suggested, the polls don’t seem to back them up – in Nevada Richardson remains a long-shot fourth polling at six-percent, in California he draws three-percent.
As the country’s first viable major party Hispanic presidential candidate, Richardson, a former U.N. Ambassador and Energy Secretary, could still have a shot at V.P. or Secretary of State.
--Neil H. Simon